Líffræðifélag Íslands - biologia.is
Líffræðiráðstefnan 2019
Erindi/veggspjald / Talk/poster E81
Höfundar / Authors: Jón Einar Jónsson (1), Elisabeth Knudsen (1,2), Ellen Magnúsdóttir (1), Sverrir Thorstensen (3), Sigríður Magnúsdóttir (4), Höskuldur Þráinsson (5), Karl Skírnisson (6), Snæbjörn Pálsson (2) & Arnþór Garðarsson (2)
Starfsvettvangur / Affiliations: 1. University of Iceland, Snæfellsnes Research Center. 2. University of Iceland, Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences. 3. Lönguhlíð 9a, Akureyri. 4. University of Iceland, Faculty of Medicine. 5. University of Iceland, Faculty of Icelandic and Comparative Cultural Studies. 6. University of Iceland, Institute for Experimental Pathology.
Kynnir / Presenter: Jón Einar Jónsson
Common eiders have high dispersal abilities but are still very site-faithful. This project studies whether there is more than one morph type of common eiders in Iceland, which are listed as S. m. borealis. Conversely, other European populations belong to the subspecies S.m.mollissima, except for the population in the Faroe Islands, S.m. faeroeensis, and S.m. borealis populations on Svalbard and Franz Josef Land.
Female common eiders were caught and five body size measurements were taken at three locations in 2019; Landey by Stykkishólmur, Ásbúðir at Skagi and Akureyri. Also included are data by Skírnisson et al. 2003 from Skerjafjörður. Significant skewness in this S.m. borealis population could suggest hybridization with the larger S.m. mollissima or the smaller S.m. faeroensis.
Multivariate analysis of variance indicated that: 1) culmen and head lengths were similar among sites; 2) that small tarsus increased in size from southwest towards the northeast; 3) wing length was relatively small at Ásbúðir; and 4) the larger tarsus was bigger at Ásbúðir than at Akureyri and Landey (not measured at Skerjafjörður), indicating a larger tarsal joint at Ásbúðir. Visual inspection of small tarsus suggests that Skerjafjörður and Landey were relatively skewed towards smaller values. DNA analyses and further data collection in the east of Iceland could clarify the possible role of hybridization with other eider populations.