Líffræðifélag Íslands - biologia.is
Líffræðiráðstefnan 2021
Erindi/veggspjald / Talk/poster E59
Höfundar / Authors: Charles Christian Riis Hansen (1) & Snæbjörn Pálsson (1)
Starfsvettvangur / Affiliations: Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Iceland
Kynnir / Presenter: Charles C. R. Hansen
The white-tailed eagle is a large raptor with a vast distribution spanning most of the Palearctic and Greenland. The species is an iconic species and have been called a “flagship” and “umbrella” species. But as with other iconic species, humans have not always treated them with care. Many populations saw a significant drop in population size in the twentieth century, firstly due to direct persecution and later environmental pollutants. This was also the case in Iceland; the number of breeding pairs dropped from 150 pairs in 19th century down to 20 from 1914-1968 but has now increased to about 80 pairs. Previously genetic variation in the white-tailed eagle has only been studied using mtDNA and microsatellites. Here we apply whole genome sequencing on both modern and historic samples from around the North-Atlantic and present the results for the population genetics of the white-tailed eagle both in space and time, with a special focus on the bottlenecks the populations experienced during the 20th century. The focus of the study is the Icelandic population but population dynamics and phylogeography of several populations around the North-Atlantic is presented.