Assessing genetic diversity and differentiation in endangered Mottled Duskywing (Erynnis martialis) populations to support species recovery efforts

斑纹黄翼是加拿大的一种濒危蝴蝶。为了扭转在过去几十年中观察到的地理范围的缩小，恢复规划文件建议在保留适当栖息地的历史地点重新建立物种，和/或协助在以前无人居住的具有适当栖息地的地点殖民。2015年，自然资源解决方案公司(NRSI)开始协调一个多年合作项目，通过解决斑驳的黄昏之翼恢复战略草案中确定的关键行动和知识差距，努力实现这一目标。拟议的研究将通过解决与斑驳的黄翼的遗传学有关的关键知识空白，为这一多年合作恢复倡议做出贡献。我们将开发斑驳黄翼的微卫星遗传标记，并在安大略省和美国附近地区完成该物种范围内的基因采样。这将提供有关安大略省亚群的遗传多样性和分化、有效种群规模(与人口普查规模有关)的信息，并结合合作者正在收集的标记重新捕获数据，间接估计基因流。鉴于遗传技术现在被广泛用于保护生物学，以确定重新引入的源种群并评估灭绝风险(Frankham等人。2002年)，拟议的研究将直接为安大略省斑驳的黄翼种群增加和重新引入工作提供信息。

The Mottled Duskywing (Erynnis martialis) is an endangered butterfly species in Canada. To reverse the contraction in its geographic range observed over the last several decades, recovery-planning documents suggest re-establishing the species at historical sites where suitable habitat remains and/or assisting colonization at previously unoccupied sites with suitable habitat. In 2015, Natural Resource Solutions Inc. (NRSI) began coordinating a multi-year collaborative project to work towards this goal by addressing key actions and knowledge gaps identified in the Draft Recovery Strategy for Mottled Duskywing. The proposed research will contribute to this multi-year collaborative recovery initiative by addressing key knowledge gaps relating to the genetics of the Mottled Duskywing. We will develop microsatellite genetic markers for Mottled Duskywing and complete genetic sampling throughout the species' range in Ontario and nearby locations in the US. This will provide information about the genetic diversity and differentiation of the Ontario subpopulations, effective population size (related to census population size), and, in conjunction with mark-recapture data being collected by collaborators, indirect estimates of gene flow. Given that genetic techniques are now widely used in conservation biology to identify source populations for reintroductions and to assess extinction risk (Frankham et al. 2002), the proposed research will directly inform Mottled Duskywing population augmentation and re-introduction efforts in Ontario.