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Otididae (1 Viewer)

Acrocephalus

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Morocco
Yang R., Wu X., Yan P., Su X. & Yang B. (2010). Complete mitochondrial genome of Otis tarda (Gruiformes: Otididae) and phylogeny of Gruiformes inferred from mitochondrial DNA sequences. Molecular Biology Reports (DOI : 10.1007/s11033-009-9878-7). abstract

It did not say in the abstract, but I guess they sampled (actual field samples or gene banks) only or mainly the eastern subspecies for the Great Bustard, someone with access to full text could check.

these 2 older studies:

Broders O., Osborne T. & Wink M. (2003). A mtDNA phylogeny of bustards (family Otididae) based on nucleotide sequences of the cytochrome b-gene. J. Ornithol. 144: 176-185. full text

Pitra C., Lieckfeldt D. & Alonso J.C. (2000). Population subdivision in Europe´s great bustard inferred from mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequence variation. Molecular Ecology 9: 1165-1170. full text

Mohamed
 
Bustards in Morocco

This comment probably doesn’t belong here.

If we take into consideration that Great Bustard in Europe already form 2 distinct phylogeographic units, namely the Iberian population and Central Europe (and eastwards) population (Pitra et al 2000). The Moroccan population is already dying out as a result of the impoverishment of the genetic pool…let aside hunting and habitat loss.

We used to have 4 bustard species in Morocco: Arabian Bustard, Houbara Bustard, Great Bustard and Little Bustard. The fist species is vanished from the country, the second species is going to be vanished soon as a wild bird by Middle Eastern Arab hunters and the third species is surviving in a tiny population in the northernmost of the country and is suffering from hunting by Moroccan & Europeans this time. If no action will be taken in the near future, then only Little Bustard will be left in 2-3 decades time.
 
Bustards in Morocco

We used to have 4 bustard species in Morocco: Arabian Bustard, Houbara Bustard, Great Bustard and Little Bustard. ...the second species is going to be vanished soon as a wild bird by Middle Eastern Arab hunters... If no action will be taken in the near future, then only Little Bustard will be left in 2-3 decades time.
But concerning Houbara Bustard in Morocco, surely action is being taken:
An ECWP ad in National Geographic (Dec 2009) gave these more recent figures:
  • 16,624 were bred in 2009, with totals of 44,000+ bred and 30,000+ released to date.
Richard
 
Yang R., Wu X., Yan P., Su X. & Yang B. (2010). Complete mitochondrial genome of Otis tarda (Gruiformes: Otididae) and phylogeny of Gruiformes inferred from mitochondrial DNA sequences.

It did not say in the abstract, but I guess they sampled (actual field samples or gene banks) only or mainly the eastern subspecies for the Great Bustard, someone with access to full text could check.

Mohamed

It seems you're right:
"Otis tarda sample (Sample No. AV01065) was obtained
from the Animal Conservation Biology Laboratory, College
of Life Sciences of Anhui Normal University."
 
Bustards in Morocco

I know the work done by the ECWP, in my first comment I said that the Houbara will be vanished as a wild bird because somehow I didn’t know that the released birds did and do breed in the wild as indicated in their website, that’s great indeed.
Well, the primary motivation seems to be to ensure 'sustainable falconry' for Arabian falconers, rather than a genuine concern for the species per se. Maybe that's better than just hunting wild Houbaras to extinction, but unfortunately it does nothing to diminish the demand for large falcons...

For balance, perhaps ECWP should be persuaded to expand its programme to support some threatened/extinct Moroccan raptors: Lammergeier, Lappet-faced Vulture, Black Vulture, Dark Chanting Goshawk, Tawny Eagle, Spanish Imperial Eagle, Marsh Owl...

Richard ;)
 
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Well, the primary motivation seems to be to ensure 'sustainable falconry' for Arabian falconers, rather than a genuine concern for the species per se. Maybe that's better than just hunting wild Houbaras to extinction, but unfortunately it does nothing to diminish the demand for large falcons...

For balance, perhaps ECWP should be persuaded to expand its programme to support some threatened/extinct Moroccan raptors: Lammergeier, Lappet-faced Vulture, Black Vulture, Dark Chanting Goshawk, Tawny Eagle, Spanish Imperial Eagle, Marsh Owl...


That’s unfortunately correct, all they do right now is to sustain the falconry activity, as you now this activity has a lot of history and means a lot more than just hunting for them. I would agree also that the work done by these centres now is much better than hunting wildly until the extinction of the stock and go to somewhere else.

It is not a great deal to persuade Golf States hunters to do some conservation in favour of some Moroccan wildlife in return for hunting. All the Moroccan authorities have to do is try some trade-off between them, especially that there is today a good relationship between Morocco and those countries. To see an example of what I mean in the latter phrase see the section “Support from the Kingdom of Morocco” in this web-page: http://houbara.com/english/about-ifcdw/.

To do so, the Moroccans have to speak directly to the bosses themselves (i.e. the Emirs…) as a hole, not to the individual centres. As you may know, there are other centres than the ECWP (Emirates Center for Wildlife Propagation) that do the same work as the latter. The other big actor is the IFCDW (International Foundation for Conservation and Development of Wildlife), a Saudi sponsored centre based in Inezgane near Agadir since 1997 and have “The Desert Research and Release Centre” in Errachidia in centre-east of Morocco (http://houbara.com/english/).

In my opinion, the Moroccans who should take the blame for not trying this option with the hunters to do some good to other Moroccan species. In the end, some equation like this should work: “Moroccan birds pay for other Moroccan birds”. I only hope that this has to be realised before is too late.

Mohamed
 
Houbara and Macqueen’s bustards

Korrida A., Jadallah S., Chbel F., Amin-Alami A., Ahra M., Aggrey S. 2012. Patterns of genetic diversity and population structure of the threatened Houbara and Macqueen’s bustards as revealed by microsatellite markers. Genet. Mol. Res. 11: 3207-3221.
full text
 
Houbara & Macqueen's Bustards

Korrida & Schweizer (in press). Diversification across the Palaearctic desert belt throughout the Pleistocene: phylogeographic history of the Houbara–Macqueen's bustard complex (Otididae: Chlamydotis) as revealed by mitochondrial DNA. J Zool Syst Evol Res. [abstract]
 
Has any work been done on the Canary Islands bustards? To me, in a completely non-scientific way of course (;)) they are more different visually from Houbara than MacQueen's is.....
 
Canary Islands Bustard

Has any work been done on the Canary Islands bustards?
van den Berg 2013 (Dutch Birding bird names) lists Canary Islands Bustard Chlamydotis undulata fuertaventurae as a 'distinct subspecies sometimes considered specifically distinct'; and eBird/Clements lists C u fuertaventurae as a monotypic subspecies group.

Korrida & Schweizer sampled both nominate undulata and fuertaventurae, but found little intraspecific genetic differentiation.
 
The paper is filled with the use of Fuertaventura, so there is no internal evidence that fuerteventurae should be used, it's certainly not a lapsus or a printers error.

So in my view there is no valid reason to correct this name.

Theo
 
Houbara & Macqueen's Bustards: Korrida's thesis (Morocco)

Korrida, A. (2012). Les outardes Houbara “Chlamydotis undulata” et Macqueen’s “Chlamydotis macqueenii“: Études génétique, morphométrique et phylogéographique. Thèse de Doctorat National, Université Ibnou Zohr, Agadir.

French and English abstracts and a link to the thesis (PDF here) posted in north african birds.


Korrida & Schweizer (in press). Diversification across the Palaearctic desert belt throughout the Pleistocene: phylogeographic history of the Houbara–Macqueen's bustard complex (Otididae: Chlamydotis) as revealed by mitochondrial DNA. J Zool Syst Evol Res. [abstract]

The manuscript of this paper is also included in the document.
 
Korrida & Schweizer 2014 pdf

Korrida & Schweizer (in press). Diversification across the Palaearctic desert belt throughout the Pleistocene: phylogeographic history of the Houbara–Macqueen's bustard complex (Otididae: Chlamydotis) as revealed by mitochondrial DNA. J Zool Syst Evol Res. [abstract]
Currently free access:
  • J Zool Syst Evol Res 52(1): 65–74. [pdf]
van den Berg 2013 (Dutch Birding bird names) lists Canary Islands Bustard Chlamydotis undulata fuertaventurae as a 'distinct subspecies sometimes considered specifically distinct'...
Korrida & Schweizer sampled both nominate undulata and fuertaventurae, but found little intraspecific genetic differentiation.
(Fuertaventurae downgraded from 'distinct subspecies sometimes considered specifically distinct' in van den Berg 2014.)
 
Great Bustard

Pitra C., Lieckfeldt D. & Alonso J.C. (2000). Population subdivision in Europe´s great bustard inferred from mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequence variation. Molecular Ecology 9: 1165-1170.
Horreo, Alonso, Palacín & Milá (in press). Genetic structure in Iberian and Moroccan populations of the globally threatened great bustard Otis tarda: a microsatellite perspective. J Avian Biol. [abstract]
 

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