Population genetics of reintroduced wild turkeys: Insights into hybridization, gene flow, and social structure

Advances in molecular genetics have given us tools to address questions in wildlife species at levels of biological organization directly relevant to managers. Thus, the development of genetic markers for use in wildlife species such as the wild turkey is a high priority for their future conservation and management. In chapter 1, I developed a suite of molecular markers for use in wild turkeys, and assessed their relative utility at the individual, population, and subspecies levels. In the remainder of the dissertation, I used these markers to address specific issues relevant to wild turkey management. Despite the overwhelming success of turkey restoration in North America, primarily due to translocation efforts, the genetic implications of turkey translocations are poorly understood and bring into question both taxonomic integrity and the genetic relationships among populations in a region. Often, multiple subspecies were reintroduced into a region, creating the opportunity for hybridization to occur. In chapter 2, I identified and characterized hybridization between endemic Rio Grande turkeys and an introduced population of Merriam\u27s turkeys in the Davis Mountains of west Texas. I found high rates of immigration and hybridization in the introduced population, and limited genetic impact of introduced individuals on nearby endemic populations. At a regional level, large-scale movements of individuals through translocation efforts likely have disrupted historical patterns of population structure. Although gene flow among reintroduced populations may obscure patterns of genetic structure caused by the founding event, it is not known to what extent this occurs in turkeys. I found evidence of gene flow among reintroduced populations in Indiana; however, the magnitude of genetic interchange was insufficient to obscure the genetic signature of the initial reintroduction event in most populations. In the fourth chapter, I investigated the impacts of seasonal variation in social organization on estimates of genetic structure in local wild turkey populations. The social structure of turkeys varies greatly between winter and spring, and I found a corresponding shift in estimates of genetic structure between these two seasons