Population biology of the wandering albatross (Diomedea exulans) in the Crozet and Kerguelen archipelagos, southern Indian Ocean, approached through genetic and demographic methods

摘要: In many seabird species, the genetic structure of populations remains poorly known despite potential consequences for conservation. The globally threatened wandering albatross Diomedea exulans displays specific traits, including limited population size, strong philopatry, adults almost always returning to breed on island where they made their first breeding attempt, delayed maturity, high longevity and low fecundity. Using both demographic methods, we evaluated how these traits might affect within (inbreeding, variability) among (restricted gene flow) discrete colonies. Our study was conducted Possession Island, Crozet archipelago, in Kerguelen archipelago. approach based three colonies 10 microsatellite loci. used data from a 36-year capture–mark–recapture survey entire Island. Inbreeding occurred as often expected under random pairing. Genetic variability each colony did not exceed 6.3 alleles per locus. However, no bottleneck detected. No significant differentiation between two main Island (Fst<0.01), consistent with our estimates dispersal. Conversely, significant. Although males are more philopatric than females, higher sexes observed. Finally, propose that considered distinct management units.