Using stable isotopes to assess population connectivity in the declining European Turtle Dove (Streptopelia turtur)

European Turtle Doves (Streptopelia turtur) are long-distance migrants and have experienced a population decline of more than 78% since 1980. Their conservation depends on refined knowledge of breeding origins and population connectivity. Feathers collected at stopover sites, but molted at breeding grounds, provide an opportunity to assign birds to potential regions of origin using tissue stable hydrogen isotope values and relate those to a European feather hydrogen isoscape. Here, 101 feather samples from 13 different breeding countries were analyzed to calibrate the European hydrogen isoscape and 101 feather samples from Spanish, Italian, Maltese, Greek, and Bulgarian stopovers were assigned to potential regions of origin. The assigned range of origin for all 101 individuals grouped together agreed with known distribution patterns. Bulgarian samples were mostly assigned to Russian areas. Possible origins of Greek, Italian, Maltese, and Spanish samples ranged from central to southern Europe. Individual assignments highlighted four broad regions of origin, corresponding to a cool/humid to hot/dry temperature gradient. Proportions of birds assigned to these regions varied among birds sampled at different stopover sites. Therefore, our results provide important information about population connectivity and may be useful to evaluate possible influences of hunting on Turtle Dove populations

Migratory birds along the Mediterranean/Black Sea Flyway as carriers of zoonotic pathogens

At the crossroad between Europe, Asia and Africa, Bulgaria is part of the Mediterranean/Black Sea Flyway (MBSF) used by millions of migratory birds. In this study bird species migrating through Bulgaria were investigated as carriers of zoonotic pathogens. In total, 706 birds belonging to 46 species were checked for the presence of various bacterial pathogens (Campylobacter, Yersinia, Salmonella, Listeria, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Francisella tularensis, Coxiella burnetii, Borrelia burgdorferi and Brucella spp). We detected Campylobacter 16S rDNA gene in 1.3% of birds, but none were pathogenic species. E. coli 16S rDNA gene was found in 8.8% of the birds. Out of 34 birds that transported Y. enterocolitica strains (5.05%), only one carried a pathogenic isolate. Three birds (0.4%) were carriers of non-pathogenic Salmonella strains. Four avian samples (0.6%) were positive for Listeria monocytogenes and one (0.15 %) - for Brucella spp. None of the birds tested carried the tick-borne pathogens C. burnetii or B. burgdorferi s.l. Antibiotic resistant strains were detected, suggesting that migratory birds could be reservoirs and spreaders of bacterial pathogens as well as antibiotic resistance genes.The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author