Data from: A longitudinal genetic survey identifies temporal shifts in the population structure of Dutch house sparrows

Dutch house sparrow (Passer domesticus) densities dropped by nearly 50% since the early 1980s, and similar collapses in population sizes have been reported across Europe. Whether, and to what extent, such relatively recent demographic changes are accompanied by concomitant shifts in the genetic population structure of this species needs further investigation. Therefore, we here explore temporal shifts in genetic diversity, genetic structure and effective sizes of seven Dutch house sparrow populations. To allow the most powerful statistical inference, historical populations were resampled at identical locations and each individual bird was genotyped using nine polymorphic microsatellites. Although the demographic history was not reflected by a reduction in genetic diversity, levels of genetic differentiation increased over time, and the original, panmictic population (inferred from the museum samples) diverged into two distinct genetic clusters. Reductions in census size were supported by a substantial reduction in effective population size, although to a smaller extent. As most studies of contemporary house sparrow populations have been unable to identify genetic signatures of recent population declines, results of this study underpin the importance of longitudinal genetic surveys to unravel cryptic genetic patterns.

自20世纪80年代初以来，荷兰家麻雀（Passer domesticus）的种群密度下降了近50%，欧洲各地均有报道称其种群规模出现类似的锐减。这类相对较新的种群动态变化是否伴随该物种种群遗传结构的同步改变，以及改变的程度如何，仍有待进一步研究。为此，本研究针对7个荷兰家麻雀种群，探究其遗传多样性、遗传结构以及有效种群大小（effective population size）的时间维度变化。为实现最具效力的统计推断，研究团队在相同采样位点对历史种群进行了重采样，并利用9个多态性微卫星（microsatellite）对每只个体进行基因分型。尽管种群动态历史并未通过遗传多样性的降低体现出来，但遗传分化水平随时间推移有所上升，且原本的随机交配种群（由博物馆标本样本推断得出）已分化为两个独立的遗传聚类簇。种群普查数量的减少得到了有效种群大小显著下降的佐证，尽管下降幅度相对较小。由于多数针对当代家麻雀种群的研究均未能检测到近期种群衰退的遗传信号，本研究结果进一步证实了纵向遗传调查在揭示隐秘遗传模式方面的重要性。