Phylogeography of Woodpigeon (Columba palumbus) from Central Italy: sedentary vs migratory populations and main flyways reconstruction.. Phylogeography of Columba palumbus

Columba palumbus is a Palearctic species, breeding in all countries of Europe whose population is recently facing a rapid increase. Southern and Western Europe populations are mainly sedentary, whereas breeders from the Eastern Europe are migratory and move to Southern Europe for wintering. This species carries several pathogens potentially transmitted to poultry, with important consequences for the industry, and also to humans. Accordingly an accurate description of the main flyways of Woodpigeon is necessary to prevent and control the potential spread of pathogens and the occurrence of important epidemics. In recent years some studies have been carried out by using genetic methods to outline the migration patterns of C. palumbus, however, although extensive, these studies did not include samples from the Italian peninsula, an important migratory route, where both sedentary and migratory Woodpigeons are present.In this study the partial D-loop mtDNA were genotyped in both sedentary and migratory Woodpigeons caught in the Central Italy and four sedentary individuals caught in Romania.These analyses confirm previous finding about the main flyways of Woodpigeon from breeding to wintering areas and allow to refine the knowledge of the migratory routes moving from Belarus, Hungary and Romania to Italy, suggesting that migratory individuals could reach Spain wintering grounds also moving below the Alps. Moreover these results shed light on the genetic composition of sedentary and migratory Woodpigeons inhabiting in Central Italy, showing the presence of a slight signal of differentiation between the two subpopulations.