Data from: Is population structure in the European white stork determined by flyway permeability rather than translocation history?

European white stork are long considered to diverge to eastern and western
migration pools as a result of independent overwintering flyways. In
relatively recent times, the western and northern distribution has been
subject to dramatic population declines and country-specific extirpations.
A number of independent reintroduction programs were started in the mid
1950s to bring storks back to historical ranges. Founder individuals were
sourced opportunistically from the Eastern and Western European
distributions and Algeria, leading to significant artificial mixing
between eastern and western flyways. Here we use mitochondrial and
microsatellite DNA to test the contention that prior to translocation,
eastern and western flyways were genetically distinct. The data show a
surprising lack of structure at any spatial or temporal scale suggesting
that even though birds were moved between flyways, there is evidence of
natural mixing prior to the onset of translocation activities. Overall a
high retention of genetic diversity, high Nef, and an apparent absence of
recent genetic bottleneck associated with early 20th century declines
suggest that the species is well equipped to respond to future
environmental pressures.