Heterozygosity-fitness correlations of conserved microsatellite markers in Kentish plovers Charadrius alexandrinus

Heterozygosity-fitness correlations (HFCs) are frequently used to examine the relationship between genetic diversity and fitness. Most studies have reported positive HFCs, although there is a strong bias towards investigating HFCs in genetically impoverished populations. We investigated HFCs in a large genetically diverse breeding population of Kentish plovers Charadrius alexandrinus in Southern Turkey. This small shorebird exhibits highly variable mating and care systems and it is becoming an ecological model species to understand breeding system evolution. Using eleven conserved and six anonymous microsatellite markers we tested whether and how heterozygosity was associated with chick survival, tarsus and body mass growth controlling for non-genetic effects (chick sex, hatching date, length of biparental care and site quality) that influence survival and growth. There was no genome-wide effect of heterozygosity on fitness and, we did not find any significant effects of heterozygosity...