Ecology, Environment and Conservation Paper

MITOCHONDRIAL DNA DENSITY OF PERIPHERAL WHITE BLOOD CELLS AS A POSSIBLE BIO-MARKER OF MIGRATORY STATUS IN PARTIALLY MIGRATING BIRD POPULATIONS

Augustine Ocloo, Lars H. Holbech and Francis Gbogbo

Abstract

With the novelty of bird banding, radar studies, satellite tracking and systematic field observations, major advances have been made in understanding the complexity of bird migration. However, in the quest to determine the migratory status of individuals in partially migrating bird populations, most of these methods come with major disadvantages. Given that the proportion of migrants and non-migrants in partial migration populations could indicate trends in the success of the migratory process and the selection pressure on migratory bird populations, the need for research into identifying an affordable and direct method of determining the migratory status of partial migrants cannot be overemphasized. This paper generates a new platform for research into distinguishing individuals in a partially migratory populations based on acquired differences in mitochondrial biogenesis. The complexity of this kind of research and the variety of skills required for its execution, calls for the promotion of the idea.