Applicability of degraded biological remains in conservation genetic studies of birds Case study of the Eastern Imperial Eagle (Aquila heliaca) population of the Carpathian Basin

Abstract

The number of conservation studies in which molecular methods are used is increasing. The aim of these researches is mostly to compare two populations of the same species, to investigate their individual or population sized relationships and to estimate their genetic stability. However genetic sampling of some species can be difficult, but as the molecular methods got more sensitive it is now possible to use non-invasively collected samples like hair or feathers for these studies. Such samples are usually of poor quality and the extracted DNA is very fragmented. At the same time this type of sampling for conservation biology studies is very favourable, especially when studying endangered or stress sensitive species. In bird studies feather colleting is feasible if the nesting sites are known and can be carried out simultaneously with the monitoring of the species without additional field work.