Molecular Population Genetic Structure in the Piping Plover
Bibliographic record
Abstract
The Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus) is a migratory shorebird currently listed as Endangered in Canada and the U.S. Great Lakes, and threatened throughout the remainder of its U.S. breeding and winter range. In this study, we undertook the first comprehensive molecular genetic-based investigation of Piping Plovers. Our primary goals were to (1) address higher level subspecific taxonomic issues, (2) characterize population genetic structure, and (3) make inferences regarding past bottlenecks or population expansions that have occurred within this species. Our analyses included samples of individuals from 23 U.S. States and Canadian Provinces, and were based on mitochondrial DNA sequences (580 bp, n = 245 individuals) and eight nuclear microsatellite loci (n = 229 individuals). Our findings illustrate strong support for separate Atlantic and Interior Piping Plover subspecies (C. m. melodus and C. m. circumcinctus, respectively). Birds from the Great Lakes region were allied with the Interior subspecies group and should be taxonomically referred to as C. m. circumcinctus. Population genetic analyses suggested that genetic structure was stronger among Atlantic birds relative to the Interior group. This pattern indicates that natal and breeding site fidelity may be reduced among Interior birds. Furthermore, analyses suggested that Interior birds have previously experienced genetic bottlenecks, whereas no evidence for such patterns existed among the Atlantic subspecies. Likewise, genetic analyses indicated that the Great Lakes region has experienced a population expansion. This finding may be interpreted as population growth following a previous bottleneck event. No genetic evidence for population expansions was found for Atlantic, Prairie Canada, or U.S. Northern Great Plains individuals. We interpret our population history insights in light of 25 years of Piping Plover census data. Overall, differences observed between Interior and Atlantic birds may reflect differences in spatiotemporal stability of Piping Plover nesting habitat between regions.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.000 | 0.001 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Open science | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Research integrity | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.001 | 0.000 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".