Effects of location, orchard type, laying period and nest position on the reproductive performance of Turtle Doves(Streptopelia turtur) on intensively cultivated farmland

Background: Until recently little was known about factors affecting reproductive parameters of the Turtle Dove(Streptopelia turtur) on intensively cultivated farmland in the Mediterranean area. In this study, the reproductive parameters of this game species were evaluated in relation to location, orchard type, laying period and nest position in central Morocco.Methods: A total of 317 nests were found and analyzed across five breeding seasons(2004–2008) in the Haouz and Tadla regions, over two major agro-ecosystems made up of olive and orange orchards. Nest position, laying period, clutch size and the number of chicks hatched and fledged per nest were determined on 120 study plots. I used Generalized Linear Models(GLMs) with a Poisson distribution and a log link function, including the logarithm of the number of eggs in each clutch as an offset to model the number of chicks hatched and fledged per nest.Results: Clutch-size was not affected by location, orchard type, laying period or nest position. The number of chicks hatched per nest differed between orchard types; they were greater in olive orchards(1.33 ± 0.06) than in orange ones(1.03 ± 0.08), whereas the number of chicks fledged per nest consistently differed with laying period and orchard type, which were higher in the early laying period(1.22 ± 0.07) than in the late period(0.93 ± 0.08) and higher in olive orchards(1.22 ± 0.06) than in orange orchards(0.90 ± 0.06). Neither location nor nest position were related to variation in the fledging success of the Turtle Dove.Conclusions: Olive orchards and the early laying period confer better nesting conditions than orange orchards and the late laying period. Although nest position could be different in each orchard type, it did not affect the breeding success of the Turtle Dove, suggesting that factors other than tree characteristics are influential. Further studies are needed to improve our understanding of the effects of anthropogenic disturbance, especially agricultural activities and hunting, on the productivity of Turtle Dove nests.

Assessment of Genetic Diversity of Argania spinosa L. Growing in Arid and Semi-arid Areas of Morocco as Revealed by Inter-Simple Sequence Repeats

Argania spinosa L. （Sapotaceae family）, endemic to Morocco, is a multipurpose tree with an important ecological and socio-economical interest. Nevertheless, the sustainability of the agro-forestry system is now threatened by overgrazing and over-exploitation leading to an alarming decline in the number of trees. In the present study, inter-simple sequence repeats （ISSR） markers were used to evaluate the genetic variation and to assess the genetic diversity distribution within and among 17 argan populations growing naturally under semi-arid and arid climate. Thus, a total of seven primers generated 260 well-defined bands, with an average of 37.14 bands per primer. Studied populations showed a relatively high level of genetic diversity at species level and low level of genetic diversity at population level. The percentage of polymorphic bands, Nei＇s gene diversity and Shannon＇s information index at population and species level were 30.15%, 0.164, 0.217 and 98.8%, 0.172, 0.293, respectively. A relative low level of genetic differentiation （Gst = 0.39） was in agreement with the results obtained from the analysis of molecular variance （AMOVA）. Estimated gene flow was Nm = 0.781 among populations. Mantel test revealed a non-significant correlation between genetic and geographic distance （r = 0.065, P 〈 0.05）, suggesting that the geographic distribution is not the major factor that shaped the present population genetic structure. The results can help preserve A. spinosa L. tree as an endangered species, however, refining these finding using co-dominant markers is recommended in order to establish conservation strategies.