Genetic Diversity And Offspring Sex Ratios Of Chinese Goshawk(Accipiter Soloensis)in Dongzhai National Nation Reserve In Henan Province

Genetic diversity and offspring sex ratio are parameters for evaluating the viability of populations.Genetic diversity,indicating the total genetic variation inner-species or inner-population,is associated with its adaptive capacity and evolutionary potential.Sex ratio indicates the ratio between male and female offspring,and distorted sex ratio may cause the reduction of effective breeding pairs and accelerate extinction.Therefore,both the two parameter are important references for survival analysis.Chinese Goshawk,Accipiter soloensis(Falconiformes,Accipitridae),which mainly distributes in Korea,Philippines,Malaysia and China,is a small-sized raptor listed as a class ? protected species in our country.Few were known about this species,especially in molecular studies.In order to figure out its survival status and evolutionary potential,we studied the genetic diversity and the offspring sex ratio of the Chinese Goshawk population breeding in Dongzhai national nature reserve in Henan province using methods of molecular biology.A total of 117 adults and 252 offspring from 93 broods were sampled during 2008~2013,among which adult samples were used for studying genetic diversity while offspring samples for studying sex ratios.Two data sets were distinguished as to sex ratio research,in which 185 offspring from 59 broods correspond with clutches were used for analyses of primary sex-ratios while 219 offspring from 84 broods correspond with survivals for analyses of secondary sex-ratios.Genetic diversity of 429 bp mitochondrial DNA control region from 117 samples was studied.Among 14 polymorphic sites found,six were single variation sites and the other eight were parsimony-informative sites.15 haplotypes were identified in total,and the average genetic distance was 0.006.Haplotype diversity(Hd),nucleotide diversity(?)and average number of nucleotide differences(K)of the population were 0.684±0.029,0.00238±0.00178,and 1.019±0.688 respectively,indicating its genetic diversity at a relatively low level.Finally,the results of mismatch distribution and neutral test support the sudden expansion model,thus,suggesting probable expansions or stable sustained growth in the phylogeny.Meanwhile,offspring sex ratios were examined.Overall primary and secondary sex ratios(presented by male proportion)were 0.459 and 0.452 respectively and neither of them significantly divided from 0.5,and the weak deviation towards daughters might indicate that parents experienced good environment and physical conditions during breeding period.Primary and secondary sex ratios in each year ranged from 0.300 to 0.595 and from 0.273 to 0.589 respectively,none but secondary sex ratio in 2012 significantly divided from 0.5.Analysis suggested that the deviation in 2012 might be an occasional case due to predation.Furthermore,neither clutch size nor parental body size significantly influenced offspring sex ratios.In conclusion,result that offspring sex ratio did not deviate from equal indicates the Dongzhai population of Chinese Goshawk be in good situation so far.However,relatively low level of genetic diversity may be a probably negative signal for its survival potential,thus,risk of a crisis should not be ignored.