Identification and amplification of microsatellite and intron markers for use in phylogeographic analysis of the Pygmy Nuthatch

RM 216

The pygmy nuthatch, Sitta pygmaea, occupies the long-needled pine forests of western North America. These forests were formerly contiguous but became fragmented following the most recent glacial recession, forming geographically isolated “sky islands” occupied. Pygmy nuthatch populations within these sky islands have since evolved independently. Previous research has utilized mitochondrial DNA to examine the population structure and phylogeography of isolated pygmy nuthatch populations, but this data has yet to be corroborated by nuclear DNA markers. Here, microsatellites identified in the brown-headed nuthatch (Sitta pusilla) and introns common across the avian clade Passeriformes are tested for polymorphisms within the pygmy nuthatch genome. Sequences that prove to be polymorphic within and across populations will be used to assess the genetic structure and phylogeography of the pygmy nuthatch species from a bi-parental nuclear perspective.