RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Mapping migration in a songbird using high-resolution genetic markers JF bioRxiv FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory SP 007757 DO 10.1101/007757 A1 Kristen Ruegg A1 Eric C. Anderson A1 Kristina L. Paxton A1 Vanessa Apkenas A1 Sirena Lao A1 Rodney B. Siegel A1 David F. DeSante A1 Frank Moore A1 Thomas B. Smith YR 2014 UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2014/08/08/007757.abstract AB Neotropical migratory birds are declining across the Western Hemisphere, but conservation efforts have been hampered by the inability to assess where migrants are most limited – the breeding grounds, migratory stopover sites, or wintering areas. A major challenge has been the lack of an efficient, reliable, and broadly applicable method for connecting populations across the annual cycle. Here we show how high-resolution genetic markers can be used to identify populations of a migratory bird, the Wilson’s warbler (Cardellina pusilla), at fine enough spatial scales to facilitate assessing regional drivers of demographic trends. By screening 1626 samples using 96 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) selected from a large pool of candidates (∼450,000), we identify novel region-specific migratory routes and timetables of migration along the Pacific Flyway. Our results illustrate that high-resolution genetic markers are more reliable, accurate, and amenable to high throughput screening than previously described tracking techniques, making them broadly applicable to large-scale monitoring and conservation of migratory organisms.