Revealing the biodiversity of Chilean birds through the COI barcode approach.

The mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene is an effective molecular tool for the estimation of genetic variation and the identification of bird species. This molecular marker is used to differentiate among Chilean bird species by analyzing barcodes for 76 species (197 individuals), comprising 28 species with no previous barcode data and 48 species with sequences retrieved from the BOLD and GenBank databases. The DNA barcodes correctly identified 94.

Genetic divergence analysis of the Common Barn Owl Tyto alba (Scopoli, 1769) and the Short-eared Owl Asio flammeus (Pontoppidan, 1763) from southern Chile using COI sequence.

In this paper new mitochondrial COI sequences of Common Barn Owl Tyto alba (Scopoli, 1769) and Short-eared Owl Asio flammeus (Pontoppidan, 1763) from southern Chile are reported and compared with sequences from other parts of the World. The intraspecific genetic divergence (mean p-distance) was 4.6 to 5.

Effects of sampling regime on the mean and variance of home range size estimates.

1. Although the home range is a fundamental ecological concept, there is considerable debate over how it is best measured. There is a substantial literature concerning the precision and accuracy of all commonly used home range estimation methods; however, there has been considerably less work concerning how estimates vary with sampling regime, and how this affects statistical inferences.

An integrated approach to identify spatiotemporal and individual-level determinants of animal home range size.

Animal home range use is a central focus of ecological research. However, how and why home range size varies between individuals is not well studied or understood for most species. We develop a hierarchical analytical approach--using generalized linear mixed-effects modeling of time series of home range sizes--that allows variance in home range size to be decomposed into components due to variation in temporal, spatial, and individual-level processes, also facilitating intra- and interspecific comparative analyses.