Spatial-genetic structuring in a red-breasted merganser (Mergus serrator) colony in the Canadian Maritimes.

The clustering of kin is widespread across the animal kingdom and two of the primary mechanisms underlying the formation of these patterns in adult kin are (1) philopatric tendencies and (2) actively maintained kin associations. Using polymorphic microsatellites, we had set out to characterize the level of genetic-spatial organization within a colony of female red-breasted mergansers (Mergus serrator) breeding on a series of small barrier islands in Kouchibouguac National Park, NB, Canada. Additionally, using nesting data from this colony, we explored possibilities for the existence of kin associations and/or cooperative interactions between these individuals; specifically in the form of the synchronization of breeding activities (i.