The number of greater prairie‐chickens in Wisconsin has decreased by 91% since 1932. The current population of approximately 1500 birds exists primarily in four isolated management areas. In previous studies of the Wisconsin populations we documented low levels of genetic variation at microsatellite loci and the mitochondrial DNA control region. Here we investigate changes in genetic structure between the four management areas...

Population introduction is an important tool for ecosystem restoration. However, before introductions should be conducted, it is important to evaluate the genetic, phenotypic and ecological suitability of possible replacement populations. Careful genetic analysis is particularly important if it is suspected that the extirpated population was unique or genetically divergent. On the island of Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, th...

Greater prairie‐chickens ( Tympanuchus cupido pinnatus ) were once found throughout the tallgrass prairie of midwestern North America but over the last century these prairies have been lost or fragmented by human land use. As a consequence, many current populations of prairie‐chickens have become isolated and small. This fragmentation of populations is expected to lead to reductions in genetic variation as a result of random g...

Over the last century, populations of the Greater Prairie Chicken ( Tympanuchus cupido ) have declined or gone extinct throughout midwestern North America. In Wisconsin the population declined by 50% from 1951 to 1961 and has remained at low ( 1500 individuals ) but fluctuating levels for the past 40 years. We examined historic ( 1951 ) and contemporary ( 1996–1999 ) populations of prairie chickens in Wisconsin to determine wh...