Connectivity between golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos)
populations is poorly understood. Field studies exploring natal
dispersal suggest that this raptor is a philopatric species, but with
the ability to roam far. However, little is known about the population
structure of the species in Europe. Our study is based on 14
microsatellite loci and is complemented by new and previously published
mitochondrial control region DNA data. The present dataset includes 121
eagles from Scotland, Norway, Finland, Estonia, the Mediterranean and
Alpine regions. Our sampling focused on the Alpine and Mediterranean
populations because both mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) lineages found in
golden eagles, the Holarctic and the Mediterranean, are known to
co-occur there. Cluster analyses of nuclear DNA support a shallow split
into northern and southern populations in Europe, similar to the
distribution of the two mtDNA lineages, with the Holarctic lineage
occurring in the north and the Mediterranean lineage predominating in
the south. Additionally, Scotland shows significant differentiation and
low relative migration levels that indicate isolation from the mainland
populations. Alpine and Mediterranean golden eagles do not show nuclear
structure corresponding to divergent mtDNA lineages. This indicates that
the presence of northern Holarctic mitochondrial haplotypes in the Alps
and the Mediterranean is attributable to past admixture rather than
recent long-distance dispersal.