Rock Buntings in Central Europe: Phylogeographic connectivity and a current inventory in the Upper Middle Rhine valley

The Rock Bunting (Emberiza cia) occurs from the Iberian Peninsula to mountainous regions in Central Asia. In Europe, its centre of distribution lays in the Mediterranean region. A small subpopulation is found in Germany in rocky habitats (often with vineyards) along the rivers Middle Rhine, Nahe, Main, Moselle and Ahr. In this study, the German population of the Rock Bunting was monitored for more than 15 years and a continuous decline was observed. Buntings were mist netted and colour ringed; furthermore, blood samples were collected for a DNA analysis. For 122 samples the variability of nucleotide sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene and the allele distribution of 12 polymorphic microsatellite markers were investigated. Both mtDNA and nuclear DNA show genetical variability, but no geographic clustering, indicating a connectivity and gene flow between the German subpopulations.