GENETIC-STRUCTURE AND MATING SYSTEM IN THE PALILA, AN ENDANGERED HAWAIIAN HONEYCREEPER, AS ASSESSED BY DNA-FINGERPRINTING

We conducted DNA fingerprinting analyses to ascertain the mating syste m and population genetic structure of the palila, an endangered Hawaii an honeycreeper, which occupies a fragmented range on the Mauna Kea vo lcano of the island of Hawai'i. DNA fingerprinting of twelve complete families from the Pu'u La'au population revealed no evidence of extrap air fertilization or intraspecific brood parasitism. Band-sharing coef ficients from fingerprints produced with two probes revealed that the large Pu'u La'au population on the southwest slope of Mauna Kea, and a smaller, geographically separate population on the east slope (at Kan akaleonui) had relatively high and virtually identical levels of minis atellite variability (mean S of 0.27 for each population based on comb ined data of M13 and Jeffreys 33.15 probes). The two populations also had nearly identical allele frequencies based on their mean corrected similarity, S-ij. of 0,98. These data suggest that the two populations have not been fragmented long and/or have sufficient current gene flo w to ameliorate any affects of genetic drift, We conclude that present levels of inbreeding are low within both populations, and that propos ed translocations of individuals from Pu'u La'au to Kanakaleonui appea r appropriate from a genetic standpoint.