Strong philopatry derived from capture-recapture records does not lead to fine-scale genetic differentiation in...

1. The integration of capture-recapture and molecular approaches can improve our understanding of the consequences of habitat fragmentation on population connectivity. Here we employed microsatellites to test dispersal hypotheses derived from intense and long-term ringing programmes of the lesser kestrel Falco naumanni in Western Europe. 2. Re-encounters of 1308 marked individuals in Spain have revealed that most first-time breeders settled within 10 km from their natal colony, with a negative association between dispersal and geographical distance. Although these findings would predict fine-scale spatial patterns of genetic differentiation, the genetic impact of rarely reported events concerning long-distance effective dispersal (> 100 km) is unknown. 3. First, we investigated a spatially structured and geographically isolated population located in north-eastern Spain, where capture-recapture records and genetic data could be appropriately compared over similar spatial and temporal scales. Spatial autocorrelation analyses (N = 174 nestlings from different broods) did not reveal either significant differences in average relatedness at any distance class nor decreased relatedness as a function of distance. At a broader spatial scale, Bayesian analysis of population structure (N = 432 nestlings) indicated panmixia across Western Europe. However, F(ST) comparisons between four geographically distinct populations indicated low but significant genetic differentiation. 4. Our genetic data would therefore challenge traditional assumptions associating philopatry with the emergence of fine-scale genetic structuring. This could be because even low levels of gene flow are enough to preclude the development of local genetic structure. Nevertheless, the analysis of a geographically isolated and small population from Southern France exemplifies a situation in which restricted dispersal has translated into weak but consistently significant genetic differentiation. 5. Relevant to conservation genetics and evolutionary biology, our results may lessen the genetic concerns derived from population fragmentation at relatively small geographical scales in species with apparently limited dispersal abilities, but raises concerns about increased genetic divergence in small and isolated demes.