Document Type
Journal Article
Publication Title
Diversity
Volume
13
Issue
6
Publisher
MDPI
School
School of Science / Centre for Ecosystem Management
RAS ID
36145
Funders
Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions University of Western Australia
Abstract
The loss of genetic variation and genetic divergence from source populations are common problems for reintroductions that use captive animals or a small number of founders to establish a new population. This study evaluated the genetic changes occurring in a captive and a reintroduced population of the dibbler (Parantechinus apicalis) that were established from multiple source populations over a twelve-year period, using 21 microsatellite loci. While the levels of genetic variation within the captive and reintroduced populations were relatively stable, and did not differ significantly from the source populations, their effective population size reduced 10–16-fold over the duration of this study. Evidence of some loss of genetic variation in the reintroduced population coincided with genetic bottlenecks that occurred after the population had become established. Detectable changes in the genetic composition of both captive and reintroduced populations were associated with the origins of the individuals introduced to the population. We show that interbreeding between individuals from different source populations lowered the genetic relatedness among the offspring, but this was short-lived. Our study highlights the importance of sourcing founders from multiple locations in conservation breeding programs to avoid inbreeding and maximize allelic diversity. The manipulation of genetic composition in a captive or reintroduced population is possible with careful management of the origins and timings of founder releases.
DOI
10.3390/d13060257
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Comments
Thavornkanlapachai, R., Mills, H. R., Ottewell, K., Friend, J. A., & Kennington, W. J. (2021). temporal variation in the genetic composition of an endangered marsupial reflects reintroduction history. Diversity, 13(6), article 257. https://doi.org/10.3390/d13060257