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Subspecies hybridization as a potential conservation tool in species reintroductions

Reintroductions are a powerful tool for the recovery of endangered species. However, their long‐term success is strongly influenced by the genetic diversity of the reintroduced population. The chances of population persistence can be improved by enhancing the population's adaptive ability throu...

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Autores principales: Zecherle, Lilith J., Nichols, Hazel J., Bar‐David, Shirli, Brown, Richard P., Hipperson, Helen, Horsburgh, Gavin J., Templeton, Alan R.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: John Wiley and Sons Inc. 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8127701/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34025762
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/eva.13191
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author Zecherle, Lilith J.
Nichols, Hazel J.
Bar‐David, Shirli
Brown, Richard P.
Hipperson, Helen
Horsburgh, Gavin J.
Templeton, Alan R.
author_facet Zecherle, Lilith J.
Nichols, Hazel J.
Bar‐David, Shirli
Brown, Richard P.
Hipperson, Helen
Horsburgh, Gavin J.
Templeton, Alan R.
author_sort Zecherle, Lilith J.
collection PubMed
description Reintroductions are a powerful tool for the recovery of endangered species. However, their long‐term success is strongly influenced by the genetic diversity of the reintroduced population. The chances of population persistence can be improved by enhancing the population's adaptive ability through the mixing of individuals from different sources. However, where source populations are too diverse the reintroduced population could also suffer from outbreeding depression or unsuccessful admixture due to behavioural or genetic barriers. For the reintroduction of Asiatic wild ass Equus hemionus ssp. in Israel, a breeding core was created from individuals of two different subspecies (E. h. onager & E. h. kulan). Today the population comprises approximately 300 individuals and displays no signs of outbreeding depression. The aim of this study was a population genomic evaluation of this conservation reintroduction protocol. We used maximum likelihood methods and genetic clustering analyses to investigate subspecies admixture and test for spatial autocorrelation based on subspecies ancestry. Further, we analysed heterozygosity and effective population sizes in the breeding core prior to release and the current wild population. We discovered high levels of subspecies admixture in the breeding core and wild population, consistent with a significant heterozygote excess in the breeding core. Furthermore, we found no signs of spatial autocorrelation associated with subspecies ancestry in the wild population. Inbreeding and variance effective population size estimates were low. Our results indicate no genetic or behavioural barriers to admixture between the subspecies and suggest that their hybridization has led to greater genetic diversity in the reintroduced population. The study provides rare empirical evidence of the successful application of subspecies hybridization in a reintroduction. It supports use of intraspecific hybridization as a tool to increase genetic diversity in conservation translocations.
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spelling pubmed-81277012021-05-21 Subspecies hybridization as a potential conservation tool in species reintroductions Zecherle, Lilith J. Nichols, Hazel J. Bar‐David, Shirli Brown, Richard P. Hipperson, Helen Horsburgh, Gavin J. Templeton, Alan R. Evol Appl Original Articles Reintroductions are a powerful tool for the recovery of endangered species. However, their long‐term success is strongly influenced by the genetic diversity of the reintroduced population. The chances of population persistence can be improved by enhancing the population's adaptive ability through the mixing of individuals from different sources. However, where source populations are too diverse the reintroduced population could also suffer from outbreeding depression or unsuccessful admixture due to behavioural or genetic barriers. For the reintroduction of Asiatic wild ass Equus hemionus ssp. in Israel, a breeding core was created from individuals of two different subspecies (E. h. onager & E. h. kulan). Today the population comprises approximately 300 individuals and displays no signs of outbreeding depression. The aim of this study was a population genomic evaluation of this conservation reintroduction protocol. We used maximum likelihood methods and genetic clustering analyses to investigate subspecies admixture and test for spatial autocorrelation based on subspecies ancestry. Further, we analysed heterozygosity and effective population sizes in the breeding core prior to release and the current wild population. We discovered high levels of subspecies admixture in the breeding core and wild population, consistent with a significant heterozygote excess in the breeding core. Furthermore, we found no signs of spatial autocorrelation associated with subspecies ancestry in the wild population. Inbreeding and variance effective population size estimates were low. Our results indicate no genetic or behavioural barriers to admixture between the subspecies and suggest that their hybridization has led to greater genetic diversity in the reintroduced population. The study provides rare empirical evidence of the successful application of subspecies hybridization in a reintroduction. It supports use of intraspecific hybridization as a tool to increase genetic diversity in conservation translocations. John Wiley and Sons Inc. 2021-02-08 /pmc/articles/PMC8127701/ /pubmed/34025762 http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/eva.13191 Text en © 2021 The Authors. Evolutionary Applications published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article under the terms of the http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Original Articles
Zecherle, Lilith J.
Nichols, Hazel J.
Bar‐David, Shirli
Brown, Richard P.
Hipperson, Helen
Horsburgh, Gavin J.
Templeton, Alan R.
Subspecies hybridization as a potential conservation tool in species reintroductions
title Subspecies hybridization as a potential conservation tool in species reintroductions
title_full Subspecies hybridization as a potential conservation tool in species reintroductions
title_fullStr Subspecies hybridization as a potential conservation tool in species reintroductions
title_full_unstemmed Subspecies hybridization as a potential conservation tool in species reintroductions
title_short Subspecies hybridization as a potential conservation tool in species reintroductions
title_sort subspecies hybridization as a potential conservation tool in species reintroductions
topic Original Articles
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8127701/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34025762
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/eva.13191
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