Inbreeding dynamics in reintroduced, age-structured populations of highly fecund species |
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Authors: | Marie-Julie Favé Pierre Duchesne Julie Turgeon |
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Institution: | (1) Département de biologie, Université Laval, Quebec, QC, Canada, G1K 7P4 |
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Abstract: | Reintroduction programs aim at reinstalling a self-sustained population into the wild via a period of supplementation with
captive-bred individuals. This procedure can rapidly generate inbreeding among offspring because of the mating scheme and
this inbreeding might be further enhanced by the reintroduction scenario. First, we used simulations to assess the consequences
of breeding designs on mean inbreeding index F among offspring when the genetic diversity of breeders, the number and sex
ratios of breeders, and the proportion of successful crosses vary. A high number of breeders, a balanced sex ratio, a high
proportion of effective crosses and a genetically diverse source population generally contribute to lower F values. However,
moderately high (≥20) numbers of breeders combined with all but the most biased sex ratios produced mean F values near minimal
values. The variability in F was negligible in all parameter combinations except for a very small number of breeders (5) and
very biased sex ratios (≤ 1M : 19F). We also simulated the long-term inbreeding dynamics in the introduced population under
various demographic scenarios. Our main finding was that the annual number of introduced offspring is a decisive factor in
establishing long-term F values in the supplemented population. Low supplementation levels (102) quickly generated an almost completely inbred population whereas high levels (≥104) produced stable F values close to that of the introduced offspring. Simulations were run based on the life history and specific
demographics of the bloater (Coregonus hoyi), whose reintroduction in Lake Ontario is being considered. |
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Keywords: | Reintroduction Inbreeding Breeding design Demography Coregonus hoyi |
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