Minimizing genetic adaptation in captive breeding programs: A review

    Authors

    S. E. Williams;E. A. Hoffman

    Abbreviated Journal Title

    Biol. Conserv.

    Keywords

    Genetic adaptation; Captivity; Reintroduction; Selection; Cryopreservation; Contraception; Fragmentation; TAMARINS LEONTOPITHECUS-ROSALIA; ACETATE CONTRACEPTIVE IMPLANTS; PANTHERA-TIGRIS-ALTAICA; GENOME RESOURCE BANKING; VITRO EMBRYO; PRODUCTION; EX-SITU CONSERVATION; NORTH-AMERICAN ZOOS; MELENGESTROL; ACETATE; SPECIES CONSERVATION; ENVIRONMENTAL ENRICHMENT; Biodiversity Conservation; Ecology; Environmental Sciences

    Abstract

    Captive breeding for species of conservation concern is the act of bringing rare or endangered animals into captivity with the hope of rearing sustained captive populations for eventual reintroduction into the wild. Within captivity, genetic changes can occur that may reduce a species' ability to persist once a population is reintroduced back into its natural habitat. We sought to determine the efficacy of recommendations made to minimize genetic adaptation to captivity by addressing the following questions: (i) Are these recommendations already being carried out in captive programs? (ii) How practical is each recommendation? and (iii) Which recommendations call for future investigation? We performed an extensive search of the published literature for studies of non-domestic, non-model, captive animals in which the investigators used and reported a strategy that can minimize genetic adaptation to the captive environment. We found different forms of each recommendation already being executed in captive programs to varying degrees. in all, we reviewed 90 articles covering four broad categories of strategies. We conclude that the best approach to minimize genetic adaptation is to reduce the number of generations that a species spends in captivity. If this is not possible, then we suggest attempting to minimize generations first by delaying reproduction and then by cryopreservation of germplasm. Other strategies are effective to varying degrees depending on the species' natural history. A large gap in the current literature is the interactive effects of multiple strategies being implemented simultaneously, future research should focus on this issue. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

    Journal Title

    Biological Conservation

    Volume

    142

    Issue/Number

    11

    Publication Date

    1-1-2009

    Document Type

    Review

    Language

    English

    First Page

    2388

    Last Page

    2400

    WOS Identifier

    WOS:000270203100003

    ISSN

    0006-3207

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