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Inbreeding in reintroduced populations: the effects of early reintroduction history and contemporary processes

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Abstract

Maintaining genetic variation and minimizing inbreeding are central goals of conservation genetics. It is therefore crucial to understand the important population parameters that affect inbreeding, particularly in reintroduction programs. Using data from 41 reintroduced Alpine ibex (Capra ibex ibex) populations we estimated inbreeding since the beginning of reintroductions using population-specific Fst, and inbreeding over the last few generations with contemporary effective population sizes. Total levels of inbreeding since reintroduction of ibex were, on average, close to that from one generation of half-sib mating. Contemporary effective population sizes did not reflect total inbreeding since reintroduction, but 16% of variation in contemporary effective population sizes among populations was due to variation in current population sizes. Substantial variation in inbreeding levels among populations was explained by founder group sizes and the harmonic mean population sizes since founding. This study emphasizes that, in addition to founder group sizes, early population growth rates are important parameters determining inbreeding levels in reintroduced populations.

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Acknowledgements

This study would not have been possible without the help of numerous game wardens who collected samples and assisted with biopsy darting. We thank the hunting agencies of the cantons Appenzell Innerrhoden, Bern, Glarus, Graubünden, Luzern, Nidwalden, Obwalden, Schwyz, St. Gallen, Tessin, Uri, Vaud and Valais for their support in collecting data and samples. Kim Scribner kindly supplied samples from 1986 to 1988 and patiently answered our questions about them. Thanks to Mark Beaumont for modifying 2MOD and for discussing inbreeding and Fst, to Heinz Maag for developing and producing biopsy darts, to Thomas Bucher for assistance with genotyping, to Peter Wandeler for advice on laboratory procedures, and to Simon Aeschbacher and Barabara Oberholzer for help gathering information about the reintroduction history. We thank Christine Grossen and Frank Reinisch for assistance in the field. This project was funded by the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) and the Forschungskredit of the University of Zurich and profited from valuable support from the ESF Science Networking Programme “ConGen”.

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  1. Institute of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057, Zurich, Switzerland

    Iris Biebach & Lukas F. Keller

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  1. Iris Biebach
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  2. Lukas F. Keller
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Correspondence to Iris Biebach.

Appendix

Appendix

See Table 2.

Table 2 Estimated genotyping error rates for samples of the first sampling period (1986–1988)
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Biebach, I., Keller, L.F. Inbreeding in reintroduced populations: the effects of early reintroduction history and contemporary processes. Conserv Genet 11, 527–538 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10592-009-0019-6

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