Carry-over effect of captive breeding reduces reproductive fitness of wild-born descendants in the wild.
Supplementation of wild populations with captive-bred organisms is a common practice for conservation of threatened wild populations. Yet it is largely unknown whether such programmes actually help population size recovery. While a negative genetic effect of captive breeding that decreases fitness of captive-bred organisms has been detected, there is no direct evidence for a carry-over effect of captive breeding in their wild-born descendants, which would drag down the fitness of the wild population in subsequent generations. In this study, we use genetic parentage assignments to reconstruct a pedigree and estimate reproductive fitness of the wild-born descendants of captive-bred parents in a supplemented population of steelhead trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). The estimated fitness varied among years, but overall relative reproductive fitness was only 37 per cent in wild-born fish from two captive-bred parents and 87 per cent in those from one captive-bred and one wild parent (relative to those from two wild parents). Our results suggest a significant carry-over effect of captive breeding, which has negative influence on the size of the wild population in the generation after supplementation. In this population, the population fitness could have been 8 per cent higher if there was no carry-over effect during the study period.
Araki
Hitoshi
H
Department of Zoology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA. hitoshi.araki@eawag.ch
Cooper
Becky
B
Blouin
Michael S
MS
D000818:Animals; D001947:Breeding; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D017686:Oncorhynchus mykiss / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D011156:Population Density; D012098:Reproduction / Q000235:genetics*