title: Founded: Genetic Reconstruction of Lineage Diversity and Kinship Informs Ex situ Conservation of Cuban Amazon Parrots (Amazona leucocephala).
abstract: Captive breeding is a widespread conservation strategy, yet such programs rarely include empirical genetic data for assessing management assumptions and meeting conservation goals. Cuban Amazon parrots (Amazona leucocephala) are considered vulnerable, and multiple on-island captive populations have been established from wild-caught and confiscated individuals of unknown ancestry. Here, we used mitochondrial haplotypic and nuclear genotypic data at 9 microsatellite loci to quantify the extent and distribution of genetic variation within and among captive populations in Zapata Swamp and Managua, Cuba, and to estimate kinship among breeders (n = 88). Using Bayesian clustering analysis, we detected 2 distinct clusters within the Zapata population, one of which was shared with Managua. Individuals from the cluster unique to Zapata possessed mitochondrial haplotypes with affinities to Cuban subspecies (A. l. leucocephala, A. l. palmarum); the shared cluster was similar, but also included haplotypes closely related to the subspecies restricted to Cayman Brac (A. l. hesterna). Overall mean kinship was low within each captive population (-0.026 to -0.012), with 19 and 11 recommended breeding pairs in Zapata and Managua, respectively, ranked according to mean kinship and informed by molecular sexing. Our results highlight the importance of understanding population history within ex situ management programs, while providing genetic information to directly inform Cuban parrot conservation.
authors.affiliation: From the Facultad de Biología, Universidad de La Habana, Calle 25 # 455 entre J e I, Plaza Vedado, Código Postal 10400, Ciudad de La Habana, Cuba (Milián-García and Espinosa López); the Department of Biology, University of British Columbia, Okanagan Campus, Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada (Milián-García, Jensen, Madsen, and Russello); and the Empresa Nacional para la Protección de la Flora y la Fauna, Miramar, Ciudad de La Habana, Cuba (Álvarez Alonso and Serrano Rodríguez). yoamel@fbio.uh.cu.
authors.forename: Yoamel
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Milián-García
authors.affiliation: From the Facultad de Biología, Universidad de La Habana, Calle 25 # 455 entre J e I, Plaza Vedado, Código Postal 10400, Ciudad de La Habana, Cuba (Milián-García and Espinosa López); the Department of Biology, University of British Columbia, Okanagan Campus, Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada (Milián-García, Jensen, Madsen, and Russello); and the Empresa Nacional para la Protección de la Flora y la Fauna, Miramar, Ciudad de La Habana, Cuba (Álvarez Alonso and Serrano Rodríguez).
authors.forename: Evelyn L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Jensen
authors.affiliation: From the Facultad de Biología, Universidad de La Habana, Calle 25 # 455 entre J e I, Plaza Vedado, Código Postal 10400, Ciudad de La Habana, Cuba (Milián-García and Espinosa López); the Department of Biology, University of British Columbia, Okanagan Campus, Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada (Milián-García, Jensen, Madsen, and Russello); and the Empresa Nacional para la Protección de la Flora y la Fauna, Miramar, Ciudad de La Habana, Cuba (Álvarez Alonso and Serrano Rodríguez).
authors.forename: Jeanette
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Madsen
authors.affiliation: From the Facultad de Biología, Universidad de La Habana, Calle 25 # 455 entre J e I, Plaza Vedado, Código Postal 10400, Ciudad de La Habana, Cuba (Milián-García and Espinosa López); the Department of Biology, University of British Columbia, Okanagan Campus, Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada (Milián-García, Jensen, Madsen, and Russello); and the Empresa Nacional para la Protección de la Flora y la Fauna, Miramar, Ciudad de La Habana, Cuba (Álvarez Alonso and Serrano Rodríguez).
authors.forename: Suleiky
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Álvarez Alonso
authors.affiliation: From the Facultad de Biología, Universidad de La Habana, Calle 25 # 455 entre J e I, Plaza Vedado, Código Postal 10400, Ciudad de La Habana, Cuba (Milián-García and Espinosa López); the Department of Biology, University of British Columbia, Okanagan Campus, Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada (Milián-García, Jensen, Madsen, and Russello); and the Empresa Nacional para la Protección de la Flora y la Fauna, Miramar, Ciudad de La Habana, Cuba (Álvarez Alonso and Serrano Rodríguez).
authors.forename: Aryamne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Serrano Rodríguez
authors.affiliation: From the Facultad de Biología, Universidad de La Habana, Calle 25 # 455 entre J e I, Plaza Vedado, Código Postal 10400, Ciudad de La Habana, Cuba (Milián-García and Espinosa López); the Department of Biology, University of British Columbia, Okanagan Campus, Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada (Milián-García, Jensen, Madsen, and Russello); and the Empresa Nacional para la Protección de la Flora y la Fauna, Miramar, Ciudad de La Habana, Cuba (Álvarez Alonso and Serrano Rodríguez).
authors.forename: Georgina
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Espinosa López
authors.affiliation: From the Facultad de Biología, Universidad de La Habana, Calle 25 # 455 entre J e I, Plaza Vedado, Código Postal 10400, Ciudad de La Habana, Cuba (Milián-García and Espinosa López); the Department of Biology, University of British Columbia, Okanagan Campus, Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada (Milián-García, Jensen, Madsen, and Russello); and the Empresa Nacional para la Protección de la Flora y la Fauna, Miramar, Ciudad de La Habana, Cuba (Álvarez Alonso and Serrano Rodríguez).
authors.forename: Michael A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Russello
mesh_terms: D046708:Amazona / Q000235:genetics*; D000818:Animals; D001499:Bayes Theorem; D001947:Breeding; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources / Q000379:methods*; D003462:Cuba; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005828:Genetics, Population; D006239:Haplotypes; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial
keywords: Amazona leucocephala; Cuba; captive breeding; mean kinship; microsatellite