Abstract
Declines in abundance and genetic diversity in plant and animal populations are increasingly of conservation concern. Genetic rescue, or the supplementation of declining populations with individuals from genetically different sources, may aid in demographic and genetic recovery efforts, assuming introduced individuals successfully reproduce following translocation. However, the relative reproductive contributions of resident and translocated individuals are not frequently evaluated. In the northern lower peninsula of Michigan, USA, fourteen brown trout (Salmo trutta) from each of three different tributaries were introduced into a research stream (Hunt Creek) to supplement a small, isolated resident brown trout population. Mean expected heterozygosity and mean allelic richness differed between the three translocated populations compared to residents. Additionally, inter-population variance in allele frequency (FST) between resident and translocated populations ranged from 0.024 to 0.098. Using genetic parentage assignments, we documented that translocated and resident brown trout did interbreed; however, intra-population mating events were more common. Simulations indicated that increases in genetic diversity among age-1 offspring were the result of reproduction by translocated adults, as genetic variation was significantly above levels expected by reproduction among residents alone (p < 0.001). To achieve management goals for genetic rescue programs, managers would be advised to conduct simulations and hypothesis testing in addition to collection of empirical genetic data to evaluate introduction outcomes.
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Acknowledgements
We thank technicians at the Hunt Creek field site for efforts to collect and mark fish and collect tissue samples from brown trout from all populations. Todd Wills provided background on sampling methods and demographic data. Lauren Stanchek assisted with the microsatellite genotyping. Jeannette Kanefsky optimized PCR conditions for the sexing primers and assisted in genetic sexing. Funding was provided by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.
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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. 2001 and 2002 field work, lab work and data collection were performed by AN and KTS. Additional genotyping in 2017 was performed by EMW. Data analysis and simulations were performed by NMS and EMW. The first draft of the manuscript was written by EMW and was reviewed and edited by NMS and KTS.
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Weise, E.M., Sard, N.M., Nehfer, A. et al. Adaptive genetic management: assessing the benefits of translocations. Conserv Genet 21, 277–287 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10592-020-01249-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10592-020-01249-7