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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Evelyn JensenORCiD
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© 2015, Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht.Critically endangered wildlife species typically require intensive management using a variety of in situ and ex situ approaches. Yet, despite broad application of ex situ conservation strategies, comparatively few programs incorporate genetic tools into management decisions and monitoring efforts. This is the case with the giant Galápagos tortoise endemic to Pinzón Island (Chelonoidis ephippium); a head-start program has been in place for 50 years without an evaluation of whether this conservation intervention has captured the breadth of diversity present in the wild population. Here we used microsatellite genotypic data to reconstruct patterns of within- and among-population genetic variation in the wild and captivity, and to assess the degree to which head-start cohorts and adult captive founders are representative of the gene pool in situ. We found that Pinzón giant tortoises maintain high levels of variation in situ despite their well-documented decline and that the founders of the captive population are a reasonably diverse and representative group. However, we also found that the head-start cohorts are not representative of the wild population, as evidenced by significant genetic differentiation between the in situ and ex situ samples and by the private alleles detected in both. Future head-start activities should broaden the source locations of eggs and hatchlings to more comprehensively capture the extent and distribution of genetic variation in this critically endangered keystone herbivore. More broadly, this study further highlights the utility of integrating genetic information within ex situ conservation programs.
Author(s): Jensen EL, Tapia W, Caccone A, Russello MA
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Conservation Genetics
Year: 2015
Volume: 16
Issue: 4
Pages: 823-832
Online publication date: 10/02/2015
Acceptance date: 04/02/2015
ISSN (print): 1566-0621
ISSN (electronic): 1572-9737
Publisher: Kluwer Academic Publishers
URL: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10592-015-0703-7
DOI: 10.1007/s10592-015-0703-7
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