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Founded: Genetic Reconstruction of Lineage Diversity and Kinship Informs Ex situ Conservation of Cuban Amazon Parrots (Amazona leucocephala)

Lookup NU author(s): Dr Evelyn JensenORCiD

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Abstract

© 2015 The American Genetic Association 2015. All rights reserved.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.


Publication metadata

Author(s): Milian-Garcia Y, Jensen EL, Madsen J, Alonso SA, Rodriguez AS, Lopez GE, Russello MA

Publication type: Conference Proceedings (inc. Abstract)

Publication status: Published

Conference Name: La Red de Genética para la Conservacion (ReGeneC)

Year of Conference: 2015

Pages: 573-579

Online publication date: 03/08/2015

Acceptance date: 16/02/2015

ISSN: 0022-1503

Publisher: Oxford University Press

URL: https://doi.org/10.1093/jhered/esv012

DOI: 10.1093/jhered/esv012

PubMed id: 26245792

Series Title: Journal of Heredity


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