Genetic decline, restoration and rescue of an isolated ungulate population.

ABSTRACT: Isolation of small populations is expected to reduce fitness through inbreeding and loss of genetic variation, impeding population growth and compromising population persistence. Species with long generation time are the least likely to be rescued by evolution alone. Management interventions that maintain or restore genetic variation to assure population viability are consequently of significant importance. We investigated, over 27 years, the genetic and demographic consequences of a demographic bottleneck followed by artificial supplementation in an isolated population of bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis). Based on a long-term pedigree and individual monitoring, we documented the genetic decline, restoration and rescue of the population. Microsatellite analyses revealed that the demo

SUBMITTER: Poirier MA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6691324 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature