When Theory Meets Practice: Balancing Genetic Diversity and Behaviour When Choosing Founders for a Recently Reintroduced Bison (Bison bison) Herd in Banff National Park, Canada
The tragic decline of plains bison (Bison bison bison) in North America is well known. By the turn of the 20th century, plains bison, once numbering in the tens of millions, were extirpated from the wild in Canada. Banff National Park, AB, Canada, is within the original range of bison in North Ameri...
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ftmdpi:oai:mdpi.com:/1424-2818/15/3/366/ 2023-08-20T04:10:24+02:00 When Theory Meets Practice: Balancing Genetic Diversity and Behaviour When Choosing Founders for a Recently Reintroduced Bison (Bison bison) Herd in Banff National Park, Canada Gregory A. Wilson Tara L. Fulton Karsten Heuer agris 2023-03-03 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.3390/d15030366 EN eng Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute Animal Diversity https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/d15030366 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Diversity; Volume 15; Issue 3; Pages: 366 Banff National Park bison founder effect genetic diversity inbreeding depression reintroduction Text 2023 ftmdpi https://doi.org/10.3390/d15030366 2023-08-01T09:06:08Z The tragic decline of plains bison (Bison bison bison) in North America is well known. By the turn of the 20th century, plains bison, once numbering in the tens of millions, were extirpated from the wild in Canada. Banff National Park, AB, Canada, is within the original range of bison in North America, and still contains suitable habitat for the species. In 2017, we used measures of genetic diversity, as well as age and reproductive status, to select 16 plains bison for reintroduction to an unoccupied corner of their former historic range in Banff National Park. However, five of the preferred founders from this genetically diverse group needed to be substituted for less ideal candidates when aggressive behavior was observed, which could have compromised animal welfare during translocation. The level of genetic diversity in the founding population was therefore lower than if all proposed founders had been used, although the difference was not substantial. As expected, adults in this small, reintroduced herd had lower observed heterozygosity and number of alleles than the larger source herd, but expected heterozygosity was higher, likely a result of preferentially choosing individuals with rare alleles. Another substantial contribution to genetic diversity was in unborn fetuses: sired by males that were not translocated, the calves born a few months later provided a boost to the genetic diversity of this small founder herd. Where opportunities allow, the inclusion of pregnant females can significantly increase the genetic diversity of small founder populations. When compared to other founded herds of bison, the techniques described here have ensured that the newly established Banff NP herd is one of the most diverse bison herds in Canada, despite its relatively small number of founders. Text Bison bison bison Plains Bison MDPI Open Access Publishing Canada Diversity 15 3 366 |
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MDPI Open Access Publishing |
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language |
English |
topic |
Banff National Park bison founder effect genetic diversity inbreeding depression reintroduction |
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Banff National Park bison founder effect genetic diversity inbreeding depression reintroduction Gregory A. Wilson Tara L. Fulton Karsten Heuer When Theory Meets Practice: Balancing Genetic Diversity and Behaviour When Choosing Founders for a Recently Reintroduced Bison (Bison bison) Herd in Banff National Park, Canada |
topic_facet |
Banff National Park bison founder effect genetic diversity inbreeding depression reintroduction |
description |
The tragic decline of plains bison (Bison bison bison) in North America is well known. By the turn of the 20th century, plains bison, once numbering in the tens of millions, were extirpated from the wild in Canada. Banff National Park, AB, Canada, is within the original range of bison in North America, and still contains suitable habitat for the species. In 2017, we used measures of genetic diversity, as well as age and reproductive status, to select 16 plains bison for reintroduction to an unoccupied corner of their former historic range in Banff National Park. However, five of the preferred founders from this genetically diverse group needed to be substituted for less ideal candidates when aggressive behavior was observed, which could have compromised animal welfare during translocation. The level of genetic diversity in the founding population was therefore lower than if all proposed founders had been used, although the difference was not substantial. As expected, adults in this small, reintroduced herd had lower observed heterozygosity and number of alleles than the larger source herd, but expected heterozygosity was higher, likely a result of preferentially choosing individuals with rare alleles. Another substantial contribution to genetic diversity was in unborn fetuses: sired by males that were not translocated, the calves born a few months later provided a boost to the genetic diversity of this small founder herd. Where opportunities allow, the inclusion of pregnant females can significantly increase the genetic diversity of small founder populations. When compared to other founded herds of bison, the techniques described here have ensured that the newly established Banff NP herd is one of the most diverse bison herds in Canada, despite its relatively small number of founders. |
format |
Text |
author |
Gregory A. Wilson Tara L. Fulton Karsten Heuer |
author_facet |
Gregory A. Wilson Tara L. Fulton Karsten Heuer |
author_sort |
Gregory A. Wilson |
title |
When Theory Meets Practice: Balancing Genetic Diversity and Behaviour When Choosing Founders for a Recently Reintroduced Bison (Bison bison) Herd in Banff National Park, Canada |
title_short |
When Theory Meets Practice: Balancing Genetic Diversity and Behaviour When Choosing Founders for a Recently Reintroduced Bison (Bison bison) Herd in Banff National Park, Canada |
title_full |
When Theory Meets Practice: Balancing Genetic Diversity and Behaviour When Choosing Founders for a Recently Reintroduced Bison (Bison bison) Herd in Banff National Park, Canada |
title_fullStr |
When Theory Meets Practice: Balancing Genetic Diversity and Behaviour When Choosing Founders for a Recently Reintroduced Bison (Bison bison) Herd in Banff National Park, Canada |
title_full_unstemmed |
When Theory Meets Practice: Balancing Genetic Diversity and Behaviour When Choosing Founders for a Recently Reintroduced Bison (Bison bison) Herd in Banff National Park, Canada |
title_sort |
when theory meets practice: balancing genetic diversity and behaviour when choosing founders for a recently reintroduced bison (bison bison) herd in banff national park, canada |
publisher |
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/d15030366 |
op_coverage |
agris |
geographic |
Canada |
geographic_facet |
Canada |
genre |
Bison bison bison Plains Bison |
genre_facet |
Bison bison bison Plains Bison |
op_source |
Diversity; Volume 15; Issue 3; Pages: 366 |
op_relation |
Animal Diversity https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/d15030366 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/d15030366 |
container_title |
Diversity |
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15 |
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3 |
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366 |
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