Assessing the genetic impact of massive restocking on wild mallard

• Published in: Animal Conservation
• Main Authors: Champagnon, J., Crochet, Pierre-André, Kreisinger, J., Cizkova, D., Gauthier-Clerc, M., Massez, G., Söderquist, P., Albrecht, T., Guillemain, M.
• Other Authors: Avifaune migratrice, ONCFS, Centre d’Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive (CEFE), Université Paul-Valéry - Montpellier 3 (UPVM)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Centre international d'études supérieures en sciences agronomiques (Montpellier SupAgro)-École Pratique des Hautes Études (EPHE), Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD France-Sud )-Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier (Montpellier SupAgro), Dept. Zool., Fac. Sci., Univerzita Karlova Praha, Česká republika = Charles University Prague, Czech Republic (UK), Czech Academy of Sciences Prague (CAS), Université de Franche-Comté (UFC), Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté COMUE (UBFC), Marais Vigueirat, Partenaires INRAE, Kristianstad University, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences = Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet (SLU), NextGen project CZ.1.07/2.3.00/20.0303, Czech Republic Ministry of Environment VAV SP/2d3/60/08, Office National de la Chasse et de la Faune Sauvage (ONCFS); ONCFS; Tour du Valat; MAVA Foundation
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2013
• Subjects: Anas platyrhynchos; game bird; hybridization; introgression; restocking; DUCK ANAS-PLATYRHYNCHOS; ATLANTIC SALMON; SURVIVAL; HYBRIDS; BIRDS; CONSEQUENCES; DISTANCE; CONSERVATION; microsatellite; MITOCHONDRIAL-DNA; POPULATIONS; [SDV]Life Sciences [q-bio]; Atlantic salmon
• Online Access: https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-02649544; https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-1795.2012.00600.x

International audience Captive-bred mallards Anas platyrhynchos have been released for hunting purposes at a very large scale in Europe since the mid-1970s. In spite of a potential genetic impact, the actual contribution of restocked mallards to the genome of the target population has received little attention. The genetic structure of modern wild mallards in the Camargue, Southern France, was assessed from two samples: one originating from shot birds in hunting bags and one from presumed wild ducks captured alive in a hunting-free reserve. Reference samples originated from five mallard farms, as well as from museum samples collected before the mid-1970s (i.e. before massive mallard releases started). Our results revealed that the genetic signature of wild wintering mallards has not changed significantly because museum and presumed wild samples from the Camargue hunting-free nature reserve were genetically similar, and clearly differentiated from the farm mallards. This suggests that mallard releases in the Camargue or elsewhere in France, although massive, have not actually translated into complete admixture of wild and captive genomes, most likely due to low survival of released birds once in the wild. Nevertheless, although genetic introgression of the wild population by captive-bred was contained, we found significant rates of hybridization between wild and captive-bred mallards in modern samples. This result suggests that long-term releases of captive-bred mallards, if carried on at such large scale, could compromise irreversibly the genetic structure and composition of European mallards. This work contributes to fill in the gap on the monitoring of the genetic consequences of large-scale game releases for exploitation.