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Targeted gene flow is an emerging conservation strategy. It involves translocating individuals with favorable genes to areas where they will have a conservation benefit. The applications for targeted gene flow are wide-ranging but include preadapting native species to the arrival of invasive species. The endangered carnivorous marsupial, the northern quoll (Dasyurus hallucatus), has declined rapidly since the introduction of the cane toad (Rhinella marina), which fatally poisons quolls that attack them. There are, however, a few remaining toad-invaded quoll populations in which the quolls survive because they know not to eat cane toads. It is this toad-smart behavior we hope to promote through targeted gene flow. For targeted gene flow to be feasible, however, toad-smart behavior must have a genetic basis. To assess this, we used a common garden experiment, comparing offspring from toad-exposed and toad-naïve parents raised in identical environments, to determine whether toad-smart behavior is heritable. Offspring from toad-exposed populations were substantially less likely to eat toads than those with toad-naïve parents. Hybrid offspring showed similar responses to quolls with 2 toad-exposed parents, indicating the trait may be dominant. Together, these results suggest a heritable trait and rapid adaptive response in a small number of toad-exposed populations. Although questions remain about outbreeding depression, our results are encouraging for targeted gene flow. It should be possible to introduce toad-smart behavior into soon to be affected quoll populations.  相似文献   

2.
    
Hybridization poses a major challenge for species conservation because it threatens both genetic integrity and adaptive potential. Yet, hybridization can occasionally offer unprecedented opportunity for species recovery if the genome of an extinct taxon is present among living hybrids such that selective breeding could recapture it. We explored the design elements for establishing a captive-breeding program for Galapagos tortoises (Chelonoidis spp.) built around individuals with admixed ancestry involving an extinct species. The target individuals were hybrids between the extinct species from Floreana Island, C. niger, and an extant species, C. becki, which were recently found in the endemic range of C. becki, from Wolf Volcano on Isabela Island. We combined genotypic data from 35 tortoises with high ancestry from C. niger with forward-in-time simulations to explore captive breeding strategies that maximized overall genetic diversity and ancestry from C. niger while accommodating resource constraints, species biology, and the urgency to return tortoises to Floreana Island for facilitating ecosystem restoration. Overall genetic diversity was maximized when in the simulation tortoises were organized in relatively small breeding groups. Substantial amounts of the C. niger genome were captured despite limited resources available for selectively breeding tortoises in captivity. Genetic diversity was maximized when captive-bred offspring were released to the wild rather than being used as additional breeders. Our results provide genetic-based and practical guidance on the inclusion of hybrids with genomic representation from extinct taxa into species restoration programs and informs the ongoing debate on the value of hybrids in biodiversity conservation.  相似文献   

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