Altered wing phenotypes of captive-bred migratory birds incur post-release fitness costs

Stojanović, Dejan

doi:10.22541/au.166869715.58928803/v1

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…Strong differences in behaviour between captive‐bred and wild individuals (e.g., lack of exposure to natural stimuli, use of food resources, movement pattern, and/or differences in social structure) could make it difficult for captive‐bred birds to successfully integrate and mate with wild populations (Crates et al., 2023). Accordingly, poor performance of captive‐bred individuals after their release into the wild has been well documented in mallards (Champagnon, Elmberg, et al., 2012; Champagnon, Guillemain, et al., 2012; Söderquist et al., 2017) and other birds (Stojanovic, 2023). For marbled teal, GPS tagging has shown that captive‐bred birds have higher mortality and lower mobility than wild birds after their release, and has provided little evidence that they can breed successfully (Pérez‐García et al., in press).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Demographic and conservation genomic assessment of the threatened marbled teal (Marmaronetta angustirostris)

Ortego,

Muñoz‐Fuentes,

López‐Luque

et al. 2024

Evolutionary Applications

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Genetic assessment of species that have experienced dramatic population declines provides critical information that is instrumental for the design of conservation recovery programs. Here, we use different sources of molecular data (mtDNA and ddRAD‐seq) to evaluate the genetic status of wild and captive populations of marbled teal (Marmaronetta angustirostris), a duck species classified as critically endangered in Spain and near threatened at a global scale. First, we determined the evolutionary and demographic trajectories of the wild population from Spain and the currently much larger population from Iraq, which is also the documented source of European zoo stocks. Second, we evaluated the suitability of the different captive populations for ongoing restocking programs in Spain and assessed their potential impact on the genetic composition of wild populations. Populations from Spain and Iraq were assigned to distinct genetic clusters, albeit with an overall low level of genetic differentiation, in line with their recent divergence (<8000 years ago) and lack of phylogeographic structure in the species. Demogenomic inferences revealed that the two populations have experienced parallel demographic trajectories, with a marked bottleneck during the last glacial period followed by a sudden demographic expansion and stability since the onset of the Holocene. The wild population from Spain presented high levels of inbreeding, but we found no evidence of recent genetic bottlenecks compatible with the human‐driven decline of the species during the past century. The captive populations from the two Spanish centers involved in restocking programs showed genetic introgression from European zoos; however, we found limited evidence of introgression from the zoo genetic stock into the wild population from Spain, suggesting captive‐bred birds have limited breeding success in the wild. Our study illustrates how ex situ conservation programs should consider the genetic distinctiveness of populations when establishing breeding stocks and highlights the importance of genetically assessing captive populations prior to reinforcement actions.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Demographic and conservation genomic assessment of the threatened marbled teal (Marmaronetta angustirostris)

Ortego,

Muñoz‐Fuentes,

López‐Luque

et al. 2024

Evolutionary Applications

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“…However, how these effects play out within rather than between species is not yet clear. It is also important to acknowledge that other morphological changes can affect survival (for example wing shape in orange-bellied parrots, Neophema chrysogaster ; [72]) making it difficult to isolate the effect of morphological changes to the brain from morphological changes to the body.…”

Section: The Captive Brainmentioning

confidence: 99%

The endangered brain: actively preserving ex-situ animal behaviour and cognition will benefit in-situ conservation

Clark,

Greggor,

Montgomery

et al. 2023

R. Soc. open sci.

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Endangered species have small, unsustainable population sizes that are geographically or genetically restricted. Ex-situ conservation programmes are therefore faced with the challenge of breeding sufficiently sized, genetically diverse populations earmarked for reintroduction that have the behavioural skills to survive and breed in the wild. Yet, maintaining historically beneficial behaviours may be insufficient, as research continues to suggest that certain cognitive-behavioural skills and flexibility are necessary to cope with human-induced rapid environmental change (HIREC). This paper begins by reviewing interdisciplinary studies on the ‘captivity effect’ in laboratory, farmed, domesticated and feral vertebrates and finds that captivity imposes rapid yet often reversible changes to the brain, cognition and behaviour. However, research on this effect in ex-situ conservation sites is lacking. This paper reveals an apparent mismatch between ex-situ enrichment aims and the cognitive-behavioural skills possessed by animals currently coping with HIREC. After synthesizing literature across neuroscience, behavioural biology, comparative cognition and field conservation, it seems that ex-situ endangered species deemed for reintroduction may have better chances of coping with HIREC if their natural cognition and behavioural repertoires are actively preserved. Evaluating the effects of environmental challenges rather than captivity per se is recommended, in addition to using targeted cognitive enrichment.

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Conservation management in the context of unidentified and unmitigated threatening processes

et al. 2023

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The decision to intervene in endangered species management is often complicated. Migratory species exemplify this difficulty because they experience diverse threats at different times and places that can act cumulatively and synergistically on their populations. We use population viability analysis (PVA) to compare potential conservation interventions on the critically endangered, migratory Orange-bellied Parrot Neophema chrysogaster. This species suffers high juvenile mortality, but it is not clear why this is so. Given uncertainty about the best recovery strategy, we compare PVA scenarios that simulate various ways of utilizing captive-bred parrots to support the wild population in the context of unresolved threatening processes. Increasing the number of juveniles entering the population each year had the greatest benefit for population growth rate and size. Directly lowering juvenile mortality rates is difficult given uncertainty about the drivers of mortality in the wild. In lieu of this, releasing 100 juveniles from captivity to the wild population each autumn (either as a stand-alone action, or in combination with other interventions) was the most feasible and straightforward intervention of the options we tested. However, our PVAs also show that unless substantial and sustainable reductions can be made to juvenile mortality rates, Orange-bellied Parrots will remain dependent on intensive conservation management. This study highlights the utility of PVAs for answering practical questions about how to implement species conservation. PVAs provide a way to incorporate the best available information in a replicable modelling framework, and to identify impacts of parameter uncertainty on demographic trends.

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Altered wing phenotypes of captive-bred migratory birds incur post-release fitness costs

Abstract: This a preprint and has not been peer reviewed. Data may be preliminary.

Cited by 3 publications

References 25 publications

Demographic and conservation genomic assessment of the threatened marbled teal (Marmaronetta angustirostris)

Demographic and conservation genomic assessment of the threatened marbled teal (Marmaronetta angustirostris)

The endangered brain: actively preserving ex-situ animal behaviour and cognition will benefit in-situ conservation

Conservation management in the context of unidentified and unmitigated threatening processes

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