Transgenerational Effects of Parental Rearing Environment Influence the Survivorship of Captive‐Born Offspring in the Wild

Conservation Letters

Melissa L. Evans¹  Nathan F. Wilke¹  Patrick T. O'Reilly² 

[1] Department of Ocean Sciences, Ocean Sciences Centre, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada;Bedford Institute of Oceanography, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada

关键词: Transgenerational effects;    endangered species;    Atlantic salmon;    captive rearing;    offspring survival;    genetic pedigree analysis;    live gene bank;   

DOI  :  10.1111/conl.12092

来源: Wiley

【 摘 要 】

Abstract

As natural populations decline, captive breeding and rearing programs have become essential components of conservation efforts. However, captive rearing can cause unintended phenotypic and/or genetic changes that adversely impact on population restoration efforts. Here, we test whether the exposure of captive-reared Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) to natural river environments (i.e., “wild exposure”) during early life can serve as a mitigation technique to improve the survivorship of descendents in the wild. Using genetic pedigree reconstruction, we observed a two-fold increase in the survivorship of offspring of wild-exposed parents compared to the offspring of captive parents. Our results suggest that harnessing the influence of transgenerational effects in captive-rearing programs can improve the outcomes of endangered species restoration efforts.

【 授权许可】

Unknown   
©2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.