Advancing Genetic Methods in the Study of Parrot Biology and Conservation

Abstract

Parrots (Psittaciformes) are a well-studied, diverse group of birds distributed mainly in tropical and subtropical regions. Today, one-third of their species face extinction, mainly due to anthropogenic threats. Emerging tools in genetics have made major contributions to understanding basic and applied aspects of parrot biology in the wild and in captivity. In this review, we show how genetic methods have transformed the study of parrots by summarising important milestones in the advances of genetics and their implementations in research on parrots. We describe how genetics helped to further knowledge in specific research fields with a wide array of examples from the literature that address the conservation significance of (1) deeper phylogeny and historical biogeography; (2) species- and genus-level systematics and taxonomy; (3) conservation genetics and genomics; (4) behavioural ecology; (5) molecular ecology and landscape genetics; and (6) museomics and historical DNA. Finally, we highlight knowledge gaps to inform future genomic research on parrots. Our review shows that the application of genetic techniques to the study of parrot biology has far-reaching implications for addressing diverse research aims in a highly threatened and charismatic clade of birds.

Reproductive skew in a Vulnerable bird favors breeders that monopolize nest cavities

“…This, in the context of the limited availability of tree cavities suitable for nesting in the study area (Stojanovic et al ., 2020c), makes our study system an interesting example of how local resource availability can influence species that might reasonably be expected to have low variance in individual reproductive success. Pedigrees are one of the most foundational population genetic tools (Anderson & Garza, 2006; Olah et al ., 2021a), and they offer powerful insights into the demographic processes even of open populations. Using pedigrees can enable managers to identify reproductive skew early and ideally, prevent missed opportunities to avoid irreversible loss of genetic diversity (Miller et al ., 2009).…”

“…In large populations, reproductive skew is a natural mechanism of selection, whereby traits that optimize individual fecundity are advantageous (Annett & Pierotti, 1999; Fay et al ., 2018). However, in species reduced to small population sizes, reproductive skew depresses effective population size ( N e ) by curtailing the number of breeders (Anthony & Blumstein, 2000), which in turn worsens inbreeding (Olah et al ., 2021a). For small populations, this can become a conservation problem because sometimes these effects are extreme.…”

Influence of molecular marker type on estimating effective population size and other genetic parameters in a critically endangered parrot

“…However, molecular ecology is a fast‐moving field, and nonspecialists are faced with a bewildering array of marker types and analytical techniques that can be applied in different ways to answer the same questions. For example, microsatellites or short tandem repeats (STRs) have been the marker of choice for most population genetic studies for the last few decades (Olah, Smith, et al., 2021 ; Parker et al., 1998 ), but more recently, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) have become increasingly popular due to the increased genomic coverage, low genotyping error, lower costs, and faster turnaround associated with sequencing them in a massively parallel fashion (Anderson & Garza, 2006 ). Identifying a suitable marker is the first step for a conservation genetics project, and navigating the choice may be daunting for a nonspecialist (Allendorf et al., 2010 ; Benestan et al., 2016 ).…”

A PCR-Based Retrospective Study for Beak and Feather Disease Virus (BFDV) in Five Wild Populations of Parrots from Australia, Argentina and New Zealand

“…BFDV infects predominantly Psittaciformes [35], and is reported to cause high mortalities in avicultural collections [36] and in at least two free-living populations [37][38][39]. Recent evidence indicates, however, that BFDV can also infect non-parrot species [40].…”