Founded: Genetic Reconstruction of Lineage Diversity and Kinship InformsEx situConservation of Cuban Amazon Parrots (Amazona leucocephala)

Abstract

Captive breeding is a widespread conservation strategy, yet such programs rarely include empirical genetic data for assessing management assumptions and meeting conservation goals. Cuban Amazon parrots (Amazona leucocephala) are considered vulnerable, and multiple on-island captive populations have been established from wild-caught and confiscated individuals of unknown ancestry. Here, we used mitochondrial haplotypic and nuclear genotypic data at 9 microsatellite loci to quantify the extent and distribution of genetic variation within and among captive populations in Zapata Swamp and Managua, Cuba, and to estimate kinship among breeders (n = 88). Using Bayesian clustering analysis, we detected 2 distinct clusters within the Zapata population, one of which was shared with Managua. Individuals from the cluster unique to Zapata possessed mitochondrial haplotypes with affinities to Cuban subspecies (A. l. leucocephala, A. l. palmarum); the shared cluster was similar, but also included haplotypes closely related to the subspecies restricted to Cayman Brac (A. l. hesterna). Overall mean kinship was low within each captive population (-0.026 to -0.012), with 19 and 11 recommended breeding pairs in Zapata and Managua, respectively, ranked according to mean kinship and informed by molecular sexing. Our results highlight the importance of understanding population history within ex situ management programs, while providing genetic information to directly inform Cuban parrot conservation.

Genetic Diversity and Population Structure of Two Endangered Neotropical Parrots Inform In Situ and Ex Situ Conservation Strategies

“…Low levels of genetic diversity have long been associated with factors such as increased inbreeding [74], and fixation of deleterious mutations [75] in small populations. We found overall levels of genetic diversity within the populations of each species [blue-throated macaw (mean Ho range: 0.578-0.660) and thick-billed parrot (mean Ho range 0.560-0.610) that were comparable to other members of the order Psittaciformes with heightened conservation status, including the critically endangered swift parrot, Lathamus discolor (population size = ~2400; mean Ho = 0.679; [76,77] and subspecies of the near-threatened Cuban amazon, Amazona leucocephala (population size = ~23,000; mean Ho range 0.64-0.77; [9,78], but higher than the critically endangered kakapo, Strigops habroptilus (population size = ~116, mean Ho = 0.489; [79,80]. While heterozygosity values may not be directly comparable across studies, all of the cited works used microsatellite loci which provide a general sense of relative levels of genetic variation across a range of threatened and endangered parrot species.…”

“…However, the result of reintroductions is not always favorable; such interventions may be detrimental and cause a reduction in the fitness of the population through increased inbreeding or introduction of deleterious alleles due to artificial selection Diversity 2021, 13, 386 2 of 16 to the captive environment [6][7][8]. To better understand whether a reintroduction event will lead to a desired result, the underlying genetics of both [9] wild and captive populations should be quantified.…”

Exploring the Concept of Lineage Diversity across North American Forests

“…In its most basic form, quantifying the number of lineages in assemblages could consist of counting the number of species. However, the term lineage diversity is generally applied when the units are not species, but a shallower or deeper evolutionary level, i.e., within or above the species taxonomic rank (see [5][6][7][8][9] for examples below species rank; see [10][11][12][13][14] for examples above species rank). In this paper, we focus on lineage diversity above the species rank.…”

Comparing Measures of Community Lineage Diversity across North American Forests

“…within or above the species taxonomic rank. The majority of times the term lineage diversity has been used in the literature, it refers to the number of diverged genetic lineages within species (e.g., [5][6][7][8][9]), but it has also been used for deeper evolutionary levels (e.g., [10][11][12][13][14]). In this paper we focus on the latter, employing tree communities in the contiguous United States to test various metrics by which community lineage diversity (hereafter, CLD) might be quantified using taxonomic and phylogenetic data.…”