Patterns of genetic variation in US federal bison herds

Abstract

Like many wide-ranging mammals, American bison (Bison bison) have experienced significant range contraction over the past two centuries and are maintained in artificially isolated populations. A basic understanding of the distribution of genetic variation among populations is necessary to facilitate long-term germplasm preservation and species conservation. The 11 herds maintained within the US federal system are a critically important source of germplasm for bison conservation, as they include many of the oldest herds in the USA and have served as a primary resource for the establishment of private and public herds worldwide. In this study, we used a panel of 51 nuclear markers to investigate patterns of neutral genetic variation among these herds. Most of these herds have maintained remarkably high levels of variation despite the severe bottleneck suffered in the late 1800s. However, differences were noted in the patterns of variation and levels of differentiation among herds, which were compared with historical records of establishment, supplementation, herd size, and culling practices. Although some lineages have been replicated across multiple herds within the US federal system, other lineages with high levels of genetic variation exist in isolated herds and should be considered targets for the establishment of satellite herds. From this and other studies, it is clear that the genetic variation represented in the US federal system is unevenly distributed among National Park Service and Fish and Wildlife Service herds, and that these resources must be carefully managed to ensure long-term species conservation.

Complete mitochondrial DNA sequence analysis of Bison bison and bison–cattle hybrids: Function and phylogeny

“…Even excluding the haplotypes which differ by only 1-2 nucleotides (e.g., bHap12/bHap3), at least 10 distinct bison mtDNA types were identified in this study. Others have also identified high levels of genetic diversity in the bison nuclear genome (Halbert and Derr, 2008;Wilson and Strobeck, 1999), which may be due to the wide- Fig. 4.…”

“…1) are generally reflective of the historical records of population establishment and genetic distances based on nuclear data (Halbert and Derr, 2008). For example, the close relationship of haplotypes identified at the National Bison Range (bHap2) and Yellowstone National Park (bHap17) is explained by the shared history of the herds and is also reflected in the nuclear genome (Halbert and Derr, 2008).…”

“…1) are generally reflective of the historical records of population establishment and genetic distances based on nuclear data (Halbert and Derr, 2008). For example, the close relationship of haplotypes identified at the National Bison Range (bHap2) and Yellowstone National Park (bHap17) is explained by the shared history of the herds and is also reflected in the nuclear genome (Halbert and Derr, 2008). Additionally, we found that the private bison herd sampled in this study harbors both unique haplotypes and haplotypes representative of several sources including Fort Niobrara National Wildlife Refuge (cHap10), the National Bison Range (cHap2), and the Texas State Bison Herd (cHap13) (Supplemental Materials Table 1).…”

Effective Population Size, Genetic Variation, and Their Relevance for Conservation: The Bighorn Sheep in Tiburon Island and Comparisons with Managed Artiodactyls

“…c. canadensis ) [29,30]. We also included data from three USA bison ( Bison bison ) populations [69]: one population from Yellowstone National Park (YNP), founded with native members of the locality and from private herds; and one population each from Wind Cave National Park (WCNP) and Sully’s Hill National Game Preserve (SUH), mainly founded from private herds and zoos. We chose these bison populations because they have similar genetic diversity values and allele numbers but different population sizes, thus representing a good opportunity to investigate the relationship among H E , census size, and N crnt (Table 1).…”

Evaluation of alternative management strategies for maintenance of genetic variation in wildlife populations

“…First, conservation herds were established with small numbers of individuals that remained after the severe bottleneck (Halbert, 2003;Halbert & Derr, 2008). Surplus animals from these conservation herds were often used to establish new herds, potentially exacerbating the loss of genetic variation.…”