@article{87c7b3d4bd1e48f6becce2c843cd9c05,
title = "Establishment, persistence and the importance of longitudinal monitoring in multi-source reintroductions",
abstract = "Incorporating genetic data into conservation programmes improves management outcomes, but the impact of different sample grouping methods on genetic diversity analyses is poorly understood. To this end, the multi-source reintroduction of the eastern bettong Bettongia gaimardi was used as a long-term case study to investigate how sampling regimes may affect common genetic metrics and hence management decisions. The dataset comprised 5307 SNPs sequenced across 263 individuals. Samples included 45 founders from five genetically distinct Tasmanian source regions, and 218 of their descendants captured during annual monitoring at Mulligan{\textquoteright}s Flat Woodland Sanctuary (121 samples across eight generations) and Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve (97 samples across nine generations). The most management-informative sampling regime was found to be generational cohorts, providing detailed long-term trends in genetic diversity. When these generation-specific trends were not investigated, recent changes in population genetics were masked, and it became apparent that management recommendations would be less appropriate. The results also illuminated the importance of considering establishment and persistence as separate phases of a multi-source reintroduction. The establishment phase (useful for informing early adaptive management) should consist of no less than two generations and continue until admixture is achieved (admixture defined here as >80% of individuals possessing >60% of source genotypes, with no one source composing >70% of >20% individuals{\textquoteright} genotype) is achieved. This ensures that the persistence phase analyses of population trends remain minimally biased. Based on this case study, we recommend that emphasis be given to the value of generationally specific analyses, and that conservation programmes collect DNA samples throughout the establishment and persistence phases and avoid collecting genetic samples only when the analysis is imminent. We also recommend that population genetic analyses for multi-source reintroductions consider whether admixture has been achieved when calculating descriptive genetic metrics.",
keywords = "eastern bettong, genetic monitoring, multi-source reintroductions, population genetics, population monitoring, reintroduction genetics, reintroductions, translocations",
author = "B. Brockett and S. Banks and Neaves, {L. E.} and Gordon, {I. J.} and Pierson, {J. C.} and Manning, {A. D.}",
note = "Funding Information: This project was conducted as part of the Mulligan{\textquoteright}s Flat – Goorooyarroo Woodland Experiment, and our thanks go to all the volunteers and staff of partner organisations that have assisted with the translocation and ongoing monitoring since 2011. Licenses for the reintroduction were obtained from the Tasmanian Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment (DPIPWE) using procedures approved by their associated Ethics Committee (AEC Project 18/2010–2011). We thank DPIPWE for their support. The post‐reintroduction procedures were approved by the Australian National University Animal Experimentation Ethics Committee (ethics protocol A2011/017, A2014/35, A2017/33, A2020/40). We would like to thank the ACT Parks and Conservation Service for their contribution to the translocation and monitoring of the eastern bettong at Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve. Funding for DNA sequencing was provided by the Woodlands and Wetlands Trust, and we thank manager Jason Cummings for his support of this work. The translocation and post‐reintroduction monitoring were funded by an Australian Research Council Linkage Grants received by ADM (Australian Research Council Linkage LP110100126, LP140100209), in addition, to support from ANU, ACT Government and the Woodlands and Wetlands Trust. ADM was supported by an Australian Research Council Future Fellowship (FT100100358) during part of this study. BB was funded by an ACT Government PhD Scholarship, an Australian Government Fee Offset Scholarship, and an ANU Supplementary Scholarship. We would like to thank the ACT Government for their comments on early drafts of this paper, and Prof. Craig Moritz and Prof Andrew Weeks for their contributions to the early planning stages of this study. The authors also acknowledge the Ngunnawal people of the ACT region, on whose land this study took place. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022 The Zoological Society of London Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022 The Zoological Society of London.",
year = "2022",
month = jan,
day = "3",
doi = "10.1111/acv.12764",
language = "English",
volume = "25",
pages = "550--565",
journal = "Animal Conservation",
issn = "1367-9430",
publisher = "Wiley-Blackwell",
number = "4",
}