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Giraffe translocation population viability analysis

Authors :
Lee, DE
Fienieg, E
Van Oosterhout, C
Muller, Z
Strauss, M
Carter, KD
Scheijen, CPJ
Deacon, F
Source :
Endangered Species Research, Vol 41, Pp 245-252 (2020)
Publication Year :
2020
Publisher :
Inter-Research, 2020.

Abstract

Most populations of giraffes have declined in recent decades, leading to the recent IUCN decision to upgrade the species to Vulnerable status, and some subspecies to Endangered. Translocations have been used as a conservation tool to re-introduce giraffes to previously occupied areas or establish new populations, but guidelines for founding populations are lacking. To provide general guidelines for translocation projects regarding feasibility, we simulated various scenarios of translocated giraffe populations to identify viable age and sex distributions of founding populations using population viability analysis (PVA) implemented in Vortex software. We explored the parameter space for demography and the genetic load, examining how variation in founding numbers and sex ratios affected 100 yr probability of population extinction and genetic diversity. We found that even very small numbers of founders (N ≤ 10 females) can appear to be successful in the first decades due to transient positive population growth, but with moderate population growth rate and moderate genetic load, long-term population viability (probability of extinction 95% genetic diversity of the source population in an isolated population, 50 females and 5 males are recommended to compose the founding population. Sensitivity analyses revealed first-year survival and reproductive rate were the simulation parameters with the greatest proportional influence on probability of extinction and genetic diversity. These simulations highlight important considerations for translocation success and data gaps including true genetic load in wild giraffe populations.

Subjects

Subjects :
Zoology
QL1-991
Botany
QK1-989

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
18635407 and 16134796
Volume :
41
Database :
Directory of Open Access Journals
Journal :
Endangered Species Research
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
edsdoj.f19a07fd6764665855fbdb54339ff7f
Document Type :
article
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.3354/esr01022