Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Apr 9;11(1):7813.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-87436-z.

Reproductive performance in houbara bustard is affected by the combined effects of age, inbreeding and number of generations in captivity

Robin Rabier  1   2   3 , Loïc Lesobre  4   5 , Alexandre Robert  6
Affiliations

Reproductive performance in houbara bustard is affected by the combined effects of age, inbreeding and number of generations in captivity

Robin Rabier et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

Although captive breeding programs are valuable for conservation, they have been shown to be associated with genetic changes, such as adaptation to captivity or inbreeding. In addition, reproductive performance is strongly age-dependent in most animal species. These mechanisms that potentially impact reproduction have often been studied separately, while their interactions have rarely been addressed. In this study, using a large dataset of nine male and female reproductive parameters measured for 12,295 captive houbara bustards (Chlamydotis undulata undulata) over 24 years, we investigated the relative and interactive effects of age, inbreeding and number of generations in captivity on reproduction. We clearly identified (1) senescence patterns in all parameters studied; (2) negative effects of inbreeding on sperm characteristics, display behavior, egg weight, egg volume and hatching probability; and (3) changes in phenotypic values for seven parameters according to number of generations in captivity. However, the effect sizes associated with age were substantially greater than those associated with inbreeding and number of generations in captivity. Beyond the independent effects of these three factors on reproductive parameters, the results highlighted their interactive effects and thus the importance of integrating them in the design of genetic management plans for conservation breeding programs.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Predicted values of the reproductive parameters according to age. Solid blue lines represent male reproductive parameters while solid red lines represent female reproductive parameters. Dotted lines represent the 95% confidence intervals. Black filled points represent average phenotypic values computed on raw data and the vertical lines represent the associated standard deviations.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Predicted values of the reproductive parameters according to inbreeding. Solid blue lines represent male reproductive parameters while solid red lines represent female reproductive parameters. Dotted lines represent the 95% confidence intervals. Black filled points represent average phenotypic values computed on raw data and the vertical lines represent the associated standard deviations.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Predicted values of reproductive parameters according to number of generations in captivity. Solid blue lines represent male reproductive parameters while solid red lines represent female reproductive parameters. Dotted lines represent the 95% confidence intervals. Black filled points represent average phenotypic values computed on raw data and the vertical lines represent the associated standard deviations.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Predicted values of egg weight and egg elongation according to the interaction between age and inbreeding.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Predicted values of the reproductive parameters according to the interaction between age and number of generations in captivity.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Predicted values of the number of displaying days and egg elongation according to the interaction between inbreeding and number of generations in captivity. The interaction between inbreeding and generation zero was not performed since founders (i.e., individuals of generation zero) were assumed to be neither inbred nor related.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Conde DA, Flesness N, Colchero F, Jones OR, Scheuerlein A. An emerging role of zoos to conserve biodiversity. Science. 2011;331:1390–1391. doi: 10.1126/science.1200674. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Ballou, J. D. et al. Demographic and genetic management of captive populations. in Wild Mammals in Captivity: Principles and Techniques for Zoo Management (eds. Kleiman, D. G., Thompson, K. V. & Kirk Baer, C.) 219–252 (The University of Chicago Press, 2010).
    1. Ralls, K. & Ballou, J. D. Captive breeding and reintroduction. in Encyclopedia of Biodiversity (ed. Levin, S. A.) 662–667 (Elsevier Academic Press, 2013). 10.1016/B978-0-12-384719-5.00268-9.
    1. IUCN. Guidelines on the Use of Ex Situ Management for Species Conservation (2nd ed.). www.iucn.org/about/work/programmes/species/publications/iucn_guidelines_... (2014).
    1. Lacy RC. Loss of genetic diversity from managed populations: interacting effects of drift, mutation, immigration, selection, and population subdivision. Conserv. Biol. 1987;1:143–158. doi: 10.1111/j.1523-1739.1987.tb00023.x. - DOI

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources