Opposing health effects of hybridization for conservation

The continuing decline of many natural plant and animal populations emphasizes the importance of conservation strategies. Hybridization as a management tool has proven successful in introducing gene flow to small, inbred populations, but can be also associated with health risks. For example, hybridi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Conservation science and practice 2021-05, Vol.3 (5), p.n/a
Main Authors: Klemme, Ines, Hendrikx, Lysanne, Ashrafi, Roghaieh, Sundberg, Lotta‐Riina, Räihä, Ville, Piironen, Jorma, Hyvärinen, Pekka, Karvonen, Anssi
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adaptation
Animal populations
Conservation
Disease
Endangered species
Epidemics
Experiments
Fish hatcheries
Gene flow
Genetic diversity
Health risks
Heterosis
Hybrid vigor
Hybridization
Hybrids
Inbreeding
Infections
Males
Mortality
Outbreeding
outbreeding depression
parasite
Parasites
Population
Population genetics
Populations
Rivers
Salmo salar
Salmon
salmonid
Survival
Wildlife conservation
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Summary:The continuing decline of many natural plant and animal populations emphasizes the importance of conservation strategies. Hybridization as a management tool has proven successful in introducing gene flow to small, inbred populations, but can be also associated with health risks. For example, hybridization can change susceptibility to infection in either direction due to heterosis (hybrid vigor) and outbreeding depression, but such health effects have rarely been considered in the genetic management of populations. Here, we investigated the effects of experimental outcrossing between the critically endangered Saimaa landlocked salmon (Salmo salar m. sebago) and the genetically more diverse Atlantic salmon (S. salar) on infection susceptibility. We exposed the parent populations and their hybrids to two parasites that commonly infect these species, the bacterium Flavobacterium columnare and the macroparasitic fluke Diplostomum pseudospathaceum. We found that landlocked salmon had lower survival during the bacterial epidemic, but higher resistance against the fluke, compared with Atlantic salmon. Hybrids showed intermediate survival and resistance, suggesting that hybridization decreased susceptibility to one parasite, but concurrently increased it to another. Our results emphasize the importance of considering health effects of different types of infections when employing hybridization for conservation.
ISSN:2578-4854
2578-4854
DOI:10.1111/csp2.379