Behavioral and Reproductive Responses to a Population Bottleneck in Pronghorn (Antilocapra americana)

叉角羚 (Antilocapra americana) 对种群瓶颈的行为和生殖反应

• 批准号: 0738012
• 负责人: John Byers
• 金额: $ 60.5万
• 依托单位: Regents of the University of Idaho
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2008
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2008-03-15 至 2013-02-28
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0738012&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Behavioral; Reproductive; Responses; Population; Bottleneck

The goals of this work on pronghorn, a native North American hoofed animal, are to investigate the effects of a population bottleneck on breeding behavior. The study will complete the construction of a complete population pedigree, measure the effects of inbreeding on reproduction, and see whether females, in their mate choice decisions, are able to avoid inbreeding. In doing so, females may be able to balance inbreeding avoidance with mate choice for genetically superior males. It is possible to achieve these goals because of long-term records, as well as a recent and rare population event, for the pronghorn population at the National Bison Range in northwestern Montana. Results from this work will be of direct use to wildlife managers, who set hunting dates, harvest levels, and target population sizes for pronghorn in 14 western states. The project will make available information on genetic markers for this species. The project will train 2 female Ph.D. students, and will involve at least 16 undergraduates, half of whom will be from under-represented groups, in field and laboratory aspects of the research. Collaborative work with the United States Fish & Wildlife Service will result in updated estimates of health trends in this important pronghorn population.

这项针对北美本土有蹄类动物叉角羚的研究目标是调查种群瓶颈对繁殖行为的影响。该研究将完成完整种群谱系的构建，测量近亲繁殖对繁殖的影响，并观察雌性在择偶时是否能够避免近亲繁殖。通过这样做，雌性也许能够平衡避免近亲繁殖和选择基因优越的雄性的配偶。由于蒙大拿州西北部国家野牛山脉的叉角羚种群的长期记录以及最近罕见的种群事件，实现这些目标是可能的。这项工作的结果将直接供野生动物管理者使用，他们可以设定西部 14 个州叉角羚的狩猎日期、收获水平和目标种群规模。该项目将提供有关该物种遗传标记的信息。该项目将培养2名女性博士。学生，并将涉及至少 16 名本科生，其中一半将来自研究领域和实验室方面代表性不足的群体。 与美国鱼类和野生动物管理局的合作将对这一重要叉角羚种群的健康趋势进行最新估计。