San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, Beckman Center for Conservation Research, 15600 San Pasqual Valley Road, Escondido, CA, 92025, USA; Conservation Science Network, Australia.
San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, Beckman Center for Conservation Research, 15600 San Pasqual Valley Road, Escondido, CA, 92025, USA.
Theriogenology. 2022 Oct 1;191:141-152. doi: 10.1016/j.theriogenology.2022.07.003. Epub 2022 Jul 12.
The establishment and management of ex situ breeding and assurance populations around the globe are meant to provide short-term solutions to the formidable loss of amphibian diversity presently occurring. Large multi-scaled facilities, such as zoos and aquariums, can provide the infrastructure to safeguard species and populations. However, often even large, economically viable facilities lack the knowledge to efficiently cater to the plethora of environmentally controlled physiological strategies that amphibians possess. Anurans present a class of amphibians that have often been viewed as easy to maintain ex situ. However, while adult survival may be relatively successful it is rarely accompanied by good reproductive output, health, and fitness. Even more conspicuous is the low survivorship of offspring produced ex situ once they are translocated back into the wild. The mountain yellow-legged frog (R. muscosa) ex situ breeding program EBP is a prime example of the challenges that amphibians EBPs face. Although more research is needed, the R. muscosa program has increased reproductive output and health of its colony by incorporating reproductive technologies and strategic genetic management in conjunction with a greater understanding of the species' natural history, to produce and translocate viable animals each year. This paper highlights the EBPs past decade of research featuring the program's contribution to building empirical, multidisciplinary approaches that boost the robustness of an endangered species, by safeguarding existing genetic diversity and maximizing fitness and survival outcomes.
全球范围内建立和管理异地繁殖和保障种群旨在为目前发生的两栖动物多样性的巨大损失提供短期解决方案。大型多尺度设施，如动物园和水族馆，可以提供保护物种和种群的基础设施。然而，即使是大型的、经济上可行的设施也往往缺乏有效满足两栖动物拥有的大量环境控制生理策略的知识。无尾目是一类通常被认为易于异地维持的两栖动物。然而，尽管成年动物的存活率相对较高，但它们很少伴随着良好的繁殖产出、健康和适应性。更明显的是，一旦将在异地产生的后代转移回野外，它们的存活率就很低。山溪鲵异地繁殖计划（EBP）就是两栖动物 EBPs 面临挑战的一个典型例子。尽管还需要更多的研究，但 R. muscosa 计划通过结合生殖技术和战略性遗传管理，以及对该物种自然历史的更深入了解，来提高其种群的繁殖产出和健康状况，每年都能生产和转移有活力的动物。本文重点介绍了该计划过去十年的研究成果，该成果为建立经验性、多学科方法做出了贡献，通过保护现有遗传多样性和最大限度地提高适应性和生存结果，增强了濒危物种的稳健性。
