Data from: The efficiency of close inbreeding to reduce genetic adaptation to captivity

Although ex situ conservation is indispensable for thousands of species,
captive breeding is associated with negative genetic changes: loss of
genetic variance and genetic adaptation to captivity that is deleterious
in the wild. We used quantitative genetic individual-based simulations to
model the effect of genetic management on the evolution of a quantitative
trait and the associated fitness of wild-born individuals that are brought
to captivity. We also examined the feasibility of the breeding strategies
under a scenario of a large number of loci subject to deleterious
mutations. We compared two breeding strategies: repeated half-sib mating
and a method of minimizing mean coancestry (referred to as gc/mc). Our
major finding was that half-sib mating is more effective in reducing
genetic adaptation to captivity than the gc/mc method. Moreover, half-sib
mating retains larger allelic and adaptive genetic variance. Relative to
initial standing variation, the additive variance of the quantitative
trait increased under half-sib mating during the sojourn in captivity.
Although fragmentation into smaller populations improves the efficiency of
the gc/mc method, half-sib mating still performs better in the scenarios
tested. Half-sib mating shows two caveats that could mitigate its
beneficial effects: low heterozygosity and high risk of extinction when
populations are of low fecundity and size and one of the following
conditions are met: (i) the strength of selection in captivity is
comparable with that in the wild, (ii) deleterious mutations are numerous
and only slightly deleterious. Experimental validation of half-sib mating
is therefore needed for the advancement of captive breeding programs.