Data from: Genetic consequences of a century of protection: serial founder events and survival of the little spotted kiwi (Apteryx owenii)

We present the outcome of a century of post-bottleneck isolation of a long-lived species, the little spotted kiwi (Apteryx owenii, LSK) and demonstrate that profound genetic consequences can result from protecting few individuals in isolation. LSK were saved from extinction by translocation of five birds from South Island, New Zealand to Kapiti Island 100 years ago. The Kapiti population now numbers some 1200 birds and provides founders for new populations. We used 15 microsatellite loci to compare genetic variation among Kapiti LSK and the populations of Red Mercury, Tiritiri Matangi and Long Islands that were founded with birds from Kapiti. Two LSK native to D'Urville Island were also placed on Long Island. We found extremely low genetic variation and signatures of acute and recent genetic bottleneck effects in all four populations, indicating that LSK have survived multiple genetic bottlenecks. The Long Island population appears to have arisen from a single mating pair from Kapiti, suggesting there is no genetic contribution from D'Urville birds among extant LSK. The Ne/NC ratio of Kapiti Island LSK (0.03) is exceptionally low for terrestrial vertebrates and suggests that genetic diversity might still be eroding in this population, despite its large census size.

本研究呈现了长寿物种小斑几维鸟（Apteryx owenii，下称LSK）历经一个世纪瓶颈后隔离的种群演化结果，并证实仅通过孤立保护少量个体，可能引发深远的遗传后果。100年前，研究人员从新西兰南岛迁移5只小斑几维鸟至卡皮蒂岛，使该物种免于灭绝。目前卡皮蒂岛的种群数量已达约1200只，并为后续新建种群提供奠基个体。本研究利用15个微卫星位点（microsatellite loci），对比了卡皮蒂岛小斑几维鸟种群，以及以卡皮蒂岛个体为奠基种群建立的红水银岛、蒂利蒂利马唐吉岛和长岛的小斑几维鸟种群的遗传变异水平。另有2只原产于德弗尔岛的小斑几维鸟被引入长岛。研究发现四个种群均存在极低的遗传变异水平，以及近期严重遗传瓶颈的分子特征，表明小斑几维鸟曾经历过多次遗传瓶颈事件。长岛种群似乎仅由卡皮蒂岛的1对繁殖个体建立而成，这说明现存小斑几维鸟种群中未检测到德弗尔岛个体的遗传贡献。卡皮蒂岛小斑几维鸟的有效种群大小与普查种群数量之比（Ne/NC）为0.03，这一数值在陆生脊椎动物中极低，提示尽管该种群的普查规模庞大，其遗传多样性仍可能在持续丧失。