Data from: Which species, how many, and from where: Integrating habitat suitability, population genomics, and abundance estimates into species reintroduction planning

Extirpated organisms are reintroduced into their former ranges worldwide to combat species declines and biodiversity losses. The growing field of reintroduction biology provides guiding principles for reestablishing populations, though criticisms remain regarding limited integration of initial planning, modeling frameworks, interdisciplinary collaborations, and multi-species approaches. We used an interdisciplinary, multi-species, quantitative framework to plan reintroductions of three fish species into Abrams Creek, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, USA. We first assessed the appropriateness of habitat at reintroduction sites for banded sculpin (Cottus carolinae), greenside darter (Etheostoma blennioides), and mottled sculpin (Cottus bairdii) using species distribution modeling. Next, we evaluated the relative suitability of nine potential source stock sites using population genomics, abundance estimates, and multiple-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) based on known correlates of reintroduction success. Species distribution modeling identified mottled sculpin as a poor candidate, but banded sculpin and greenside darter as suitable candidates for reintroduction based on species-habitat relationships and habitats available in Abrams Creek. Genotyping by sequencing revealed acceptable levels of genetic diversity at all candidate source stock sites, identified population clusters, and allowed for estimating the number of fish that should be included in translocations. Finally, MCDA highlighted priorities among candidate source stock sites that were most likely to yield successful reintroductions based on differential weightings of habitat assessment, population genomics, and the number of fish available for translocation. Our integrative approach represents a unification of multiple recent advancements in the field of reintroduction biology and highlights the benefit of shifting away from simply choosing nearby populations for translocation to an information-based science with strong a priori planning coupled with several suggested posteriori monitoring objectives. Our framework can be applied to optimize reintroduction successes for a multitude of organisms and advances the science of reintroduction biology by simultaneously addressing a variety of past criticisms of the field.

为应对物种种群衰退与生物多样性丧失，全球范围内正开展局部灭绝物种重新引入其历史分布范围的工作。日益发展的再引入生物学（reintroduction biology）领域为种群重建提供了指导原则，但该领域仍存在批评声音，指出其在初始规划、模型框架、跨学科协作以及多物种研究方法等方面的整合度不足。本研究采用跨学科、多物种的定量研究框架，针对美国大烟山国家公园艾布拉姆斯溪，规划了3种鱼类的再引入工作。研究首先通过物种分布模型（species distribution modeling），评估了再引入点位的生境是否适宜带纹杜父鱼（Cottus carolinae）、绿身镖鲈（Etheostoma blennioides）与斑杜父鱼（Cottus bairdii）。随后，基于已报道的再引入成功相关影响因子，本研究利用种群基因组学（population genomics）、种群丰度估算以及多准则决策分析（multiple-criteria decision analysis, MCDA），对9个潜在种源地的相对适宜性进行了评估。物种分布模型结果显示，基于物种与生境的关联以及艾布拉姆斯溪现有的生境条件，斑杜父鱼并非适宜的再引入候选物种，而带纹杜父鱼与绿身镖鲈则具备再引入的适宜性。测序分型（genotyping by sequencing）结果表明，所有候选种源地的遗传多样性水平均处于可接受范围，同时明确了种群聚类情况，并可估算出易位移植所需的鱼类个体数量。最后，多准则决策分析通过对生境评估、种群基因组学数据以及可移植鱼类数量赋予不同权重，明确了最有可能实现再引入成功的候选种源地优先级。本研究的整合性方法统一了再引入生物学领域近年来多项研究进展，同时阐明了研究范式转变的优势：即不再仅选择邻近种群进行易位移植，而是转向以信息为基础的科学研究，辅以严谨的先验规划与多项建议的后验监测目标。本研究框架可用于优化众多生物类群的再引入成功率，同时通过针对性解决该领域既往受到的多项批评，推动再引入生物学学科的发展。