Data from: Does human-induced hybridization have long-term genetic effects? Empirical testing with domesticated, wild and hybridized fish populations

Current conservation practices exclude human-generated hybridized populations from protection, as the genetic effects of hybridization in the wild have been observed to be long-lasting based on neutral genetic markers and are considered potentially irreversible. Theory, however, predicts otherwise for genes under selection. We transplanted combinations of wild, domesticated and hybridized populations of a fish species to new environments. We then compared survival, phenotypic variation and plasticity to determine whether hybridization affects adaptive potential after multiple generations of selection in the wild. Although the fitness of our hybridized populations at the onset of hybridization cannot be assessed, our results suggest that within five to eleven generations, selection can remove introduced foreign genes from wild populations that have hybridized with domesticated conspecifics. The end result is hybridized populations that, in terms of survival, phenotypic plasticity, mean trait expression and overall general responses to environmental change, closely resemble neighbouring wild populations. These results have important implications for considering the potential conservation value of hybridized populations and illustrate the effectiveness of selection in a local environment.

当前的物种保护实践将人为产生的杂交种群（human-generated hybridized populations）排除在保护范畴之外，这是因为基于中性遗传标记（neutral genetic markers）的观测结果显示，野外杂交的遗传效应具有持久性，且被认为可能无法逆转。然而，理论预测对于受选择的基因（genes under selection）而言，情况并非如此。我们将某一鱼类的野生种群、驯养种群与杂交种群的不同组合移植至全新环境中，随后通过比较存活率、表型变异（phenotypic variation）与表型可塑性（phenotypic plasticity），旨在探究野外多代选择过程中，杂交是否会对种群的适应潜力（adaptive potential）产生影响。尽管我们无法评估杂交初始阶段杂交种群的适合度（fitness），但研究结果表明，在5至11代的时间跨度内，选择作用可将与驯养同种个体（conspecifics）杂交的野生种群中引入的外源基因清除。最终的结果是，杂交种群在存活率、表型可塑性、平均性状表达以及对环境变化的整体响应模式上，与邻近的野生种群高度相似。上述研究结果为评估杂交种群的潜在保护价值提供了重要依据，同时也阐明了局域环境中选择作用的有效性。