Data from: Inbreeding and inbreeding avoidance in wild giant pandas

Inbreeding can have negative consequences on population and individual fitness, which could be counteracted by inbreeding avoidance mechanisms. However, the inbreeding risk and inbreeding avoidance mechanisms in endangered species are less studied. The giant panda, a solitary and threatened species, lives in many small populations and suffers from habitat fragmentation, which may aggravate the risk of inbreeding. Here, we performed long-term observations of reproductive behaviour, sampling of mother-cub pairs and large-scale genetic analyses on wild giant pandas. Moderate levels of inbreeding were found in 21.1% of mating-pairs, 9.1% of parent-pairs and 7.7% of panda cubs, but no high-level inbreeding occurred. More significant levels of inbreeding may be avoided passively by female-biased natal dispersal rather than by breeding dispersal or active relatedness-based mate choice mechanisms. The level of inbreeding in giant pandas is greater than expected for a solitary mammal and thus warrants concern for potential inbreeding depression, particularly in small populations isolated by continuing habitat fragmentation, which will reduce female dispersal and increase the risk of inbreeding.

近交（inbreeding）会对种群适合度与个体适合度产生负面影响，而近交回避机制（inbreeding avoidance mechanisms）可抵消此类效应。然而，当前针对濒危物种的近交风险与近交回避机制的研究仍相对匮乏。大熊猫作为独居且受威胁的物种，栖息于诸多小型种群中，且饱受生境破碎化困扰，这可能加剧近交风险。本研究针对野生大熊猫开展了长期繁殖行为观测、母幼对采样以及大规模遗传分析。结果显示，21.1%的交配对、9.1%的亲本对以及7.7%的幼崽存在中度近交，但未检测到高度近交情况。相较于繁殖扩散或基于亲缘关系的主动配偶选择机制，偏雌性的出生扩散（natal dispersal）可被动规避更高水平的近交。大熊猫的近交水平高于独居哺乳动物的预期值，因此需警惕潜在的近交衰退（inbreeding depression），尤其是在持续生境破碎化所隔离的小型种群中——此类生境破碎化会降低雌性扩散能力，进一步提升近交风险。