Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Thesis Format

Monograph

Degree

Master of Science

Program

Biology

Supervisor

Keyghobadi, Nusha

Abstract

Between 2019 and 2023, individuals of the mottled duskywing butterfly (Erynnis martialis) were sampled from a site in Ontario to source a reintroduction of the species to Pinery Provincial Park. Captively reared offspring of the sampled individuals were released to either Pinery or back to the source site as demographic compensation. These actions could affect genetic diversity of the source and reintroduced populations through founder effects and elevated genetic drift. I investigated the effect of the reintroduction on genetic diversity in both populations, using microsatellites to estimate allelic richness, heterozygosity, and effective population size over time. The source population showed no change in genetic diversity over the course of the reintroduction, and the Pinery population’s genetic diversity eventually matched that of naturally occurring populations. The reintroduction strategy was effective in establishing a population with a high level of genetic diversity without causing a negative effect on the source population.

Summary for Lay Audience

Because of human activity, species sometimes go locally extinct and disappear from certain areas where they naturally occur. When this happens, a conservation technique called ‘species reintroduction’ can be used, where individuals of the species are released back to an area from which the species has disappeared, to re-establish a population there. An endangered species of butterfly called the mottled duskywing (Erynnis martialis) that had disappeared from the Pinery Provincial Park was recently reintroduced there after its habitat in the park was restored. Between 2019 and 2023, butterflies were captured from a source site in Ontario so that the offspring they produced in captivity could be released to the Park. To make up for the butterflies taken from the source site, some of those offspring were also returned to the source site. Establishing a new population from a small number of founding individuals and returning offspring of a small number of individuals back to the source population could affect genetic diversity of both populations; genetic diversity is how many versions of the different genes are present in a population and if genetic diversity gets too low, and too many individuals carry the same versions of genes, there can be negative effects on the population. I examined genetic diversity of both populations over the years that the reintroduction occurred to see if there were changes over time, and I compared the Pinery Provincial Park population to the source and other naturally occurring mottled duskywing populations. The source population’s genetic diversity did not decrease over time, and the Pinery Provincial Park reintroduced population had as much genetic diversity as a natural population of mottled duskywing. I conclude that the techniques used in the mottled duskywing reintroduction were effective for establishing a reintroduced population without negatively affecting the source population.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Download

Share

COinS