A Novel Application of the Trivers‐Willard Model to the Problem of Genetic Rescue

Abstract

Abstract: Translocation is increasingly used to maintain evolutionary processes, particularly the genetic rescue of fragmented populations, but it is sometimes a costly and unsuccessful conservation tool. Succeeding at genetic rescue depends on the transfer of alleles between populations in the same way that successful parenthood consists in transferring alleles to the next generation. Moreover, there are large differences in the reproductive potential of males and females and growing evidence of sex‐biased survivorship after translocation in sexually selected species. Under these circumstances the Trivers‐Willard model ( TWM ), a founding and influential theory in behavioral ecology, makes predictions about how a parent should invest in the offspring of a different sex based on their ability to invest. Like parents, conservation managers also modify their investment in translocations to improve success. Thus, there are remarkable parallels between the predictions of modern evolutionary theory about parental investment in offspring of different sex and the investments of conservation managers in the translocation of alleles between populations via animals of different sex. The TWM for sex‐biased parental investment could be a theoretical guide to the problem of maximizing the transfer of alleles for genetic rescue.