Abstract
Parrots (Psittaciformes) are among the most endangered groups of birds today and remain threatened by habitat loss and exploitation for the live bird trade. Under such conditions, reliable and non-invasive monitoring techniques are crucial for successful conservation measures. In this study, we developed a panel of 86 high quality SNPs for genotyping endangered sun parakeets (Aratinga solstitialis) in Guyana, which form one of the last known breeding populations of this South American species in the wild. Genotyping was tested on different types of samples (blood, feathers, feces, beak and cloacal swabs). While blood performed best, feathers and feces also yielded reliable results and could thus be used as non-invasive sources of DNA for future population monitoring. Discriminant Analysis of Principal Components (DAPC) on genotypes revealed that Guyanese sun parakeets clustered separately from other psittacine species as well as conspecifics from a captive population. A priori known first-order kinships were also adequately detected by the SNP panel. Using a series of experimental contaminations, we found that contamination from other psittacine species and slight contamination (~ 10%) from conspecifics did not prevent successful genotyping and recognition of individuals. We show that instances of higher conspecific contamination (~ 50%) can be detected through an increased level of heterozygosity that falls outside the distribution of uncontaminated samples.
Highlights
Effective conservation and management of wild animal species often relies on trustworthy estimates of population size and trends (Newson et al 2008; Marques et al 2013), which form vital elements of the IUCN Red List assessment protocol (IUCN 2019)
The final panel of 83 autosomal Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) allowed for reliable discrimination of individual sun parakeets and population assignment
The comparatively high minor allele frequencies (MAF) ( x = 0.467) of the SNPs in the samples from the wild Guyanese target population and the levels of heterozygosity suggests good discriminatory power of the SNP panel for additional individuals sampled during future monitoring exercises
Summary
Effective conservation and management of wild animal species often relies on trustworthy estimates of population size and trends (Newson et al 2008; Marques et al 2013), which form vital elements of the IUCN Red List assessment protocol (IUCN 2019). Parrots (Psittaciformes) are among the most endangered groups of birds due to habitat alterations and their exploitation for the live bird trade (Snyder et al 2000). This situation is acute in the Neotropics, where poaching of parrot nestlings has significantly contributed to the decline of numerous species (Wright et al 2001).
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