Rodrigues fruit bats (Pteropus rodricensis, Megachiroptera: Pteropodidae) retain genetic diversity despite population declines and founder events

Abstract

Fruit bats of the genus Pteropus are important contributors to ecosystem maintenance on islands through their roles as pollinators and seed dispersers. However, island faunas are the most prone to extinction and there is a real need to assess the possible genetic implications of population reductions in terms of extinction risk. An effective method of ameliorating extinction risk in endangered species is the establishment of captive populations ex situ. The effectiveness of captive breeding programmes may be assessed by comparing the genetic variability of captive colonies to that of wild counterparts. Here, we use polymorphic microsatellite loci to assess genetic variability in wild, critically endangered Rodrigues fruit bats (Pteropus rodricensis, Dobson 1878) and we compare this variability to that in a captive colony. We document remarkable conservation of genetic variability in both the wild and captive populations, despite population declines and founder events. Our results demonstrate that the wild population has withstood the negative effects of population reductions and that captive breeding programmes can fulfil the goals of retaining genetic diversity and limiting inbreeding.