Source of unrelated individuals for genetic augmentation
The individuals chosen for introduction to inbred populations, for
recovery of fitness and genetic diversity, may be either outbred (if available),
or inbred but genetically differentiated from the population to which they are being introduced. An example of the latter situation is provided by Australian wallabies (Table 13.1).
The black-footed rock wallaby has several inbred island populations that could be combined
to increase genetic diversity and improve reproductive fitness.
The combined
genetic material from all the island populations contains most of
the microsatellite alleles found within the mainland populations.
There are 66 alleles at 10 microsatellite loci in mainland populations
and 47 in the pool of six island populations (Eldridge et al. 1999).