scholarly journals Minimizing Potential Allee Effects in Psittacine Reintroductions: An Example from Puerto Rico

Diversity ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 13
Author(s):  
Thomas H. White ◽  
Wilfredo Abreu ◽  
Gabriel Benitez ◽  
Arelis Jhonson ◽  
Marisel Lopez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Puerto Rico ◽  
Site Fidelity ◽  
Conservation Strategies ◽  
Allee Effects ◽  
Species Reintroduction ◽  
Social Species ◽  
Potential Applicability ◽  
Amazona Vittata ◽  
Puerto Rican Parrot ◽  
Release Strategy

The family Psittacidae is comprised of over 400 species, an ever-increasing number of which are considered threatened with extinction. In recent decades, conservation strategies for these species have increasingly employed reintroduction as a technique for reestablishing populations in previously extirpated areas. Because most Psittacines are highly social and flocking species, reintroduction efforts may face the numerical and methodological challenge of overcoming initial Allee effects during the critical establishment phase of the reintroduction. These Allee effects can result from failures to achieve adequate site fidelity, survival and flock cohesion of released individuals, thus jeopardizing the success of the reintroduction. Over the past 20 years, efforts to reestablish and augment populations of the critically endangered Puerto Rican parrot (Amazona vittata) have periodically faced the challenge of apparent Allee effects. These challenges have been mitigated via a novel release strategy designed to promote site fidelity, flock cohesion and rapid reproduction of released parrots. Efforts to date have resulted in not only the reestablishment of an additional wild population in Puerto Rico, but also the reestablishment of the species in the El Yunque National Forest following its extirpation there by the Category 5 hurricane Maria in 2017. This promising release strategy has potential applicability in reintroductions of other psittacines and highly social species in general.

Using artificial canopy gaps to restore Puerto Rican Parrot (Amazona vittata) habitat in tropical timber plantations

2007 ◽  
Vol 243 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 169-177 ◽  
Author(s):  
Faith M. Inman ◽  
Thomas R. Wentworth ◽  
Martha Groom ◽  
Cavell Brownie ◽  
Russ Lea
Keyword(s):  
Puerto Rican ◽  
Canopy Gaps ◽  
Tropical Timber ◽  
Timber Plantations ◽  
Amazona Vittata ◽  
Puerto Rican Parrot

Characterization and assessment of an avian repetitive DNA sequence as an icterid phylogenetic marker

Genome ◽  
1992 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 155-162 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. S. Quinn ◽  
E. Guglich ◽  
G. Seutin ◽  
R. Lau ◽  
J. Marsolais ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sequence Similarity ◽  
Restriction Enzymes ◽  
Repeated Sequence ◽  
Passerine Bird ◽  
Anser Anser ◽  
Closely Related Species ◽  
Phylogenetic Studies ◽  
Repeated Structure ◽  
Amazona Vittata ◽  
Puerto Rican Parrot

The first tandemly repeated sequence examined in a passerine bird, a 431-bp PstI fragment named pMAT1, has been cloned from the genome of the brown-headed cowbird (Molothrus ater). The sequence represents about 5–10% of the genome (about 4 × 105 copies) and yields prominent ethidium bromide stained bands when genomic DNA cut with a variety of restriction enzymes is electrophoresed in agarose gels. A particularly striking ladder of fragments is apparent when the DNA is cut with HinfI, indicative of a tandem arrangement of the monomer. The cloned PstI monomer has been sequenced, revealing no internal repeated structure. There are sequences that hybridize with pMAT1 found in related nine-primaried oscines but not in more distantly related oscines, suboscines, or nonpasserine species. Little sequence similarity to tandemly repeated PstI cut sequences from the merlin (Falco columbarius), saurus crane (Grus antigone), or Puerto Rican parrot (Amazona vittata) or to HinfI digested sequence from the Toulouse goose (Anser anser) was detected. The isolated sequence was used as a probe to examine DNA samples of eight members of the tribe Icterini. This examination revealed phylogenetically informative characters. The repeat contains cutting sites from a number of restriction enzymes, which, if sufficiently polymorphic, would provide new phylogenetic characters. Sequences like these, conserved within a species, but variable between closely related species, may be very useful for phylogenetic studies of closely related taxa.Key words: tandemly repeated sequences, satellite DNA, tribe Icterini.

scholarly journals A locally funded Puerto Rican parrot (Amazona vittata) genome sequencing project increases avian data and advances young researcher education

GigaScience ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Taras K Oleksyk ◽  
Jean-Francois Pombert ◽  
Daniel Siu ◽  
Anyimilehidi Mazo-Vargas ◽  
Brian Ramos ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Puerto Rican ◽  
Genome Sequencing ◽  
Young Researcher ◽  
Genome Sequencing Project ◽  
Sequencing Project ◽  
Amazona Vittata ◽  
Puerto Rican Parrot

scholarly journals Relationship Between Inter-individual Variation in Circadian Rhythm and Sociality: A case Study Using Halictid Bees

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sofia Melendez Cartagena ◽  
Carlos A Ortiz-Alvarado ◽  
Patricia Ordonez ◽  
Claudia S Cordero-Martinez ◽  
Alexandria F Ambrose ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Puerto Rico ◽  
Circadian Rhythm ◽  
Circadian Rhythms ◽  
Individual Variation ◽  
Social Evolution ◽  
Optimal Model ◽  
Social Species ◽  
Circadian Behavior ◽  
Solitary Species

The bee family Halictidae is considered to be an optimal model for the study of social evolution due to its remarkable range of social behaviors. Past studies in circadian rhythms suggest that social species may express more diversity in circadian behaviors than solitary species. However, these previous studies did not make appropriate taxonomic comparisons. To further explore the link between circadian rhythms and sociality, we examine four halictid species with different degrees of sociality, three social species of Lasioglossum, one from Greece and two from Puerto Rico, and a solitary species of Systropha from Greece. Based on our previous observations, we hypothesized that species with greater degree of sociality will show greater inter-individual variation in circadian rhythms than solitary species. We observed distinct differences in their circadian behavior that parallel differences across sociality, where the most social species expressed the highest inter-individual variation. We predict that circadian rhythm differences will be informative of sociality across organisms.

scholarly journals Genomes of Three Closely Related Caribbean Amazons Provide Insight for Species History and Conservation

Genes ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sofiia Kolchanova ◽  
Sergei Kliver ◽  
Aleksei Komissarov ◽  
Pavel Dobrinin ◽  
Gaik Tamazian ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Puerto Rican ◽  
De Novo ◽  
Demographic History ◽  
Model Systems ◽  
Whole Genome Sequencing Data ◽  
Sequencing Data ◽  
De Novo Genome Assembly ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
Amazona Vittata ◽  
Puerto Rican Parrot

Islands have been used as model systems for studies of speciation and extinction since Darwin published his observations about finches found on the Galapagos. Amazon parrots inhabiting the Greater Antillean Islands represent a fascinating model of species diversification. Unfortunately, many of these birds are threatened as a result of human activity and some, like the Puerto Rican parrot, are now critically endangered. In this study we used a combination of de novo and reference-assisted assembly methods, integrating it with information obtained from related genomes to perform genome reconstruction of three amazon species. First, we used whole genome sequencing data to generate a new de novo genome assembly for the Puerto Rican parrot (Amazona vittata). We then improved the obtained assembly using transcriptome data from Amazona ventralis and used the resulting sequences as a reference to assemble the genomes Hispaniolan (A. ventralis) and Cuban (Amazona leucocephala) parrots. Finally, we, annotated genes and repetitive elements, estimated genome sizes and current levels of heterozygosity, built models of demographic history and provided interpretation of our findings in the context of parrot evolution in the Caribbean.

scholarly journals Natural history of the marsupial frog Gastrotheca albolineata (Anura: Hemiphractidae) in lowland Brazilian Atlantic Forest

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 189-200
Author(s):  
Edelcio Muscat ◽  
Rafael Costabile Menegucci ◽  
Rafael Mitsuo Tanaka ◽  
Elsie Rotenberg ◽  
Matheus de Toledo Moroti ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Natural History ◽  
Atlantic Forest ◽  
Site Fidelity ◽  
Conservation Strategies ◽  
Southeastern Brazil ◽  
Brazilian Atlantic Forest ◽  
Active Season ◽  
Calling Activity ◽  
History Of ◽  
Elusive Species

Natural history of the marsupial frog Gastrotheca albolineata (Anura: Hemiphractidae) in lowland Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Gastrotheca albolineata is a marsupial frog endemic to the Atlantic Forest in southeastern Brazil. It remains poorly studied in nature and is uncommon in herpetological collections. We studied the natural history of G. albolineata during a four-year period (2015 to 2019), in Ubatuba, São Paulo state, Brazil, at its southernmost distribution. Our results show that G. albolineata is arboreal, perches from low to medium heights, and breeds during the dry season without chorus aggregation. Calling activity occurs during the day but is more intense during the first half of the night. We used dorsal body markings to identify individuals. Six individuals were recaptured during the study, indicating site fidelity during the active season. The defensive repertory of G. albolineata contains seven different behaviors, including a high-pitched distress call. Egg development in the female’s dorsal pouch took at least 87 days, and fully formed froglets were born with a snout–vent length of 16 mm. Our data substantially add to the knowledge of the natural history of Brazilian marsupial frogs and can be helpful to delineate conservation strategies for elusive species such as G. albolineata.

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