94% of researchers rate our articles as excellent or good
Learn more about the work of our research integrity team to safeguard the quality of each article we publish.
Find out more
ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Conserv. Sci.
Sec. Conservation Genetics and Genomics
Volume 6 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fcosc.2025.1553543
This article is part of the Research Topic Restoration Genetics and Genomics View all articles
Genetic Viability of Small Bison Populations a Century After Reintroduction
Provisionally accepted- 1 University of Colorado Denver, Denver, United States
- 2 Denver Zoo Conservation Alliance, Denver, United States
Recovering species are often managed in small numbers, requiring management strategies that maintain genetic variation for long-term viability. Here, we evaluate the genetic outcomes of two restored American bison (Bison bison) populations 15 generations after its reintroduction as Colorado's first wildlife reintroduction. After initial reintroduction in 1914 to Genesee park, the herd was split into two separate populations in 1938. We genotyped 36 individuals from both herds, analyzing 52 microsatellite markers to asses heterozygosity, allelic richness, inbreeding, and population structure. Both herds exhibit relatively high observed heterozygosity (Genesee: 0.775 sd = 0.183; Daniels: 0.781 sd = 0.178), high allelic richness (Genesee: 5.17 sd = 1.45; Daniels: 4.96 sd = 1.46), and negative FIS values (Genesee: -0.112 bootstraps = -0.158, -0.065; Daniels: -0.15, bootstraps = -0.191, -0.108), indicating a lack of inbreeding. Despite ongoing gene flow, the herds remain genetically distinct, as supported by pairwise FST (0.0354, bootstraps = 0.024, 0.046), Nei's D (0.136), and AMOVA results (ΦST = 0.078, p = 0.001). STRUCTURE analysis further confirmed that the herds maintain genetic clustering despite some admixture. These results suggest that Denver Mountain Parks' long-term management strategies --promoting controlled gene flow while preventing inbreeding --have been effective in maintaining genetic variation. Intentional individual movement between herds and introductions from external metapopulations have contributed to the long-term viability of these herds. Overall, this research highlights the success of small, intensively managed bison populations in maintaining genetic health over many generations and underscores the importance of gene flow strategies in wildlife restoration.
Keywords: microsatellites, Bison, Reintroduction, Wildlife management, conservation genetics, Wildlife genetics
Received: 30 Dec 2024; Accepted: 19 Feb 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Scheideman, Swallow and Ekernas. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Fayelynn Fox Scheideman, University of Colorado Denver, Denver, United States
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.