Diverged Populations Admixture Bolsters Genetic Diversity of a New Island Dibbler () Population, but Does Not Prevent Subsequent Loss of Genetic Variation.

Translocating individuals from multiple source populations is one way to bolster genetic variation and avoid inbreeding in newly established populations. However, mixing isolated populations, especially from islands, can potentially lead to outbreeding depression and/or assortative mating, which may limit interbreeding between source populations. Here, we investigated genetic consequences of mixing individuals from two island populations of the dibbler () in an island translocation.

Mixing Genetically and Morphologically Distinct Populations in Translocations: Asymmetrical Introgression in A Newly Established Population of the Boodie ().

The use of multiple source populations provides a way to maximise genetic variation and reduce the impacts of inbreeding depression in newly established translocated populations. However, there is a risk that individuals from different source populations will not interbreed, leading to population structure and smaller effective population sizes than expected. Here, we investigate the genetic consequences of mixing two isolated, morphologically distinct island populations of boodies () in a translocation to mainland Australia over three generations.

Temporal Patterns in the Abundance of a Critically Endangered Marsupial Relates to Disturbance by Roads and Agriculture.

The aim of this study was to investigate how landscape disturbance associated with roads, agriculture and forestry influenced temporal patterns in woylie (Bettongia penicillata) abundance before, during and after periods of rapid population change. Data were collected from an area of approximately 140,000 ha of forest within the Upper Warren region in south-western Australia. Woylie abundance was measured using cage trapping at 22 grid and five transect locations with varying degrees of landscape disturbance between 1994 and 2012.

Offspring sex varies with maternal investment ability: empirical demonstration based on cross-fostering.

Despite decades of interest, adaptive explanations for biased offspring sex ratios in mammals remain contentious, largely because direct tests of the underlying fitness assumptions of adaptive hypotheses are rarely conducted. These tests are complicated by the difficulty of manipulating offspring sex prior to significant maternal investment owing to the biological constraints of viviparity. We test the adaptive advantage of sex allocation through cross-fostering offspring by sex in tammar wallabies.