To take up the cudgels for inbreeding as tool in restoration programmes

Abstract

This manuscript is the outcome of a discussion following my oral presentation at the IUCN Workshop of Fish Restoration in Düsseldorf, Germany 2009. I am aware that there is a large body of literature dealing with inbreeding, outbreeding and quantitative genetics, but this letter is not a review. The manuscript reflects mainly my personal ideas and experience with release programs. Summarizing my experience about inbreeding and inbreeding depressions, both seem to bear only a minor, acceptable risk for species producing a huge number of offspring including most fishes. Furthermore, I would like to suggest using inbreeding as a tool conserving beneficial genotypes. In contrast, outbreeding is a major threat for many restoration and release programs. Depending on the common procedure to publish only successful studies, the ecological and economic pitfalls of outbreeding seem to be underestimated so far. Managers of restoration programs should be very cautious with the release of more or less genetic distantly related specimens. © 2011 Blackwell Verlag, Berlin.