Editing Species reintroduction (section)

=== Adaptation to captivity ===
Some reintroduction programs use plants or animals from captive populations to form a reintroduced population.<ref name=":0" /> When reintroducing individuals from a captive population to the wild, there is a risk that they have adapted to captivity due to differential selection of genotypes in captivity versus the wild.
The genetic basis of this adaptation is selection of rare, [[Dominance (genetics)|recessive]] [[allele]]s that are deleterious in the wild but preferred in captivity.<ref name="Frankham 2008" /> Consequently, animals adapted to captivity show reduced stress tolerance, increased tameness, and loss of local adaptations.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Frankham|first=Richard|date=2008|title=Genetic adaptation to captivity in species conservation programs|journal=Molecular Ecology|volume=17|issue=1|pages=325–333|doi=10.1111/j.1365-294x.2007.03399.x|pmid=18173504|bibcode=2008MolEc..17..325F |s2cid=8550230}}</ref> Plants also can show adaptations to captivity through changes in drought tolerance, nutrient requirements, and seed dormancy requirements.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Ensslin|first1=Andreas|last2=Tschöpe|first2=Okka|last3=Burkart|first3=Michael|last4=Joshi|first4=Jasmin|date=2015-12-01|title=Fitness decline and adaptation to novel environments in ex situ plant collections: Current knowledge and future perspectives|journal=Biological Conservation|volume=192|pages=394–401|doi=10.1016/j.biocon.2015.10.012|bibcode=2015BCons.192..394E }}</ref> Extent of adaptation is directly related to intensity of selection, genetic diversity, [[effective population size]] and number of generations in captivity.
Characteristics selected for in captivity are overwhelmingly disadvantageous in the wild, so such adaptations can lead to reduced fitness following reintroduction.
Reintroduction projects that introduce wild animals generally experience higher success rates than those that use captive-bred animals.<ref name="Frankham 2008" /> Genetic adaptation to captivity can be minimized through management methods: by maximizing generation length and number of new individuals added to the captive population; minimizing effective population size, number of generations spent in captivity, and [[Natural selection|selection]] pressure; and reducing genetic diversity by [[Fragmentation (reproduction)|fragmenting]] the population.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="Frankham 2008" /> For plants, minimizing adaptation to captivity is usually achieved by sourcing plant material from a [[seed bank]], where individuals are preserved as wild-collected seeds, and have not had the chance to adapt to conditions in captivity. However, this method is only plausible for plants with [[seed dormancy]].<ref name="Frankham 2008" />