The effects of group versus intensive housing on the retention of genetic diversity in insurance populations

BMC Zoology

Table 1 Comparison of the reproductive success in Tasmanian devils between two types of housing facilities over a five year period

Facility	Year	Sample size(m:f)	Polygyny^a	Polyandry^b	Male reproductive skew^c	Female reproductive skew^d	% males reproduced mean (±SD)^e	% females reproduced mean (±SD)^e	Litter size mean (±SD)^f
Group	2011	10:11	0.00	0.00	60.00	63.64	25.00 (5.77)	25.00 (5.77)	2.50 (0.58)
	2012	24:23	40.00	7.70	58.33	43.48	10.00 (4.18)	7.69 (3.43)	2.77 (1.24)
	2013	26:26	8.33	23.08	53.85	50.00	8.33 (4.76)	7.70 (3.50)	2.23 (1.01)
	2014	23:23	10.00	33.33	56.52	59.09	10.00 (4.74)	11.11 (4.76)	2.33 (1.00)
	2015	21:22	37.50	10.00	61.90	50.00	12.50 (4.63)	9.10 (3.07)	3.10 (1.04)
Average		20.8:21	19.17	14.82	58.12	53.24	13.17	12.12	2.59
Intensive	2011	18:17	20.00	NA	44.44	29.41	10.00 (4.92)	8.33 (3.21)	2.58 (0.99)
	2012	17:14	0.00	NA	35.29	21.43	9.09 (3.46)	9.09 (3.46)	2.45 (0.93)
	2013	16:15	16.67	NA	62.50	53.33	16.67 (12.11)	14.29 (5.35)	2.86 (1.07)
	2014^g	10:8	0.00	NA	50.00	37.50	20.00 (9.31)	20.00 (9.31)	2.80 (1.30)
	2015^g	13:15	0.00	NA	27.27	40.00	12.50 (4.63)	11.11 (4.17)	2.67 (1.00)
Average		14.8:13.8	7.33	NA	43.9	36.33	13.65	12.56	2.67

^aPercentage of males that had more than one female mate
^bPercentage of females that had more than one male mate
^cPercentage of males that failed to reproduce from the total number of males with breeding recommendations
^dPercentage of females that failed to reproduce from the total number of females with breeding recommendations
^eAverage individual reproductive contribution (number of joeys produced as a proportion of the total number of joeys produced in that yearly cohort)
^fAverage litter size value obtained only from females that reproduced during this study
^gIn these two years, breeding recommendations were preferentially giving to group housing facilities due to capacity restrictions in the intensive facilities in the insurance population ([52])
Group housing facilities provide an opportunity for mate choice, and intensive housing facilities require forced monogamy

ISSN: 2056-3132