Research advances and prospects of conservation genetics and genomics of Nippion nippion

Nippion nippion is classified as the first-class national protected animal in China and is considered as one of the key species for the rescue protection of rare and endangered wildlife conservation in the 14th Five-Year Plan for Forestry and Grassland Protection. Despite its population growing from seven founder individuals to over 10,000 currently, the population has suffered a serious bottleneck effect, resulting in extremely limited genetic diversity. In this study, the research on population diversity, immune gene diversity, genetic structure differentiation, mate selection, and genome analysis since the protection of crested ibis in the past 40 years was comprehensively discussed, and the adverse effects of population inbreeding at present were discussed, as well as the guiding significance of the current research findings in species conservation endeavors of crested ibis.