Conservation Genetics the use and importance of genetic information 鄭先祐 (Ayo) 國立台南大學 環境與生態學院 教授

2 Contents  Genetic variation: what is it and why is it important?  Forces that affect genetic variation within populations  Using conservation genetics to inform management  Identifying and prioritizing groups for conservation  Genetic information and design and implementation of breeding strategies  Forensics and species or population identification  Understanding effects of population exploitation on levels of genetic diversity  Limitations of using genetics in conservation planning

3 Supplements  Box 11.1 measures of genetic diversity  Box 11.2 estimation of effective population size  Box 11.3 calculation of F-statistics  Essay 11.1 co-adaptation, local adaptation, and out-breeding depression  Essay 11.2 a rose is a rose is a rose

4 Supplements  Case study 11.1 genetics and demography of grizzly bear populations  Case study 11.2 using genetic analyses to guide management of Pacific salmonids  Case study 11.3 Scat-singing the wildlife conservation blues.

5 Introduction  Contemporary extinction rates are as high as any that have ever occurred on Earth.  When a population or species disappears, all of the genetic information carried by that population or species is lost.  Gene pools are becoming diminished and fragmented into gene puddles.

6 Genetic issues in conservation biology 1.inbreeding depression 2.Loss of genetic diversity and ability to evolve in response to environmental change 3.Fragmentation of populations and reduction in gene flow 4.Genetic drift 5.Genetic adaptation to captivity and its adverse effects on reintroduction success 6.Resolving taxonomic uncertainties

7 8.Defining management units within species 9.Use of genetic analyses in forensics ( 驗明正身 ) 10.Use of molecular genetic analyses to understand aspects of species biology. 11.Deleterious effects of fitness that sometimes occur as a result of out- crossing (outbreeding depression)

8 Using conservation genetics to inform management  Allow continued evolutionary change.  Ecological systems are dynamic and generally are not at equilibrium.  The best way to manage such dynamic, changing systems is to permit and allow for change.

9 Time scales of concern 1.Maintenance of viable population in the short term (extinction avoidance) 2.Maintenance of the ability to continue adaptive evolutionary change, 3.Maintenance of the capacity for continued speciation

10 Identifying and prioritizing groups for conservation 1.Conserve basal taxa 2.Conserve species-rich groups 3.Conserve species that are most different from one another 4.Conserve those taxa maximize phylogenetic diversity (PD)

11 Genetic information and design and implementation of breeding strategies  Use of pedigrees ( 系譜 ) ： Pedigree analysis represents the genetic study of multigenerational population with ancestral linkages that are known. Use of pedigrees is typically restricted to relatively small captive populations (zoos, domestic, or companion animals)  Estimation of degree of relatedness without knowledge of pedigree relationships Polymorphic loci analysis Genetic markers

12 Forensics ( 驗明正身 )  Molecular genetics has been used for forensic identification of commercial products from endangered species. Products including ivory, horn, shell, meat, feathers, dried leaves and a host of other commercially valuable items that are derived from plant or animal materials.

13 Individual identification and estimation of population size  Small quantities of DNA can be routinely collected noninvasively using hairs, feathers, feces, and even sloughed skin. Reviews of technology and empirical applications are provided in Cornuet et al. (1999), Mills et al. (2000), and Palsboll (1999). 如此可以 identify individuals, 運用 mark- recapture 估計族群的數量與變動。

14 Fig Forensic identification using mtDNS of “ dolphin or minke whale meat ” samples legally sold in Japanese markets. All bold faced specimens were from whale species that have not been legally harvestable since 1976.

15 Understanding effects of population exploitation on levels of genetic diversity  Many species are subjected to sport or commercial harvest.  Exploitation changes population size, sex ratio, and age structure that can have effects on genetic diversity. Male-only harvest of deer and the resulting sex ratio skew in favor of females in populations of mule deer. Commercially exploitation of Pacific salmon

16 Limitations of using genetics in conservation planning  The fields of evolutionary biology, and population and molecular genetics, which are the foundations of conservation genetics, are well established.  Genetic technology does have limitations however, and will not alone be the savior of biodiversity.  Habitat availability and biological interactions and processes should be the primary focus of conservation every where.

17  Without suitable ecosystems and dynamic ecological processes, high levels of genetic diversity alone would not ensure long-term population viability.

18 Supplements  Case study 11.1 genetics and demography of grizzly bear populations  Case study 11.2 using genetic analyses to guide management of Pacific salmonids  Case study 11.3 Scat-singing the wildlife conservation blues.

19 問題與討論