In today's world, rapid development and urbanization are happening all over the world. As much as people generally understand the importance of conservation, it is difficult to balance between basic human needs and the needs of animals. As a result, habitat fragmentation becomes one of the most eminent threats that many animals face. As habitats continue to become smaller and more isolated, animals are trapped and gene flow between population decreases.
In this paper, the authors study westslope cutthroat trout in Montana, one of the few populations that has not hybridized with rainbow trout, to understand the potential effect and problems with genetic rescue. The authors admits that there are many questions left unanswered when it comes to using genetic rescue as a strategy in animal conservation. These include "how long the effects of genetic rescue will last... how populations and individuals should be selected for genetic rescue attempts; and how advances in genomics -- the study of genomes -- fits into the whole picture."
It is also important to remember that decrease in genetic diversity is only one of the factors leading to animal extinction. It is not the silver bullet that saves all animals from extinction; and that conservation effort should focus on restoring the habitat.
Little genes, big conservation: Scientists study genetic rescue
Donovan A. Bell, Zachary L. Robinson, W. Chris Funk, Sarah W. Fitzpatrick, Fred W. Allendorf, David A. Tallmon, Andrew R. Whiteley. The Exciting Potential and Remaining Uncertainties of Genetic Rescue. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 2019; DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2019.06.006
Monica Cheung– April 6, 2020
No comments:
Post a Comment