Genomics and the challenging translation into conservation practice

The global loss of biodiversity continues at an alarming rate. Genomic approaches have been suggested as a promising tool for conservation practice as scaling up to genome-wide data can improve traditional conservation genetic inferences and provide qualitatively novel insights. However, the generation of genomic data and subsequent analyses and interpretations remain challenging and largely confined to academic research in ecology and evolution. This generates a gap between basic research and applicable solutions for conservation managers faced with multifaceted problems. Before the real-world conservation potential of genomic research can be realized, we suggest that current infrastructures need to be modified, methods must mature, analytical pipelines need to be developed, and successful case studies must be disseminated to practitioners.

Keywords

Adaptation, Biological Conservation of Natural Resources Genetics, Population Genome Biodiversity Genomics

URI

http://hdl.handle.net/10400.7/574

Citation

Aaron B.A. Shafer, Jochen B.W. Wolf, Paulo C. Alves, Linnea Bergström, Michael W. Bruford, Ioana Brännström, Guy Colling, Love Dalén, Luc De Meester, Robert Ekblom, Katie D. Fawcett, Simone Fior, Mehrdad Hajibabaei, Jason A. Hill, A. Rus Hoezel, Jacob Höglund, Evelyn L. Jensen, Johannes Krause, Torsten N. Kristensen, Michael Krützen, John K. McKay, Anita J. Norman, Rob Ogden, E. Martin Österling, N. Joop Ouborg, John Piccolo, Danijela Popović, Craig R. Primmer, Floyd A. Reed, Marie Roumet, Jordi Salmona, Tamara Schenekar, Michael K. Schwartz, Gernot Segelbacher, Helen Senn, Jens Thaulow, Mia Valtonen, Andrew Veale, Philippine Vergeer, Nagarjun Vijay, Carles Vilà, Matthias Weissensteiner, Lovisa Wennerström, Christopher W. Wheat, Piotr Zieliński, Genomics and the challenging translation into conservation practice, Trends in Ecology & Evolution, Volume 30, Issue 2, February 2015, Pages 78-87, ISSN 0169-5347, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2014.11.009