Conservation and the Genetics of Populations


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Introduction

This book is about applying the concepts and tools of genetics to problems in conservation. Our guiding principle in writing has been to provide the conceptual basis for understanding the genetics of biological problems in conservation.

We have not attempted to review the extensive and ever-growing literature in this area. Rather we have tried to explain the underlying concepts and to provide enough clear examples and key citations for further consideration.

We also have strived to provide enough background so that students can read and understand the primary literature. Our primary intended audience is broadly trained biologists who are interested in understanding the principles of conservation genetics and applying them to a wide range of particular issues in conservation.

This includes advanced undergraduate and graduate students in biological sciences or resource management, as well as biologists working in conservation biology for management agencies.

The treatment is intermediate and requires a basic understanding of ecology and genetics. This book is not an argument for the importance of genetics in conservation. Rather, it is designed to provide the reader with the appropriate background to determine how genetic information may be useful in any specific case.

The primary current causes of extinction are anthropogenic changes that affect ecological characteristics of populations (habitat loss, fragmentation, introduced species, etc.). However, genetic information and principles can be invaluable in developing conservation plans for species threatened with such effects.

The usefulness of genetic tools and concepts in the conservation of biological diversity is continually expanding as new molecular technologies, statistical methods, and computer programs are being developed at an increasing rate. Conservation genetics and molecular ecology are under explosive growth, and this growth is likely to continue for the foreseeable future. Indeed, we have recently entered the age of genomics.

New laboratory and computational technologies for generating and analyzing molecular genetic data are emerging at a rapid pace. There are several excellent texts in population genetics available (e.g., Hartl and Clark 1997; Halliburton 2004; Hedrick 2005).

These texts concentrate on questions related to the central focus of population and evolutionary genetics, which is to understand the processes and mechanisms by which evolutionary changes occur.

There is substantial overlap between these texts and this book. However, the theme underlying this book is the application of an understanding of the genetics of natural populations to conservation.

We have endeavored to present a balanced view of theory and data. The first four chapters (Part I) provide an overview of the study of genetic variation in natural populations of plants and animals.

The middle eight chapters (Part II) provide the basic principles of population genetics theory with an emphasis on concepts especially relevant for problems in conservation.

The final eight chapters (Part III) synthesis these principles and apply them to a variety of topics in conservation.

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