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Conservation GeneticsThe challenge for conservation biologists concerned with maintaining or increasing diversity in small populations is two-fold: before conservation plans can be drawn, state-of-the-art molecular genetic techniques need to be developed and used to define population structure, population status, population identity, and evolutionary significant units. At that point, plans that will provide for viable populations need to be developed and implemented. The Haig Lab has spent a great deal of time investigating the relationship between Endangered Species Act (ESA) policy and the use of molecular markers to enhance ESA enforcement.Definition of population structure was key to understanding viability of the species-at-risk we have investigated: Spotted Owls, Piping Plovers, Puerto Rican Parrots, Red Tree Voles, Snowy Plovers, Micronesian Kingfishers, Mariana Moorhens, Southern Torrent Salamanders, Oregon Slender Salamanders, Larch Mountain Salamanders, etc. New projects include work on Least Terns, and Red-cockaded Woodpeckers. Development of molecular markers differentiating Spotted Owl, Barred Owls and their hybrids has further assisted law enforcement for Spotted Owls and has brought to light issues related to hybridization and hybrid listing under the ESA. Identification of specific populations can be critical if we are to develop conservation measures that will provide for viable habitat throughout the annual cycle. To that end, molecular markers were used to identify specific populations in Southern Torrent Salamanders, Piping Plovers, Willets (in progress) and a number of shorebird species in the past. In the Snowy Plover, Puerto Rican Parrot, and Comb-crested Jacana work, new nuclear markers –Intersimple Sequence Repeats (ISSRs) were tested (compared with microsatellites) and used for the first time in a vertebrate study. Finally, an interesting but tedius aspect of conservation genetics can be to derive pedigree structure when relatedness among individuals is not known. We recently undertook this effort for the endangered Puerto Rican Parrots that have been in captivity since the 1970's. Field Sampling Protocol Websites Publications |
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