Application of population & landscape genomics to federally mandated recovery actions for boreal caribou

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• 批准号: 471003-2014
• 负责人: Wilson, Paul
• 金额: $ 10.2万
• 依托单位: Trent University
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Collaborative Research and Development Grants
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2015-01-01 至 2016-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=577617
• 关键词: Application; population; landscape; genomics; federally

In response to the listing of boreal caribou, Environment Canada has developed a Federal Recovery Strategy (Final 2012) and identified population and distribution objectives for 51 "local populations" across the range. Boreal caribou are of special significance for conservation biologists and policy makers, because about half of the 'local populations' are putatively decreasing or are in one of the "at risk" categories (e.g. 'Threatened', 'Endangered', or 'Special Concern'). Increasing human-induced habitat disturbance and loss and changing predator-prey dynamics have been identified to different degrees as current threats for woodland caribou. Following the broad strategies and general approaches outlined in the Strategy, provincial and territorial governments are now asked to develop range plans and action plans to provide information on measures that will be taken to achieve the recovery of boreal caribou. Two fundamental components of the Recovery Strategy to be characterized are 1) the delineation of local populations, and 2) whether populations are stable, increasing or decreasing in numbers. For caribou, this represents three different biological scales: subspecies and the ecotype, as putative conservation units, or Designatable Units (DUs) as termed in Canada, and local populations. Evolutionary analysis of subspecies will be used to identify evolutionary lineages, the number and extent of glacial refugia, the post-glacial patterns of population expansion and the geographical areas of introgression between lineages. At the ecotype level, two general guidelines must be applied for establishing DU status: distinctiveness and significance, meaning adaptations representing a unique evolutionary legacy of the species. We further envision that the properties of the landscape (i.e. composition and pattern of natural disturbances) will also influence population structure, life history and dispersal behaviour of caribou with different evolutionary histories. In order to assist with the planning efforts, we propose the use of non-invasively collected DNA samples as a highly informative and cost-effective means of acquiring empirical genetic and genomic data for ranges in western Canada, specifically Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

为了应对北方驯鹿被列入名单，加拿大环境部制定了联邦恢复战略（2012 年最终版），并确定了该地区 51 个“当地驯鹿”的种群和分布目标。北方驯鹿对于保护生物学家和政策制定者来说具有特殊意义，因为大约一半的“当地种群”被认为正在减少或处于“危险”类别之一（例如“受威胁”、“濒危”或“特别关注”）。人类引起的栖息地干扰和丧失以及捕食者与猎物动态变化的增加已在不同程度上被确定为林地驯鹿当前的威胁。根据该战略中概述的广泛战略和一般方法，现在要求省和地区政府制定范围计划和行动计划，以提供有关为实现北方驯鹿恢复而采取的措施的信息。恢复战略的两个基本组成部分是 1) 当地人口的划分，以及 2) 人口数量是否稳定、增加或减少。对于驯鹿来说，这代表了三种不同的生物尺度：亚种和生态型（作为假定的保护单位）或加拿大所谓的指定单位（DU）以及当地种群。亚种的进化分析将用于确定进化谱系、冰川避难所的数量和范围、冰期后人口扩张的模式以及谱系之间渗入的地理区域。在生态型层面，必须应用两条通用准则来确定 DU 状态：独特性和重要性，即代表该物种独特进化遗产的适应。我们进一步设想，景观的特性（即自然干扰的组成和模式）也将影响具有不同进化历史的驯鹿的种群结构、生活史和扩散行为。为了协助规划工作，我们建议使用非侵入性收集的 DNA 样本作为获取加拿大西部地区（特别是萨斯喀彻温省和马尼托巴省）范围的经验遗传和基因组数据的信息丰富且具有成本效益的手段。