Designing successful genetic-rescue approaches for threatened species

该项目旨在确定如何通过引入基因健康的个体来“从基因上拯救”受威胁的近交本地物种种群。这一点很重要，因为澳大利亚是全球物种灭绝和濒危物种的热点地区，因此可以用来抵消灭绝风险的工具将使整个处于危险中的生态系统受益。我们将以南澳大利亚的两个近交系考拉种群为研究对象，以：(1)测量和绘制遗传多样性模式；(2)绘制密度图并跟踪个体以测量人口统计学；(3)开发结合种群人口统计学和遗传过程的先进空间模型，以预测遗传拯救的有效性；(4)寻找和培养健康个体以验证我们的预测。

This project aims to determine how threatened populations of inbred native species can be 'genetically rescued' by introducing genetically healthy individuals. This is significant because Australia is a global hotspot of extinctions and threatened species, so tools that can be used to offset extinction risk will benefit entire ecosystems at risk. We will focus on two inbred populations of koalas in South Australia to (1) measure and map patterns of genetic diversity, (2) map densities and track individuals to measure demography, (3) develop advanced spatial models that combine population demography and genetic processes to predict the effectiveness of genetic rescue, and (4) source and rear healthy individuals to test our predictions.