Integrating genetics into conservation

自然保育组织关注保护自然生境和物种，因为它们的内在价值、它们为人类提供的服务和它们的美化价值。根据国际和地方法规，保护组织有义务防止野生栖息地退化，并阻止或扭转保护物种的减少。鉴于栖息地退化和破碎的程度以及气候变化等全球变化的威胁，这项工作变得越来越困难。到目前为止，自然资源保护主义者主要关注的是栖息地和物种，而忽视了生物多样性的第三个方面，即“遗传多样性”。遗传多样性可以在所有物种中找到。正是个体之间DNA序列的差异导致了他们身体特征的差异，并导致了亲属之间的家族相似性。遗传多样性在许多方面与保护有关。首先，许多濒危物种的种群是孤立的，由少数个体组成。这些种群通常很少有遗传变异，这可能会阻碍它们通过自然选择适应不断变化的环境条件的能力。适应是保护成功的关键，因为没有适应，物种在气候变化等环境变化下将容易灭绝。其次，小的或孤立的种群通常由关系密切的个体组成，这些近亲之间的交配可能导致近亲繁殖的后代立即遭受健康问题。这可能对濒危物种造成额外的负担，使它们的种群更难以保护。第三，由于非常不同的种群之间的相互交配，也会出现类似的问题。如果人类帮助下的物种迁移使以前分离的种群相互接触，就可能发生这种情况。虽然这些类型的遗传问题相对来说已经被很好地理解了，但是没有一个通用的框架来评估哪些物种有哪些遗传问题的风险，或者指导管理行动的决策工具。此外，自然资源保护主义者可能不愿意将这些遗传学问题纳入他们的行动计划，因为遗传学的术语和术语会使没有遗传学背景的自然资源保护主义者无法进入这个领域。我们在这个项目中的目标是加强对遗传生物多样性感兴趣的研究人员和野生动物保护主义者之间的对话和知识交流。在这样做的过程中，我们将促进改进保护物种的策略，并使遗传数据能够在保护计划中得到最好的利用。首先，我们将建立一个由遗传学家和自然资源保护主义者组成的工作组，为思想交流提供一个论坛，确保遗传学家意识到关键的保护挑战，自然资源保护主义者意识到遗传信息何时可能有用。其次，我们将评估先前发表的遗传信息，以填补理解上的空白，并确定何时最有可能出现遗传问题。第三，我们将开发一种机制来评估任何单个物种面临的遗传问题风险，并将其与推荐缓解这些问题的最佳方案的框架联系起来。然后，我们将使用英国具有重要保护意义的物种来测试和完善这种方法。我们的第四个目标将提供标准的协议，以选择个人的来源，以帮助植物或动物从一个地方移动到另一个地方。我们将开发一个系统，记录这些易位的成功和失败，以便更好地为未来的指导提供信息。最后，我们的主要目标是使所有这些信息都可访问。我们将制作用户友好的手册，旨在解释保护中的遗传问题，并将制作网页，以协助保护管理者制定纳入遗传方法的管理策略。

Conservation organisations are concerned with the protection of natural habitats and species, for their intrinsic value, the services they provide humanity and for their amenity value. Under international and local statutes, conservation organisations are obliged to prevent wild habitats from becoming degraded and halt or reverse the decline of species of conservation concern. This job is increasingly difficult given the extent of degradation and fragmentation of habitats and the threat of global changes, such as climate change. Until now, conservationists have been mainly concerned with habitats and species, and have neglected to consider a third strand of biodiversity called 'genetic diversity'. Genetic diversity can be found in all species. It is variation among individuals in DNA sequences that cause differences in their physical attributes, and is responsible for the familial resemblance among relatives. Genetic diversity is relevant to conservation in a number of ways. Firstly, many populations of endangered species are isolated and consist of small numbers of individuals. These populations often have little genetic variation, and this can hamper their ability to adapt to changing environmental conditions through natural selection. Adaptation is key to success in conservation, because without it, species will be prone to extinction under environmental changes such as climate change. Secondly, small or isolated populations often consist of closely related individuals, and mating among these close-relatives can lead to inbred offspring that suffer immediate health problems. This can act as an additional burden on endangered species, making their populations more difficult to conserve. Thirdly, similar problems can occur due to inter-mating between very divergent populations. This may occur if human-aided movement of species brings previously separated populations into contact. Although these types of genetic problems are relatively well understood, there is no generic framework for assessing which species are at risk of which genetic problems, or decision-making tools to guide management actions. In addition, conservationists may be disinclined to incorporate these genetics problems into their action plans, because jargon and terminology in genetics can make the field inaccessible to conservationists without a genetics background. Our aim in this project is to enhance dialogue and the exchange of knowledge between researchers interested in genetic biodiversity, and wildlife conservationists. In doing this we will facilitate improved strategies to conserve species and enable the best use of genetic data in conservation programmes. Firstly we will develop a working group consisting of geneticists and conservationists to provide a forum for the exchange of ideas, ensuring that geneticists are aware of the key conservation challenges, and conservationists are aware of when genetic information is likely to be useful. Secondly, we will evaluate previously published genetic information to fill gaps in understanding, and to determine when genetic problems are most likely. Thirdly we will develop a mechanism to assess the risk of genetic problems faced by any individual species, and link this to a framework recommending the best course to alleviate these problems. We will then test and refine this approach using species of conservation importance in the UK. Our fourth objective will provide standard protocols for choosing the sources of individuals for human-aided movement of plants or animals from one place to another. We will develop a system for recording the success and failure of these translocations to better inform future guidelines. Finally, our key goal is to make all of this information accessible. We will produce user-friendly handbooks aimed at explaining genetic issues in conservation, and will produce web-pages to assist conservation managers develop management strategies that incorporate genetic approaches.