Developing biomarkers for wildlife management

大型陆生哺乳动物在区域生态系统、当地经济和土著文化中发挥着至关重要的作用。人类对野生动物种群的收获需要进行管理。管理的主要工具包括了解人口统计数据(年龄和性别)和下降的原因(例如疾病)。然而，这样的数据很难在野生种群中产生，特别是在更偏远和更北部的地区。为了解决这些数据缺陷，我们建议使用一种新的哺乳动物甲基化测试来开发一种工具，以准确地对白尾鹿和黑熊进行年龄测定，并开发指示健康(例如疾病、营养不良)的生物标记物。该项目将开发一种能够对目前我们的主要合作伙伴安大略省自然资源和林业部(OMNRF)收集的非侵入性样本进行生物标记的分析方法。这将使管理人员能够量化我的OMNRF管理的两个关键物种的关键种群人口参数，并将当前趋势置于历史背景中，从而为收获决定和监测工作提供信息。这项工作是特伦特大学、卡尔顿大学、OMNRF和加拿大野生动物健康合作社以及国家野生动物中心合作开展的，从而在学术、政府和非政府机构之间建立了伙伴关系。它将为1名博士和2名硕士学生提供最先进的基因组工具培训。

Large terrestrial mammals play a vital role in regional ecosystems, local economies, and Indigenous cultures. Human harvest of wildlife populations has necessitated the need for management. Primary tools for management involve understanding demographics (age & sex) and causes of decline (e.g. disease). Such data, however, are difficult to generate in wild populations, particularly in more remote and northern regions. To address these data deficiencies we are proposing to use a novel mammalian methylation assay to develop a tool to accurately age white-tailed deer and black bear, and develop biomarkers indicative of health (e.g. disease, malnourishment). The project will develop an assay capable of bio-marking non-invasive samples that are currently collected our primary partner the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (OMNRF). This will enable managers to quantify key population demographic parameters of two key species managed my OMNRF, and to place current trends in a historical context thereby informing harvest decisions and monitoring efforts. This work is being conducted in collaboration between Trent University, Carleton University, OMNRF and Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative, and National Wildlife Center thereby building partnerships between academic, government and non-government agencies. It will provide training in state-of-the-art genomic tools for 1 PhD and 2 MSc students.