Conservation Genetics and Genomics

Dear Colleagues,

For more than thirty years, methods and theories from evolutionary biology, phylogenetics, population genetics and molecular biology have been used by conservation biologists to better understand threats to endangered species due to anthropogenic changes.  Commonly described as Conservation Genetics, the scope of research has included effects of habitat fragmentation and over-harvesting on small populations, barriers to natural gene flow, uncertainty about units of conservation due to unresolved taxonomies and cryptic species, and molecular ecology of threatened populations and species.

Advances in genomics, along with cross-disciplinary approaches, such as landscape genetics, have now greatly expanded the purview and value of this field of study. Traditional approaches using neutral genetic markers now use vastly expanded data sets of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) generated by restriction site associated DNA sequencing (RAD Seq) and other technologies. Whole genome sequencing and exome capture methods have opened new areas of investigation for genes and areas of the genome that are under selection. And, coalescent-based approaches allow for more detailed approximations of recent and more distant evolutionary histories for the endangered taxa of interest. Complimenting this are expanded analyses of historical and ancient (a)DNA to better understand relevant processes. In addition, environmental (e)DNA allows for expanded access to genetically sample ecosystems in new and rapid ways.

In addition, genomics technologies have opened avenues of research into genetic rescue, restoration, and what has been termed the field of de-extinction.

In this Special Issue, we invite our colleagues in these varied disciplines to contribute original articles, new methodologies and reviews of the expanding landscape of conservation genetics and genomics. We are now experiencing what has been termed the sixth mass extinction. It is more important than ever to expand the communication and publication of new scientific research in this rapidly-evolving field.

Prof. George Amato
Prof. Robert DeSalle
Prof. Michael Russello
Dr. Michael Knapp
Guest Editors

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