Genetic Approaches for the Study of Biodiversity: Insights from Zoos, Conservation Programs and Natural History Collections

Dear Colleagues,

Habitat loss, climate change and overexploitation pose significant threats to worldwide biodiversity; as such, there is an urgent need for integrative approaches for supporting conservation strategies. Molecular techniques have become central tool to the study and analysis of biodiversity, offering insights into taxonomical identity, population structure and evolutionary history across space and time. This Special Issue, Genetic Approaches for Studying Biodiversity: Insights from Zoos, Conservation Programs and Natural History Collections, aims to highlight how genetic resources from both living and archived biological specimens can be useful for studying biodiversity and managing conservation practices.

This Special Issue will cover a broad range of genetic approaches, from traditional molecular markers to high-throughput genomic and bioinformatic techniques, applied to single individuals and populations housed in zoos, in the framework of conservation programs and natural history collections. Zoos and conservation programs provide unique documentation of the contemporary genotypes are available for use in restocking and captive-breeding programs, while natural history collections act as genetic time capsules which allow us to reconstruct previous biodiversity and orient management strategies. While many studies focus exclusively on wild populations, integrating data from managed populations and historical collections could enable a more comprehensive assessment of biodiversity and its evolution.

Successful submissions will include new methodologies, comparative analyses and case studies across animal taxa, bridging the gap between research and conservation and demonstrating the crucial role genetic approaches play in documenting and protecting biodiversity in a rapidly changing world.

We are pleased to invite you to contribute to the Special Issue “Genetic Approaches for the Study of Biodiversity: Insights from Zoos, Conservation Programs and Natural History Collections,” which focuses on applying genetic and genomic tools to advance our knowledge of present and past biodiversity using data generated from live animals kept in zoos or from conservation programs and museum specimens. We aim to explore how these approaches can determine genetic diversity, population structure, evolutionary history and potential adaptive traits across a wide range of animal taxa.

We welcome studies that use traditional molecular markers and apply high-throughput genomic and bioinformatic methods to animals from zoos, conservation programs and natural history collections. We are also interested in methodological studies, comparative analyses and case studies that address temporal changes in contemporary and historical specimens or demonstrate applied outcomes from species management, monitoring and recovery. While much of the existing literature in conservation genetics and molecular ecology is based on wild contemporary populations, this Special Issue aims to supplement and extend the literature, showcasing how managed populations and historical collections can provide critical data for analysing and protecting biodiversity.

We hope you will join us in advancing this important field of research.

Sincerely,

Dr. Leonardo Brustenga
Dr. Livia Lucentini
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Journal of Zoological and Botanical Gardens is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.