forensics & conservation Flashcards

1
Q

what is wildlife crime

A

‘the taking, trading, exploiting or possessing of the world’s wild flora and fauna in contravention of national and international laws’ (Interpol)
- Includes illegal trade of endangered species (animals and plants), live or byproducts, falsification of wildlife products for economic gain, wildlife poaching

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2
Q

wildlife crime Consequences

A
  • disease transmission, introduction of invasive species, over exploitation of natural resources
  • Illegal trade affects people’s livelihoods, Biodiversity and endangered species.
  • Over the past 10-15 years concern over loss of biodiversity has prompted governments to strengthen enforcement of regulating hunting and trade in wildlife
  • Result: Wildlife Forensics
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3
Q

forensics definition

A

the application of scientific knowledge to legal matters

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4
Q

what is wildlife forensics and its 2 main aims

A

relatively new field- investigate wildlife-related crime (e.g. illegal trade of wildlife & wildlife products)
Main aims:
1. To examine, identify and compare evidence from wildlife crime scenes using a scientific procedure
2. To link evidence to victim & suspect

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5
Q

name some things used for evidence in wildlife forensics

A
  • Blood samples (ideally fresh or dried condition)
  • Tissue samples (frozen, dried)
  • Whole carcasses
  • Bones, teeth, claws, talons, tusks, hair, hides, furs, feathers
  • Leather goods (e.g. purses, shoes, boots)
  • Poisons , Pesticides
  • Stomach contents
  • Projectiles or weapons
  • Medicines (e.g. rhino horn pills, tiger bone juice)
    From some DNA can be extracted
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6
Q

how can molecular ecology be applied to conservation genetics

A
  1. Conservation genetics: molecular variation itself merits conservation. E.g. inbreeding depression, loss of genetic variation in small populations, accumulation of deleterious mutations (identifying the genetic diversities)
  2. Management: Genetic matching of populations or individuals for captive breeding, or the introduction of new individuals to declining populations
  3. Identification of conservation priorities
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7
Q

name the 2 DNA sources for conservation genetics

A
  • non-invasive (faecal) samples
  • eDNA (environmental DNA): DNA from cellular material shed in the environment (e.g. water or sediments) combined with DNA barcoding to identify invasive + endangered species without directly sampling the organism
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8
Q

why is there Prioritization for conservation

A
  • Conservation planning operates from whole ecosystems to populations and individuals - molecular methods can be used for these
  • Increasingly, there is a need to prioritize conservation action i.e. URGENCY: identify habitats, taxa or populations where action must be implemented immediately (cos can’t conserve everything)
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9
Q

what are the 2 units for conservation

A

Molecular techniques can be used to identify evolutionary significant units (ESUs) + management units (MUs) for conservation

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10
Q

what are Evolutionarily significant units (ESUs)

A
  • sets of populations distinguished by strong phylogenetic structuring of mtDNA variation and divergence in the frequencies of nuclear alleles (i.e. a historically ‘deep’ divergence)
  • units are useful for long-term management goals
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11
Q

what are Management units (MUs)

A
  • sets of populations with distinct allele frequencies (compared with ESUs, these have a more ‘shallow’ history of divergence)
  • represents populations that are connected with so little gene flow that they are functionally independent
  • units are useful for short-term management goals
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12
Q

what are the 2 methods for conservation

A

In-situ:
- Identifying ESU & MU’s
- Assess levels of genetic diversity
- Estimate genetic connectivity
- Genetic Rescue
Ex-situ:
- Conserve species ‘out of the wild’
- Zoo’s, sperm & egg banks & seedbanks
- Selective breeding to retain genetic diversity
- Genetic Rescue

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13
Q

what commonly determines how important an area is for conservation

A

its species richness - unfortunately does not distinguish areas with different evolutionary histories
- For example, a desert community has fewer species than tropical rainforests, but one can argue that it is just as valuable to conserve if these species are unique to that habitat

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14
Q

what quantifies the evolutionary uniqueness of a set of organisms

A

phylogenetic information
e.g. a location which if lost, the whole clade would be lost, should have the highest conservation priority

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15
Q

what is genetic rescue and what does Successful Genetic rescue involve

A

an increase in population fitness (growth) owing to immigration of new alleles
- Successful Genetic rescue involves an increase in abundance, reflecting an increase in absolute fitness of the small population

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16
Q

what is Genetic restoration

A

an increase in genetic variation and relative fitness from immigration of new alleles
- Small declining populations recover after addition of
new genetic variation