Fragmentation of wildlife populations is increasing on a global scale, and understanding current genetic structure, genetic diversity and genetic connectivity is key to informing future wildlife management and conservation.
Fragmentation of wildlife populations is increasing on a global scale, and understanding current genetic structure, genetic diversity and genetic connectivity is key to informing future wildlife management and conservation.
This is true of mountain lion -- also known as pumas or cougars -- populations in California, according to a new study conducted by a University of Wyoming research team.
“Large expanses of continuous habitat provide populations the opportunity to maintain large numbers of gene variants, called alleles. This is analogous to a deck of cards. If you have 40 cards, you are capable of harboring more types of cards than if you had 10,” says Kyle Gustafson, an assistant professor of genetics in the Department of Biology and Environmental Health at Missouri Southern State University, but who started this work in Holly Ernest’s Wildlife Genomics and Disease Ecology Lab at UW. “When populations get isolated, like many of the puma populations surrounded by urbanization, the only way for them to maintain a large number of alleles is through migration. Otherwise, natural selection and genetic drift will ultimately lead to genetic uniformity (fixation) and mating among related individuals (inbreeding).”
Read more at University of Wyoming
Image: Mountain lion cubs walk through the Irvine Ranch Conservancy along the West Coast. (Irvine Ranch Conservancy)
