Periodic Reporting for period 1 - ConserVar (New strategies to characterise genomic diversity for biodiversity conservation)
Reporting period: 2023-09-15 to 2025-09-14
Given the current state of events with climate change and other causes of biodiversity loss, it is crucial to understand the genetic variation of many species, as well as its structure across populations and the way it allows populations to survive. This knowledge is indispensable for the effective conservation of wild – potentially endangered – species.
In the last decade, technological advances have made it possible to scan the entire genetic codes of many species (their genomes) and to check how this information varies between individuals and populations of the same species. However, the analytical methods that are routinely used cannot take full advantage of all types of variation contained in the whole genomes of wild species. In contrast, highly efficient tools have been developed to study this variation in human populations and other well-studied organisms.
In this project, we have developed new analysis strategies to study different types of genomic variation that remain largely unexplored in wild animals and non-model organisms. Using the Arctic fox as a model species we are using genomic data to uncover new details about how their populations and individuals relate to each other. We are also using genomes from museum specimens to detect how these types of variation have changed through time. Finally, we are also assessing how these new sources of information can give us new insights about how the Arctic fox is adapting to current environmental changes.
In the last decade, technological advances have made it possible to scan the entire genetic codes of many species (their genomes) and to check how this information varies between individuals and populations of the same species. However, the analytical methods that are routinely used cannot take full advantage of all types of variation contained in the whole genomes of wild species. In contrast, highly efficient tools have been developed to study this variation in human populations and other well-studied organisms.
In this project, we have developed new analysis strategies to study different types of genomic variation that remain largely unexplored in wild animals and non-model organisms. Using the Arctic fox as a model species we are using genomic data to uncover new details about how their populations and individuals relate to each other. We are also using genomes from museum specimens to detect how these types of variation have changed through time. Finally, we are also assessing how these new sources of information can give us new insights about how the Arctic fox is adapting to current environmental changes.
The resulting analysis strategies and computational workflows that we have developed will not only have a direct impact on the Swedish Arctic fox conservation programme but will also provide a benchmark for other endangered species in both basic and applied conservation settings. For instance, we have identified the geographic and ecological origins of farmed Arctic foxes in Fennoscandia and produced valuable new data from ancient Arctic foxes to better understand present-day population structure and diversity.
The results from this study will not only provide new methodological tools to advance the field of conservation genomics – setting a benchmark for similar studies around the world, but will also potentially inform management programmes to conserve the Arctic fox, which is considered a climate change flagship species – ideal to understand the genomic consequences of fast changing environments – and is critically endangered in Scandinavia. Broadly speaking, the deeper understanding of genetic diversity in endangered species could provide invaluable information for conservation and management strategies.