27 September 2009

Does conservation genetics lead to conservation?

The following open access article has recently appeared on Endangered Species Research (8:193-199).

Conservation implications should guide the application of conservation genetics research

by Briar J. Howes, Richard Pither and Kent A. Prior

ABSTRACT: Genetics research can reveal important insights into the effective management of species at risk, yet research does not often translate into meaningful management outcomes. Before engaging in genetics research, conservation practitioners should carefully consider the resulting management outcomes by identifying the potential results of the proposed research, the conservation implications of the results, whether these implications call for a change in management practices, and whether such a change is possible. We provide a decision key to aid practitioners in evaluating the merit of a particular genetics research question, and we demonstrate the use of this key with 2 example research questions.

Full text in pdf format:
http://www.int-res.com/articles/esr2009/8/n008p193.pdf

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