How genomics can help biodiversity conservation
Kathrin Theißinger, Carlos Fernandes, Giulio Formenti, Iliana Bista, Paul R. Berg, Christoph Bleidorn, Aureliano Bombarely, Angelica Crottini, Guido Roberto Gallo, José A. Godoy, Sissel Jentoft, Joanna Malukiewicz, Alice Mouton, Rebekah A. Oomen, Sadye Paez, Per J. Palsbøll, Christophe Pampoulie, María José Ruiz‐López, Simona Secomandi, Hannes Svardal, Constantina Theofanopoulou, Jan de Vries, Ann‐Marie Waldvogel, Guojie Zhang, Erich D. Jarvis, Miklós Bálint, Claúdio Ciofi, Robert M. Waterhouse, Camila J. Mazzoni, Jacob Höglund, Sargis A. Aghayan, Tyler Alioto, Isabel Almudí, Nadir Álvarez, Paulo C. Alves, Isabel R. Amorim, Agostinho Antunes, Paula Arribas, Petr Baldrián, Giorgio Bertorelle, Astrid Böhne, Andrea Bonisoli‐Alquati, Ljudevit Luka Boštjančić, Bastien Boussau, Catherine Breton, Elena Bužan, Paula F. Campos, Carlos Carreras, L. Filipe C. Castro, Luis J. Chueca, Fedor Čiampor, Elena Conti, Robert Cook‐Deegan, Daniel Croll, Mónica V. Cunha, Frédéric Delsuc, Alice B. Dennis, Dimitar Dimitrov, Rui Faria, Adrien Favre, Olivier Fédrigo, Rosa Fernández, Gentile Francesco Ficetola, Jean‐François Flot, Toni Gabaldón, D. Agius, Alice Maria Giani, M. Thomas P. Gilbert, Tine Grebenc, Katerina Guschanski, Romain Guyot, Bernhard Hausdorf, Oliver Hawlitschek, Peter D. Heintzman, Berthold Heinze, Michael Hiller, Martin Husemann, Alessio Iannucci, Iker Irisarri, Kjetill S. Jakobsen, Peter Klinga, Agnieszka Kloch, Claudius F. Kratochwil, Henrik Kusche, Kara K S Layton, Jennifer A. Leonard, Emmanuelle Lerat, Gianni Liti, Tereza Manousaki, Tomàs Marquès‐Bonet, Pável Matos‐Maraví, Michael Matschiner, Florian Maumus, Ann M. Mc Cartney, Shai Meiri, José Melo‐Ferreira, Ximo Mengual, Michael T. Monaghan, Matteo Montagna, Robert W. Mysłajek
Abstract
The availability of public genomic resources can greatly assist biodiversity assessment, conservation, and restoration efforts by providing evidence for scientifically informed management decisions. Here we survey the main approaches and applications in biodiversity and conservation genomics, considering practical factors, such as cost, time, prerequisite skills, and current shortcomings of applications. Most approaches perform best in combination with reference genomes from the target species or closely related species. We review case studies to illustrate how reference genomes can facilitate biodiversity research and conservation across the tree of life. We conclude that the time is ripe to view reference genomes as fundamental resources and to integrate their use as a best practice in conservation genomics.