Animals’ genetic diversity affected by human land use

Genetic diversity has long been a marker for population health, with variances helping to protect populations through change over time. With the human propensity for altering landscapes, turning wildlands into farmlands and forests into cities, it follows that the animals who share these spaces may...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Frontiers in ecology and the environment 2019-12, Vol.17 (10), p.549-549
Main Author: Murray, Meghan Miner
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agricultural land
Animals
Birds
DISPATCHES
Gene sequencing
Genetic diversity
Insects
Land use
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Genetic diversity has long been a marker for population health, with variances helping to protect populations through change over time. With the human propensity for altering landscapes, turning wildlands into farmlands and forests into cities, it follows that the animals who share these spaces may be altered as well. A new study by Canadian researchers looked at more than 175,000 genetic sequences across some 17,000 species of birds, fish, insects, and mammals around the world with respect to human land-use changes. Their findings were as nuanced as one might expect from such a complicated and fluctuating ecological web.
ISSN:1540-9295
1540-9309
DOI:10.1002/fee.2134