Conservation Genomics

Working group chair: 
Mark Eldridge (Australian Museum)

Many Australian mammals are threatened with extinction or decline. We are generating population genomic datasets for a selection of threatened mammals, for which knowledge of genetic diversity and structure is needed urgently for conservation management.

Exon capture, ddRAD “genome scans”, and related methods are being used to understand risks of inbreeding or outbreeding depression, put current population sizes into historical context and identify adaptive variation that should be preserved.

Target species have been prioritised based on:

  • relevance to needs of conservation / management end-users
  • opportunity to tackle broad questions in conservation genetics / management
  • the availability of appropriate samples with good metadata
  • the availability of additional resources to facilitate project completion
  • the potential for public outreach and communication of results to the conservation / management community
  • the engagement of the conservation / management community in the project

OMG is currently contributing to conservation genomics projects for the following species. Follow the links to learn more about each project:

Marsupials

Rodents

Bats