Can genetic data motivate people to conserve widespread but declining species?

This content was reblogged from Relational Thinking, the People and Nature Blog.

By Harold Eyster

Varied Thrushes have declined by more than 60% over the last five decades. Artwork: © Harold Eyster.

 

In short, yes. Coupled with a framing that highlights the interdependent relationships between people and a species, evidence of population differentiation can be a powerful motivator for individual efforts to conserve or restore nature.

Just last week, a Mexican fish that went extinct in the wild in 2003 was reintroduced back into its ancestral habitat. Other endangered species are also doing well—one of the rarest birds in North America, the Kirtland’s Warbler, has seen its population increase by over 1000% since 1970.

But whilst many endangered species have been making a comeback thanks to conservation efforts, widespread and common species have been rapidly dwindling.

Continue to read the rest on Relational Thinking...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


CHANS Lab Views by Kai Chan's lab is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at https://chanslabviews.blogspot.com.