I thought it would be interesting to take a look at some very real situations. I acquired a set of over 30 SSPs from colleagues across the country and picked two at random for this assignment (you can tell they are random because they arent amphibians or reptiles). I wanted you to see that all of the things Ballou and team discuss in section 9 are extremely important and very commonly used. In fact, every SSP starts with a genetic summary table, and being able to interpret one is the equivalent to being able to read the abstract of a scientific paper.
Here are two example tables for the rest of the exercise. Both of these SSPs were completed in 2019.
1. The African Painted Dog (Lycaon pictus), an extremely endangered canid (IUCN- Endangered, USFWS- Endangered). Note the text below oh great, more challenges.
**see African painted dog file attached**
2. African penguin (Spheniscus demersus), also highly endangered ((IUCN- Endangered, USFWS- Endangered).
**see African penguin file attached**
Answer the following questions and submit them in a document. Make sure to use your own words, I dont want you to just copy a concept from another source, I want to make sure you understand the concept.
1. Which species is expected to lose genetic diversity more quickly? Explain your answer and show the math you would use to back this up.
Oooof, the FGE for the African painted dog is a little ruff (sorry for the dog joke). Explain what this means. How can this issue be addressed over time?
2. Gene Diversity (GD) can be a little deceptive in this context. What is GD really telling us in these two genetic summaries? How could you be deceived if you didnt have any other context?
Which species has a more healthy MK value? Describe what it means in your own words for each species. This should be easy if you have completed assignment #1.
3. Which species has a higher level of inbreeding? And what does that metric really tell us in terms of heterozygosity.
4. What does the Ne/N calculation tell us and why is it so important in captive population management?
5. The years to 10% loss of gene diversity and gene diversity at 100 years from present are vastly different for these two species. What is driving that pattern? Be sure to put your answer in mathematical terms. How can this be remedied for the African painted dog?
