TY - JOUR
T1 - Wolf-dog admixture highlights the need for methodological standards and multidisciplinary cooperation for effective governance of wild x domestic hybrids.
AU - Strønen, Astrid Vik
AU - Aspi, Jouni
AU - Caniglia, Romolo
AU - Fabbri, Elena
AU - Galaverni, Marco
AU - Godinho, Raquel
AU - Kvist, Laura
AU - Mattucci, Federica
AU - Nowak, Carsten
AU - von Thaden, Alina
AU - Harmoinen, Jenni
PY - 2022
Y1 - 2022
N2 - Hybridisation between wild and domestic taxa raises complex questions for conservation. Genetic advances offer new methods for hybrid identification, yet social and cultural factors can influence study design, and the interpretation, application, and communication of results. A relevant illustration is hybridisation between domestic dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) and wild canids, such as grey wolves (C. lupus). For regional European monitoring programs in areas with expanding wolf populations, priorities include shared genetic markers and inclusion of all relevant reference populations to ensure dispersing wolves are identified as such and not classified as wolf-dog hybrids, which may cause harmful management decisions. Beyond technical developments, hybrid research and conservation management can benefit from improved integration of legal and policy perspectives, recognition of phenotypic traits as broadly unreliable for identification, and attention to the drivers of, and responses to, evolution in human-dominated landscapes. Additionally, the proliferation of unsubstantiated reports about hybrids in popular and social media shows that communication based on verified findings of hybridisation is essential. Hybridisation requires more constructive discussion on how to balance potentially competing conservation objectives, and the integration of multidisciplinary perspectives. These encompass the welfare of individual animals and preservation of historical predator-prey relationships. Conservation measures centred on preserving the ecological function of wild canids likely offer the most sustainable prospects but require improved understanding of the extent to which their behavioural ecology might differ from that of hybrids. Accurate genetic identification is required to fill this critical knowledge gap, advance public discourse, and initiate relevant conservation actions.
AB - Hybridisation between wild and domestic taxa raises complex questions for conservation. Genetic advances offer new methods for hybrid identification, yet social and cultural factors can influence study design, and the interpretation, application, and communication of results. A relevant illustration is hybridisation between domestic dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) and wild canids, such as grey wolves (C. lupus). For regional European monitoring programs in areas with expanding wolf populations, priorities include shared genetic markers and inclusion of all relevant reference populations to ensure dispersing wolves are identified as such and not classified as wolf-dog hybrids, which may cause harmful management decisions. Beyond technical developments, hybrid research and conservation management can benefit from improved integration of legal and policy perspectives, recognition of phenotypic traits as broadly unreliable for identification, and attention to the drivers of, and responses to, evolution in human-dominated landscapes. Additionally, the proliferation of unsubstantiated reports about hybrids in popular and social media shows that communication based on verified findings of hybridisation is essential. Hybridisation requires more constructive discussion on how to balance potentially competing conservation objectives, and the integration of multidisciplinary perspectives. These encompass the welfare of individual animals and preservation of historical predator-prey relationships. Conservation measures centred on preserving the ecological function of wild canids likely offer the most sustainable prospects but require improved understanding of the extent to which their behavioural ecology might differ from that of hybrids. Accurate genetic identification is required to fill this critical knowledge gap, advance public discourse, and initiate relevant conservation actions.
KW - ridisation
KW - Canis lupus
KW - Conservation policy
KW - Introgression
KW - Wildlife monitoring
KW - Wild canid management
U2 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2022.109467
DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2022.109467
M3 - Journal article
SN - 0006-3207
VL - 266
JO - Biological Conservation
JF - Biological Conservation
M1 - 109467
ER -