The complicated conservation issue of genetic pollution

Male T. carnifex. Picture by Michael Fahrbach.

Invasive species can threaten native biota by means of competition, predation and infection. A less-known risk is genetic pollution: the (partial) replacement of local genotypes via hybridization. A particular challenge of quantifying invasive hybridization is that the closely related species involved tend to be morphologically similar. As a consequence, conservation action would depend on large scale genotyping. Addressing genetic pollution is a notoriously contentious issue with complications arising at the stage of obtaining and interpreting information.

In the context of my Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellowship I proposed a secondment at the Invasive Alien Species Team. I collaborated with the Dutch NGO RAVON (Reptile, Amphibian, and Fish Conservation Netherlands) as well. We developed a molecular toolkit that allows that allows efficient screening for genetic pollution in a Dutch case of invasive hybridization in crested newts and that could easily be adapted to other cases of invasive hybridization.

Furthermore, we summarize the state of the field and provide guidelines for establishing much-needed policy for the management of genetic pollution. There are clear parallels between the crested newt case and the work of Brad Shaffer, my outgoing host at UCLA, on tiger salamanders in California. Here the native Californian tiger salamander is threatened by invasive hybridization with the introduced barred tiger salamanders. Brad’s experience helped shape the report we wrote, which I hope can help address the complicated conservation issue of genetic pollution.

Reference: Wielstra, B., Arntzen, J.W., Butlin, R.K., van Delft, J.J.C.W., Vrieling, K., Shaffer, H.B. (2018). Molecular toolkit and guidelines for the management of genetic pollution. Reptile, Amphibian and Fish Conservation Netherlands (RAVON), Nijmegen.

I initiated this work as a Newton International Fellow. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 655487.