Dr. Micheline Manseau, one of the Principal Investigators of the EcoGenomics research program, recently spoke at the Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute’s Caribou Ecology & Recovery Webinar Series on how advances in genomics methods are opening new horizons in caribou monitoring and conservation. Genetic data, most often obtained non-invasively by collecting fecal or hair samples, can be used to determine the population’s genetic structure, the extent of inbreeding and genetic differentiation within and among populations, Dr. Manseau stated. The data can also be used to generate a range of population demographic parameters: including, population size and trends, survival and recruitment rates, spatially-explicit densities, fitness levels and dispersal rates. Further, metagenomics methods are now being used to determine a range of health parameters, including diet, microbiome diversity, parasites and viruses. To view the full presentation click here
