Phil Hedrick

Phil Hedrick

Abstract

Neutral, Detrimental, and Adaptive Genetic Variation in Conservation Genetics

Genetics studies in endangered species have become widespread in the last decade, and with new information from various genome projects, new applications and insights are forthcoming. Generally, neutral variants are used for conservation applications, and with highly variable loci and/or many more markers, these approaches should become much more informative. However, conservation genetics is also concerned with detrimental and adaptive variation. Examples from Mexican wolves and Arabian oryx will be presented. Identification and characterization of this variation is more difficult, but the ability to predict the extent of detrimental and adaptive variation may become more successful and applied in future conservation.

Biography

Phil Hedrick is the Ullman Professor in the Department of Biology at Arizona State University, where he carries out conservation genetics research on Mexican wolves, Gila top minnows, Arabian oryx, desert bighorn sheep, and Chinook salmon. He and his colleagues have examined neutral markers, primarily micro-satellite loci, inbreeding depression, and adaptive variation at major histocompatibility complex loci in these organisms. He has recently published the second edition of his book Genetics of Populations and is the author of over 150 scientific articles. He has been the president of the American Society of Naturalists and is the president-elect of the American Genetics Association.

Relevant Publications

Hedrick, P. W., and S. Kalinowski. 2000. Inbreeding depression and conservation biology. Ann. Rev. Ecol. Syst. 31:139-162.

Gutierrez-Espleta, G. A., S. T. Kalinowski, W. M. Boyce, and P. W. Hedrick. 2000. Genetic variation and population structure in desert bighorn sheep: Implications for conservation. Cons. Genet. 1:3-15.

Hedrick P. W. K. M Parker, G. Gutierrez-Espleta, A. Rattink, and K. Lievers. 2000. MHC variation in the Arabian oryx. Evolution 54:2145-2151.

Hedrick, P. W., V. K. Rashbrook, and D. Hedgecock. 2000. Effective population size in returning winter run Chinook salmon. Canad. J. Fish. Aquat. 57:2368-2373 .

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