US Geological Survey scientists and collaborators are using genetic information contained in sage-grouse feathers collected at leks to define the rangewide network of breeding populations.
The USGS and collaborators are using genetic information contained in sage-grouse feathers collected at leks to delineate the rangewide network of breeding populations. The genetic data are being analyzed in combination with landscape information to identify geographic distance, topographic features, anthropogenic land uses, and other factors that influence sage-grouse dispersal and genetic exchange. The results from this study, perhaps the largest terrestrial effort of its kind, will be important for informing conservation planning efforts to delineate core or priority populations and reduce population fragmentation, isolation, and risk of extirpation.
Quantifying functional connectivity: The role of breeding habitat, abundance, and landscape features on range‐wide gene flow in sage‐grouse
The genetic network of greater sage-grouse: Range-wide identification of keystone hubs of connectivity
- Overview
US Geological Survey scientists and collaborators are using genetic information contained in sage-grouse feathers collected at leks to define the rangewide network of breeding populations.
The USGS and collaborators are using genetic information contained in sage-grouse feathers collected at leks to delineate the rangewide network of breeding populations. The genetic data are being analyzed in combination with landscape information to identify geographic distance, topographic features, anthropogenic land uses, and other factors that influence sage-grouse dispersal and genetic exchange. The results from this study, perhaps the largest terrestrial effort of its kind, will be important for informing conservation planning efforts to delineate core or priority populations and reduce population fragmentation, isolation, and risk of extirpation.
- Publications
Quantifying functional connectivity: The role of breeding habitat, abundance, and landscape features on range‐wide gene flow in sage‐grouse
Functional connectivity, quantified using landscape genetics, can inform conservation through the identification of factors linking genetic structure to landscape mechanisms. We used breeding habitat metrics, landscape attributes, and indices of grouse abundance, to compare fit between structural connectivity and genetic differentiation within five long‐established Sage‐Grouse Management Zones (MZThe genetic network of greater sage-grouse: Range-wide identification of keystone hubs of connectivity
Genetic networks can characterize complex genetic relationships among groups of individuals, which can be used to rank nodes most important to the overall connectivity of the system. Ranking allows scarce resources to be guided toward nodes integral to connectivity. The greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) is a species of conservation concern that breeds on spatially discrete leks that