Genetic diversity refers to amount of gene characteristics found in the DNA of a certain species, and it is extremely important to the well being of that species. Genetic diversity and biodiversity are dependent on each other, and a healthy collection of genes is good for a species and their future offspring. This healthy collection of genes, those active and not are what best prepare an organism for survival in its environment, for example the difference in environment prompted a change in the squirrel's genome so that one select species evolved a patagium, which is specialized membrane that stretches between the wrist and ankles. A normal squirrel would not adapt to its counter part's environment, as its disadvantage leaves it susceptible to predators, be it birds from above or snakes in the trees. Low genetic diversity can be detrimental to a population, in-adaptability to the environment can decimate it, the lack of variation in genes can leave them vulnerable to disease, eradicating the species. Low genetic diversity can be intentional or unintentional, intentional cases are usually those of agriculture, where as an unintentional case of low genetic diversity can be the result of natural disaster, this causes a bottleneck effect.
A case of low biodiversity was recently revealed by researchers at Durham University, who concentrated their studies on the killer whale, and their ever falling number in population from the last Ice Age. The decline in diversity began about 40,000 years ago when many parts of this world were covered in ice, but for the killer whales, the richest currents, where there still were currents anyways, was the best place to reside. However, a number of killer whale pod, off the Californian coast, Humboldt off South America, and the Canary Islands were not fortunate enough to find themselves in those rich current. This created a bottleneck effect among the killer whales, with only a pod off the coast of South Africa maintaining its genetic diversity. Even during a tumultuous time such as 40,000 years ago, great genetic diversity means a greater population, therefore we cannot sum up a population decline to shortage of food, or the inefficient hunting of early man. For a species to be so well spread out about the world, essentially as well globally distributed as humans, their genetic diversity should be much greater.
The concern here is that similar to that period, a time when the environment was changing around the organisms inhabiting it, today we face the same issue. The world is changing around us, research has backed that, and we need to be proactive in a fight to maintain all that we have on the early today, to minimize the decline in population, because each organism is important to the functionality of its environment. As previously stated, a decline in genetic diversity leades to a decline in biodiversity, the loss of a species or the majority of it means changes in the environment, which leades to adaption among the species left, whether that be for better or for worse, but I have yet to see a disruption of that magnitude return a positive product.
Posted by Thomas Flores (2)
It is astonishing the effects that are enacted by genetic diversity variation across a species. You made a good point at the end of your blog: that we should protect organisms because of their functionality to the environment. I wonder whether we have the ability to even fight such a massive problem as genetic diversity decline, especially due to its temporal input: its spans over thousands of years at least. Do you know of any methods which people are taking to help the genetic diversity of the whales?
ReplyDeletePosted by Michael Dailing
Human intervention with the ambition of furthering genetic diversity among whales presents a risky task. What would be of service would be to take a look at our fishing industry, those of other countries, the oil liners we send across oceans. Nets cast out by fishing boats can span hundreds of miles, trappings whales and hundreds of tons of other bycatch per year. Oil liner propellers produce sound waves around the same wavelength as those of whales, which can disrupt communication between two whales in the same pod let alone species.
DeleteThomas Flores
The declining genetic diversity among whales poses an obvious problem for the whales themselves, but also for other aquatic species. Whales are often a keystone species in their ecosystems, meaning that although they may not have the largest population size they influence their ecosystem by controlling populations of other organisms. The loss of whale populations could lead to the over abundance of other species, and throw off the entire food chain balance. My question is whether or not there is something we can do about this. I don't believe whales are easy to breed in captivity, and even if we can breed whales and reintroduce them to the oceans, can we have enough of an impact to reverse the declining genetic diversity? Perhaps this is an inevitable collapse of whale populations.
ReplyDeleteTim Daly
As I stated in my previous reply, we need to take a look at our fishing industry as well as oil liners, but also the legislation we have put down to protect the environment and the animals in them need to be taken seriously, Amphibian populations have been in an outrageous decline for only a few decades, and still is falling at a serious rate because the laws that we put in to protect are not being enforced seriously.
DeleteThomas Flores