How genetic tools can help crocodilians management and governance

VERDADE, L.; PIÑA, C.I.; SIMONCINI, M.; SILVA-BRANDAO, K.

Conservation Genetics of New World Crocodilians

Springer

Año: 2020; p. 203 - 214

The applications of genetic tools forcrocodilians? management and governance can be done at two levels: intra- andinterspecific. The following intraspecific processes can be investigated by theuse of genetic tools: mating system, parental care and dispersal pattern,potentially useful for biological conservation; identification of ?problem?individuals involved in humans and livestock predation, potentially useful forcontrol; and the identification of reproductive females in monitoring programsbased on nest identification and counting. As management of endangered speciesimplies in the necessity for the increase of depleted populations two possibleconsequences should be considered: loss of genetic variability and a change onthe selective pressures. The former has been usually monitored using geneticmarkers. However, the later has been systematically neglected. Wheneverpossible to collect DNA from the suspect ?problem? animals at the ?crimescene?, it is possible to confirm whether the guilty one has been culled, basedon molecular markers, which can avoid overkill. In sustainable use programs, genetic markerscan determine the origin of skin, meat, eggs and hatchlings, avoiding illegalextraction from wild populations. Finally, in the future eDNA might be used toidentify individuals, thus providing information about crocodilian populations.Future studies should prioritize the identification of adaptive genes tohuman-modified environments and to human management itself to mitigate theanthropic pressures crocodilians face in the Anthropocene, including anunintended domestication process, in which they might become dependent onhumans to survive.