Past Events

Background Since the first Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in 1992, biodiversity has been defined as the total variation of life on planet Earth at three levels: genes, species and ecosystems. Today we face dramatic biodiversity loss due to the combined effects of land use and climate change. This loss is basically calculated in terms of number of species, but very little is known about loss of diversity at the genome level. Nonetheless, roughly speaking, genetic diversity within species is the necessary condition for any adaptation to occur and it is, thus, of particular relevance in the so-called Anthropocene. The relevance of genetic diversity in biodiversity protection and management has been only rarely included in policies and regulations. This seems to be the case for the CBD post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework too. To this end, the COST Action G-BiKE together with GEO-BON and IUCN has recently developed three genetic indicators to be included in the next strategy (Hoban et al, 2020): 1) The number of populations [or breeds] within species with an effective population size > 500 compared to the number < 500. 2) The proportion of (sub)populations [or geographic range] maintained within species. 3) The number of species and populations in which genetic diversity is being monitored using DNA-based methods. In this one-day online workshop we aim to highlight how aDNA studies can play a pivotal role for the practical implementation of the genetic indicators, especially of 1) and 2). Through key lectures and specific fora, we will present how aDNA studies are already poised to make these indicators highly informative in the light of CBD post-2020 Global Biodiversity Strategy. PROGRAM (NB all times are CET/UTC +1): 8:45-9:00 am Intro from G-BiKE: Cristiano Vernesi (Fondazione Edmund Mach, Italy) and Margarida Fernandes-Lopes (Instituto da Conservação da Natureza e das Florestas, Portugal) 9:00-10:30 Overview of aDNA with ample Q&As: -An introduction to the aDNA world - Ludovic Orlando (University of Toulouse, France) -Population genomics of the extinction process - Love Dalén (Centre for Palaeogenetics, Stockholm, Sweden) -Impact of human activities on genetic diversity and microbiomes of wildlife through time - Katerina Guschanski (Uppsala University, Sweden) 10:30-10:45 coffee break 10:45-11:00 Tour de table: self-presentation of speakers, discussants and attendees. 11:00-11:30 Forum 1: Setting the baseline: how many genetically distinct different populations were out there? Coordinator: Andy Foote (NTNU, Norway) Discussants: Eline Lorenzen (University of Copenhagen, Denmark) Evelyn Jensen (University of Newcastle, UK) Flora Jay (CNRS, LRI, University Paris-Saclay, France) 11:30-12:20pm Discussion in 3 breakout rooms (each room will be composed by speakers, discussants and attendees) 12:20-1:20pm Lunch break 1:20-1:50 Forum 2: Measuring genetic erosion: how aDNA can inform on effective population size and other relevant diversity indices? Coordinator: Love Dalén (Centre for Palaeogenetics, Stockholm, Sweden) Discussants: Jouni Aspi (Oulu University, Finland), David Díez del Molino (Stockholm University, Sweden) Ida Moltke (Copenhagen University, Denmark) Katerina Guschanski (Uppsala University, Sweden) 1:50-2:40 Discussion in 3 breakout rooms 2:40-3:10 Forum 3: How can I make the best of my historical and ancient collections Coordinator: Tom Gilbert (University of Copenhagen, Denmark) Discussants: Ian Barnes (The Natural History Museum, London, UK) Nathan Wales (University of York, UK) Mikkel Sinding (Trinity College Dublin, Ireland & Copenhagen University, Denmark) 3:10-4:00 Discussion in 3 breakout rooms 4:00-4:15 Coffee break 4:15-5:15 Wrap up with short synthesis from each Room Discussant: Jan-Olov Westerberg (IUCN Council) to be confirmed Plenary round-table: how to summarize the main workshop outcomes into a paper to be submitted in the next couple of months or so. Tasks assignment.

G-BiKE Working Group 4 hold a workshop entitled “New developments in the field of genomics technologies for solving practical conservation issues” in Portorož – Portorose, Slovenia from 4th-6th March 2020, organized by Prof. Dr. Elena Bužan (University of Primorska, Slovenia) and her group. There were 5 invited speakers and 15 participants from 14 different countries. During talks and discussions participants were provided an overview about: new gene modification techniques, gene drive techniques, recent biotechnology approaches, what contributes to inbreeding depression and how to translate research on to wildlife management. The role of biobanking, reproductive science and genomics for genetic rescue in highly endangered species was further discussed along with the importance of ancient DNA and how can we control malaria using gene drive mosquitoes. The main outcome of the workshop will be a scientific paper where we are supposed to provide an overview of potential use of new genomic technologies for addressing practical conservation issues in which we will emphasize what is feasibly now and what is far ahead as well as possibilities to implement these techniques in different countries.

This Training School was mainly, but not exclusively oriented towards practitioners, with the aim of presenting, in the simplest and yet most comprehensive manner, the contribution that can be provided by genetics and genomics for effectively tackling practical conservation and management problems. The underlying rationale for the School was to create a bidirectional information flow between scientists and practitioners to explore and clarify where and when genomics can make a difference in every day conservation within an EU policy and legislative framework, but with global application.