Genetic Monitoring for Managers: A New Online Resource

Monitoring our natural resources will increasingly rely on genetic tools in order to understand and respond to invasive species, habitat degradation, fragmentation, disease, or climate-related changes. In recent years, the rapidly evolving field of genetic monitoring has seen explosive growth in sampling methods, genetic markers, and analytical approaches designed to estimate a wide range of parameters from connectivity to population growth rates. Some of these methods have taken root and now dominate particular aspects of population assessment and monitoring, whereas others have seen less success in real-world applications. To aid managers and researchers with limited genetics experience, we developed a web-based resource to help them identify which, if any, molecular genetic methods would be appropriate for population assessments or monitoring. The site was developed in cooperation with a team of experts in fields such as evolutionary biology, demographic parameter estimation, and exotic species detection to provide a broad, dynamic, and easily understood resource with limited jargon. The site also provides distilled examples from the recent literature, along with contact information for experts in various techniques. The website, Genetic Monitoring for Managers, is now available at http://alaska.fws.gov/gem/mainPage_1.htm.