Excited for @gabrielesgarlata.bsky.social’s new preprint on the Genome-Wide Effect of Drift and Selection over a Single Generation 1/n www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

The Genome-Wide Effect of Drift and Selection over a Single Generation

The relative importance of genetic drift versus selection to evolutionary change has long been debated. This debate has mainly focused over long-time-scales (e.g. hundreds of thousands of generations)...

biorxiv.org

This looks super cool: www.cell.com/current-biol...

Florida scrub-jay genomes across space and time reveal impacts of population decline and reduced gene flow

By analyzing genomes from 241 Florida scrub-jays across five populations and two time points, Nguyen et al. reveal substantial losses of genetic diversity and increased inbreeding following population...

cell.com

@itiscolossal.bsky.social's grifting and deception may be the worst thing to ever happen to the field of conservation genomics

Carl Zimmer@carlzimmer.com · 2mo ago

The US government is entering a partnership to store frozen cells and other biological samples from endangered and threatened species with Colossal, a private company best known for claiming to "de-extinct" dire wolves. Story by me & @catrineinhorn.bsky.social Gift link: nyti.ms/43Rzhfw

Genetic rescue increases long-term fitness despite elevating putative genetic load in a male-dimorphic mite www-nature-com.weblib.lib.umt.edu:2443/articles/s41...

New preprint from the last portion of my PhD! Despite low masked load, we found evidence for strong inbreeding depression in Devils Hole pupfish. The reason? A recessive lethal haplotype that causes a heart defect among developing embryos. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Long-term small effective population size, inbreeding, and a recessive lethal haplotype drive premature death in the endangered Devils Hole pupfish (Cyprinodon diabolis)

As anthropogenic habitat fragmentation and population decline accelerate globally, growing numbers of species face compounding demographic and genetic threats to long-term survival. Many populations a...

biorxiv.org

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Inbreeding depression by polygenic load following a severe population bottleneck

It is poorly understood how populations survive extreme bottlenecks despite severe inbreeding. We investigate the genomic architecture of inbreeding in the once critically endangered Seychelles warble...

biorxiv.org

Historically Small Population Size Limits Purging of Deleterious Mutations in a Conservation-Reliant Species, the Kirtland’s Warbler www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Great to see this study by @sam-deakin.bsky.social and Anita Michalak published in Evolutionary Applications. Using genomic data from >750 caribou and hierarchical structure analyses, we show that genetic clusters do not align with current conservation units in western Canada doi.org/10.1111/eva....

🧪 Rebuilding federal science after this nightmare will take decades unless science investment and civil servant hiring processes are drastically reformed. Key positions often sit vacant for years due to red tape and budget restrictions. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/27/c...

How the Trump Administration Ended Independent Science at the E.P.A.

nytimes.com

The past 15 months have marked a dark chapter in US science; one that will require significant effort to repair. But I'm not interested in duct tape and bandaid solutions. Our system had problems before Jan 20th, 2025. So, @standupforscience.net is doing what we do best: TAKING ACTION. 1/7

Wrote a fun little thing on gene tree discordance: authors.elsevier.com/a/1mzPI3QW8S...

We also need to avoid fantasizing that new technological shortcuts are game-changing solutions to biodiversity loss. Effective conservation solutions are hard, costly, and piss people off.

Joachim Mergeay@jmergeay.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Fragmentation is the main driver of biodiversity loss. A lot of policy recognizes this in some way, by acknowledging needs for connectivity among remnant patches. But at its core we need to undo fragmentation instead of rolling out green carpets between tiny fragments.

Can you believe that until now there were more genomes sequenced for the woolly mammoth than for living African elephants? Today, we bring you the first genomic, continent-scale analyses of 232 high-quality genomes of both species, the savanna and forest elephant. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

First @molecology.bsky.social 's special issue in December (onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/1365294x...), and now this! Inspiring to see so many talented scientists working at the intersection of evobio, genomics, and applied conservation. Great for your reading lists!

Special Issue: CONSERVATION GENOMICS ‐ MAKING A DIFFERENCE: Molecular Ecology: Vol 34, No 23

Molecular Ecology is an international journal for research using molecular genetic techniques to address questions in ecology, evolution, behavior and conservation.

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Evolutionary Applications@evolappjournal.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Special Issue on Genetic Rescue is out 🎉🎉🎉 The 21 papers on the SI highlight how evolutionary biology can enhance resilience & long-term survival of biodiversity. Introducing genetically diverse individuals can boost fitness in small, isolated populations 🧬🌿 doi.org/10.1111/eva.70225

It’s always been a mystery to me how the genetic diversity and composition of the Scandinavian brown bear originated 🤔 Today, we publish a new paper that sheds new light on this, and a real-time example of how mito-nuclear discordances can evolve during severe bottlenecks: doi.org/10.1098/rsos...

The Funk Lab (funklab.colostate.edu) is finally here on bluesky! 🥳

Funk Lab

Photo credit: David Herasimtschuk

funklab.colostate.edu

Incredibly excited about this preprint, and proud to have been along for the ride with @colincarlson.bsky.social and @ctrlalttim.com. There’s themes in here I have been thinking about since I interviewed for grad school, and it’s been wild to see it finally come together

Colin Carlson@colincarlson.bsky.social · 5mo ago

‼️ New preprint: By solving a paradox in graph theory, we show that specialist symbionts constrain ecosystem structure, drive biodiversity, and face high extinction risk. With @jbyoder.org and @ctrlalttim.com: 🎉 Specialists drive biodiversity scaling in symbiotic relationships

Another #consgen paper highlighting that ex-situ breeding, especially in species with high fecundity (fishes!) is no silver bullet for conservation, due to rapid evolution of domestication, even with careful genetic management.

Andrew Whitehead@andrewwhitehead.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Are you interested in domestication selection and conservation physiology? Newest paper @evolappjournal.bsky.social: Highly and Lowly Domesticated Endangered Fish From a Conservation Hatchery Diverge in Their Thermal Physiology, Transcriptome, and Methylome onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

New book on mountain sheep. I contributed 2 chapters with Fanie Pelletier. Have not yet read most chapters. 🧪 www.routledge.com/Mountain-She...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... Robin's new tool - looks nifty!

Combining Multiple Genetic Estimates of Ne

Researchers often use multiple genetic methods to estimate contemporary effective population size (Ne), but few formally combine estimates despite potential benefits for increasing precision. Maximis....

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

GBF Genetic indicator assessments in the USA higlights that the Endangered Species Act fails to capture the risk of genetic erosion of diversity within and among populations. @coalitioncongen.bsky.social @ginamo-consgen.bsky.social #consgen

EcoEvoRxiv@ecoevorxiv.bsky.social · 5mo ago

A widespread gap in U.S. Endangered Species Act implementation: Risk of genetic erosion within populations doi.org/10.32942/X2K...

The volume of 🐴 💩 in this is amazing. To Lamm, Doug Burgum isn’t the anti-regulation, fossil fuel addict we know so well, but instead a conservation visionary. And we who dare to call out their fake science just haven’t made it off the JV team yet. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

Can scientists really resurrect the dodo? Inside the company that says it can

Colossal Biosciences’ CEO says its work follows a ‘moral obligation’ while critics say it’s ‘tech bro’ hype that could undermine conservation

theguardian.com

Very cool work based on an amazing long term study of bighorn sheep: No Pedigree, No Problem: Genomic Inbreeding Tracks Genetic Rescue With High Resolution - Mitchell et al: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

No Pedigree, No Problem: Genomic Inbreeding Tracks Genetic Rescue With High Resolution

With increasing habitat fragmentation and population isolation, inbreeding becomes a pressing concern for the persistence of wildlife populations. Detailed inbreeding monitoring is crucial for assess...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

🧪 www.pnas.org/doi/full/10....

GOP leadership using the rarely used Congressional Review Act to overrule land mgmt plans that have taken years of research, local collaboration and public meetings to push for coal & copper mining & oil drilling & reverse protections on other lands. 🧪🌿🌎 stateline.org/2026/03/09/r...

Republicans target public lands protections in a new way • Stateline

Republicans in Congress want to allow more mining and oil drilling on federal public lands, and they’ve recently turned to an obscure legislative maneuver to open areas for business.

stateline.org

Chromosome-Level Genome Assembly for Snowshoe Hare (Lepus Americanus) url: academic.oup.com/jhered/artic...

A Chromosome-Level Genome Assembly for Snowshoe Hare (Lepus Americanus)

Abstract. The snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus) is considered a critical keystone species of the boreal and temperate forests of North America. Although the

academic.oup.com

Our new perspective: The Future of the Southern Resident Killer Whales Depends on Interactions With Other Killer Whale Populations onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Perspective: The Future of the Southern Resident Killer Whales Depends on Interactions With Other Killer Whale Populations

The Southern Resident Killer Whales are a high-profile population listed as endangered in the United States and Canada. Risks to the population are well known, and include insufficient prey, inbreedi...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Here is a direct link to the first full draft of the National Nature Assessment on the state of America’s land, water and wildlife that was started under the Biden administration but canceled by Trump before it could be published. 🌎 naturerecord.org/chapters

Chapters - The Nature Record

Now it’s our turn to shape what comes next. A new project. A mission years in the making.

naturerecord.org

The draft Nature Record National Assessment is now open for comment! Take a look and tell us what we got right, what we missed, and what changes you’re seeing where you live. Your perspective will help shape the final record of nature in the U.S. naturerecord.substack.com/p/the-draft-...

The Draft is Ready. Now We Need You.

Share your perspective on the state of nature in the U.S.

naturerecord.substack.com