Genomics of founders for conservation breeding: the Jasper caribou case

A genomic analysis of 144 woodland caribou from 11 populations across a 200,000 km² area surrounding Jasper National Park (JNP) reveals that the region likely represents a metapopulation with historically high gene flow. This suggests that multiple founder sources would be suitable for a proposed conservation breeding program to prevent local extirpation of JNP caribou, an endangered species in Canada. However, population structure and adaptive divergence analyses indicate that JNP caribou are genetically closest to populations in the BC Columbia range, which also exhibit sufficient genetic diversity for conservation breeding. The study recommends collaboration among jurisdictions to implement this program, aiming not only to recover JNP caribou but also to support other peripheral populations at risk.

Cavedon, M., Neufeld, L., Finnegan, L., Hervieux, D., Michalak, A., Pelletier, A., Polfus, J., Schwantje, H., Skinner, G., Steenweg, R., Thacker, C., Poissant, J., & Musiani, M. (2023). Genomics of founders for conservation breeding: the Jasper caribou case. Conservation Genetics, 24(6), 855–867. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10592-023-01540-3