Management interventions for threatened species are well documented with genetic data now playing a pivotal role in informing their outcomes. However, in situ actions like supplementations (releasing individuals into an existing population) are often restricted to a singular site. Considerable research and management effort have been dedicated to conserving the Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii), offering a unique opportunity to investigate the temporal genetic consequences of supplementation at multiple sites, in comparison to outcomes observed in the absence of management interventions. Using 1,778 genome-wide SNPs across 1,546 individuals, we compared four wild-supplemented sites to four monitoring-only sites (not supplemented; control sites) over 9 years (2014-2022). At the study completion, genetic differentiation among supplemented sites had significantly decreased compared to among not-supplemented sites. We found statistically significant variation in genetic change over time between sites using linear mixed-effects modelling with random slopes. Investigating this among-site variation showed that three of the supplemented sites conformed to predictions that supplementations would have a positive impact on the genetic diversity of devils at these sites. We predicted no change over time at our fourth site due to the observed relatively high gene flow, however, this site did not align with predictions, instead showing decreased genetic diversity and increased relatedness. Amongst not supplemented sites, there was no consistent pattern of temporal genetic change, suggesting devil sites across Tasmania are highly heterogeneous, likely reflecting variation in site connectivity and genetic drift. Our study demonstrates that long-term concurrent monitoring of multiple sites, including controls, is necessary to contextualise the influence of management interventions on natural species fluctuations.

Biodiversity and climate resilience are tightly linked. Genetic diversity enables species to adapt in a rapidly changing world, yet its loss (genetic erosion) remains the least visible dimension of the biodiversity crisis. Although climate science has long recognised that past emissions can lock in future climate impacts (“committed climate change”), the idea that biodiversity also faces future, lagged losses is less embedded in policy and public discourse. Past and ongoing habitat loss, fragmentation, and population declines have, however, already committed many species to future genetic erosion, with losses that may be undetectable today being capable of precipitating species extinctions and ecosystem collapse. To highlight the urgency of this issue, we conceptualise “committed genetic erosion” using four climate science parallels. First, just as the climate system is showing clear signals of change, genetic erosion is already occurring across regions and taxa, including non-threatened species. Second, like inertia in the climate system, biological inertia creates time lags between demographic decline and genetic erosion, effectively locking in further loss under business as usual. Third, just as climate science relies on indicators and forecasting tools, genetic indicators and forward-looking simulations can identify risk, quantify committed genetic erosion, and project future trajectories under alternative management pathways. Fourth, both the climate and biodiversity crises require ambitious action that addresses root causes. Proactively maintaining large, connected populations, and enabling carefully designed genetic rescue, provide proven, effective interventions for maintaining species’ resilience, unlike reactive strategies or speculative technological fixes. Because genetic inertia operates locally, the lag period offers a critical window for intervention. This is a strategic advantage we cannot afford to miss: acting early and placing genetic diversity at the centre of biodiversity management can safeguard the adaptive potential of life on Earth.

Mitigating loss of genetic diversity is a major global biodiversity challenge1, 2, 3-4. To meet recent international commitments to maintain genetic diversity within species5,6, we need to understand relationships between threats, conservation management and genetic diversity change. Here we conduct a global analysis of genetic diversity change via meta-analysis of all available temporal measures of genetic diversity from more than three decades of research. We show that within-population genetic diversity is being lost over timescales likely to have been impacted by human activities, and that some conservation actions may mitigate this loss. Our dataset includes 628 species (animals, plants, fungi and chromists) across all terrestrial and most marine realms on Earth. Threats impacted two-thirds of the populations that we analysed, and less than half of the populations analysed received conservation management. Genetic diversity loss occurs globally and is a realistic prediction for many species, especially birds and mammals, in the face of threats such as land use change, disease, abiotic natural phenomena and harvesting or harassment. Conservation strategies designed to improve environmental conditions, increase population growth rates and introduce new individuals (for example, restoring connectivity or performing translocations) may maintain or even increase genetic diversity. Our findings underscore the urgent need for active, genetically informed conservation interventions to halt genetic diversity loss.

Rapid urbanization is contributing to unprecedented biodiversity decline worldwide. Despite biodiversity loss being more pronounced in cities, traditional conservation efforts such as establishing large, protected areas and restoring native vegetation are largely undertaken far from urban landscapes. More proactive approaches, such as rewilding, have garnered momentum as a conservation process but remain underused in cities. In the present article, focusing on active faunal reintroductions, we explore urban rewilding as a process to restore ecological functions and enhance ecosystem resilience. Through a systematic literature review, we assess the varied aims, challenges, and definitions of success in rewilding efforts in urban contexts. Moreover, we define the unique opportunities and benefits urban rewilding presents for reconnecting people with nature, fostering community engagement, and enhancing cultural connections. Finally, we identify future research areas, including the need for long-term studies on ecological impacts, developing species selection frameworks, and exploring sociocultural dimensions of urban rewilding.

Conservation introductions, translocating species beyond their native range, are increasingly necessary. Because genetic diversity is essential for species to respond to novel environments, understanding whether establishing populations can maintain genetic diversity is crucial to the long-term success of conservation introductions. Using a systematic review, we quantified conservation introductions globally and assessed whether genetic monitoring is occurring. We found that, despite extensive discussion, conservation introductions were rare. Of 167 examples, most were performed in North America, Australia, and China, with megadiverse developing nations underrepresented. Plants were disproportionately represented (74%), and climate change was the primary motivator of conservation introductions (40%). Survival and reproduction were the most frequently measured outcomes (71% and 37%, respectively). Ten works (5.9%) reported genetic monitoring, of which only two considered temporal genetic data and showed a worrying trend of rapid negative genetic change post-establishment. With limited genetic evidence, it remains unclear whether conservation introductions can establish self-sustaining populations. As these translocations may be the only option for some species, we recommend conservation practitioners trial conservation introductions with temporal genetic monitoring to assess the maintenance of founding genetic diversity and inbreeding. Only through scientifically derived applications of conservation introductions will we learn how to establish self-sustaining populations in an uncertain future.

In brief:Reproductive microbiomes contribute to the successful embryogenesis of offspring but are poorly studied in non-mammalian species that exhibit pregnancy. This study characterises the male pregnant seahorse brood pouch microbiome and identifies potential microbial maternal contributions to the pouch, providing insights into the sources and adaptive value of the embryonic microbial environment. Abstract:Seahorses demonstrate an unusual reproductive strategy, in which males incubate embryos inside a complex 'brood pouch' until parturition, analogous to mammalian viviparity. In many species, a 'normal' reproductive microbiome ensures successful embryogenesis and enables parents (usually mothers) to provide their offspring with their initial microbiome. In male-pregnant seahorses, embryos may receive microbiomes from both parents: from the paternal brood pouch and from the maternal eggs. Using the pot-bellied seahorse (Hippocampus abdominalis), we employed 16S rRNA sequencing to explore the reproductive microbiome. We aimed to compare the microbiome of the male pregnant pouch to the male non-pregnant pouch and external skin, and to identify bacterial taxa found exclusively in the pregnant pouch that could be derived maternally from the microbiome of eggs. Our findings demonstrate that the pregnant brood pouch microbiome is compositionally distinct from the non-pregnant pouch and external skin. The pouch microbiome also has characteristics of resistance to colonisation by pathogens, including a low species richness, high species evenness and diversity and very low abundance of Vibrio, a genus that includes fish skin pathogens. Thirteen bacterial taxa appear exclusively in the pregnant pouch, relative to the non-pregnant pouch, and seven of these overlapped with taxa present in or on the eggs. The possible supplementation of brood pouch microbiome with egg-associated micro-organisms hints at a maternal microbial contribution to male pregnancy. This characterisation of the pregnant seahorse pouch microbiome provides a platform for further research into its function and possible adaptive value during male pregnancy.

Vitamin E, as alpha-tocopherol, is an essential antioxidant protecting the body from free radicals. The vitamin E requirement of managed wildlife species is known to be greater than their wild counterparts, predominantly due to higher dietary lipid content and potentially stressful environments. The plains-wanderer (Pedionomus torquatus, Family Pedionomidae [monotypical]) is a critically endangered, superficially quail-like bird that is the focus of an ongoing captive breeding programme in Australia. It is estimated that plains-wanderers have a high vitamin E requirement (compared with domestic poultry species) to offset a high lipid diet and their naturally flighty temperament. This study therefore aims to gain a greater understanding of the nutritional status and vitamin E requirements of plains-wanderers in managed environments. Total lipid and alpha-tocopherol intake were quantified for 26 zoo-managed plains-wanderers over a series of diet intake trials in addition to measurement of plasma alpha-tocopherol and cholesterol concentrations. Plains-wanderers that consumed higher portions of dietary fat had significantly lower circulating alpha-tocopherol concentrations than birds that consumed lower total dietary fat (p < .001). Additionally, plasma cholesterol concentrations of managed plains-wanderers were found to be significantly greater than all other bird species reviewed, irrespective of Family or feeding type. We also present the first published data quantifying the nutritional makeup of stomach contents of a wild plains-wanderer for use as a potential guide for diet formulation. This study forms a vital foundational insight into the nutritional management of plains-wanderers, but further research is required to understand their dietary habits and cholesterol metabolism.

Genetic diversity is the foundation of biodiversity, and preserving it is therefore fundamental to conservation practice. However, global conservation efforts face significant challenges integrating genetic and genomic approaches into applied management and policy. As collaborative partnerships are increasingly recognized as key components of successful conservation efforts, we explore their role and relevance in the Australian context, by engaging with key entities from across the conservation sector, including academia, botanic gardens, herbaria, seed banks, governmental/non-governmental organisations, private industry, museums, Traditional Owners, Indigenous rangers, and zoos and aquaria. By combining perspectives from these entities with comprehensive literature review, we identified five guiding principles for conservation genetic and genomic research and explored the different elements of, and approaches to, collaboration. Our reflections suggest that there is a substantial overlap in research interests across the Australian conservation sector, and our findings show that collaboration is increasing. We discuss approaches to building collaborative partnerships, the reciprocal benefits of collaborating, and some remaining challenges associated with data generation, data collection, and cross-cultural considerations. We emphasise the need for long-term national resourcing for sample and data storage and consistency in collecting, generating and reporting genetic data. While informed by the Australian experience, our goal is to support researchers and practitioners to foster meaningful collaborations that achieve measurable management outcomes in conservation genetics and genomics, both in Australia and globally.

Reinforcements are a well-established tool for alleviating small population pressures of inbreeding and genetic diversity loss. Some small populations also suffer from specific threats that pose a discrete selective pressure, like diseases. Uncertainty about reinforcing diseased populations exists, as doing so may increase disease prevalence and disrupt potential adaptive processes. However, without assisted gene flow, isolated populations are at high risk of extinction. Tasmanian devils (Sarcophilus harrisii) are a useful case study to test whether reinforcements can alleviate small-population pressures where there is an ongoing disease pressure. We investigated demographic, genome-wide and functional genetic diversity, and disease consequences of reinforcing a small population (<20 animals) that was severely impacted by devil facial tumour disease. Released animals from one source population successfully bred with incumbent individuals, tripling the population size, improving genome-wide and functional diversity and introducing 26 new putatively functional alleles, with no common alleles lost and no increase in disease prevalence. Results suggest, in the case of Tasmanian devils, reinforcements can alleviate small-population pressures without increasing disease prevalence. Because no common functional alleles were lost, it is likely that any adaptive processes in response to the disease may still occur in the reinforced population, perhaps even with greater efficiency due to reduced genetic drift (due to larger population size). Our study is presented as a comprehensive worked example of the IUCN's guidelines for monitoring reinforcements, to showcase the value of genetic monitoring in a richly monitored system and provide realistic approaches to test similar questions in other taxa.

Measuring genetic diversity of wild species using DNA-based data remains resource intensive and time consuming for nearly all species. However, genetic assessments are needed for global conservation commitments, including the Convention on Biological Diversity, and for governments and managers to evaluate conservation progress, as well as prioritizing species and populations to preserve and recover genetic diversity (e.g., via genetic rescue). Recently, indicators were developed for tracking and reporting genetic diversity status and trends for hundreds of species. The indicators quantify two simple proxies of within-population and among-population genetic diversity and adaptive potential: small effective population size (N-e < 500) and the loss of genetically distinct populations. The indicators must balance scientific credibility, practicality, and simplicity. In the present article, we summarize the advantages of these pragmatic indicators, address critiques by scientists for simplifying assumptions and by policymakers for complexity, and propose potential solutions and next steps. We aim to support practitioners putting indicators into policy, action, legislation, and reporting.

As biodiversity declines, wildlife conservation focuses on in situ and ex situ management strategies. Zoo-based breeding programmes are often designed to contribute to the conservation of species that are threatened in the wild. Diet contributes to the reproductive success, disease status and longevity of all animals. It is near-impossible to replicate a species' diet in captivity using only the species they consume in the wild, but the nutritional composition of a wild diet, if known, can be closely matched using commercially available foods for which the nutritional composition has been calculated. Ecological research has identified food items of importance in the diet of many species. However, the nutritional composition of these food items is rarely evaluated, even though the composition of wild food items is important in understanding the dietary adaptations and requirements of wildlife. In contrast, the nutritional requirements of domestic species are well researched and can be used to predict a range of plausible nutrient requirements of some wild species, especially those with similar life histories. Access to wild populations provides further opportunities for nutritional science to determine the requirements of individual species. Small-scale dietary experimentation undertaken at conservation institutions may show positive effects on health and welfare but is rarely published in the scientific literature. This review describes current standards in nutritional management of birds and recommends pathways for filling knowledge gaps. Research on mammals has dominated the nutrition literature, so there is a relative lack of nutritional management information for birds. We combine concepts of domestic animal nutrition with recent findings on the nutritional requirements of birds to provide a foundation for further studies of avian nutrition. We call for the broader zoological community to share data and collaborate on nutritional research to support conservation institutions in nutritional management of wild birds.

Translocations can facilitate gene flow between fragmented populations, introducing new genetic variants that may mask deleterious alleles and relieve inbreeding depression (i.e., ‘genetic rescue’). Genetic rescue attempts in threatened populations are underutilised due to uncertainties surrounding outbreeding depression, appropriateness of source and recipient populations, and the duration of beneficial effects. The Aotearoa New Zealand hihi (Notiomystis cincta) is a threatened passerine hampered by disease outbreaks and reproductive failure. We assessed the long-term outcomes of a genetic rescue attempt, ten years after 20 immigrant hihi were translocated from Te Hauturu-o-Toi Island, the last natural population, to a reintroduced population on Tiritiri Mātangi Island. There was marginally higher multilocus heterozygosity in the source individuals, and low genetic differentiation, based on FST, between the populations, suggesting low risk of outbreeding depression. Six immigrants successfully fledged offspring, but only three have descendants in the current population. Following translocation, we observed short- and long-term increases in microsatellite-based neutral genetic diversity and increases in functional diversity across three Toll-like receptor (TLR) loci associated with innate immunity. Over ten years, survival to hatch decreased with proportion of immigrant ancestry, but individuals with immigrant ancestry were more likely to fledge and recruit into the breeding population. In the short term, F1 immigrant offspring were less likely to hatch, but more likely to fledge and recruit indicating potential heterosis at later life stages. However, differences in the probability of early-life survival between individuals with local and immigrant ancestry declined in the F2 onwards. Inbreeding increased following translocation, likely because one immigrant contributed a disproportionate number of descendants. Benefits of translocating individuals may be limited by the high degree of stochasticity in immigrant establishment. In species like the hihi with high levels of male-male competition, establishment may be improved by translocating females or pre-reproductive young into recipient populations.

In December 2022, the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) adopted the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, in which 196 Parties, for the first time, committed to report on the status of genetic diversity for all species. To facilitate this reporting, three genetic diversity indicators were developed, two of which focus on the processes contributing to genetic diversity loss: the loss of genetically distinct populations (measured by complementary indicator “proportion of populations maintained within species”) and populations being too small to maintain genetic diversity (measured by headline indicator A4, “The proportion of populations within species with an effective population size > 500”). The major advantage of these indicators is that they can be estimated without DNA-based data. However, demonstrating the feasibility of this approach to all Parties for their national reporting, requires addressing methodological challenges of using empirical data gathered from diverse sources, across diverse taxonomic groups and for countries of varying socio-economic status and biodiversity levels. Here, we assess the genetic indicators for 919 taxa, representing 5,271 populations across nine countries, including megadiverse and developing economies. Data were available to calculate indicators for each country and taxonomic group (765 taxa [83%] had data for at least one indicator). Additionally, 41% of taxa (n=518) have lost at least one-tenth of their populations (complementary indicator [populations maintained] value < 0.9), while 58% of taxa (n=568) have all populations too small to sustain genetic diversity (headline indicator [Ne 500] value = 0). By comparing taxon indicator values to their GlobalRed List status, range size, and other factors, we found the loss of genetic diversity shown by these indicators would go unnoticed by other biodiversity assessments, highlighting the critical importance of monitoring and conserving genetic diversity using these indicators.

Small island populations are vulnerable to genetic decline via demographic and environmental stochasticity. In the absence of immigration, founder effects, inbreeding and genetic drift are likely to contribute to local extinction risk. Management actions may also have a greater impact on small, closed populations. The demographic and social characteristics of a species can, however, delay the impact of threats. K’gari, a 1 660 km2 island off the Australian east coast and UNESCO World Heritage Site (Fraser Island 1842–2023), supports an isolated population of approximately 70–200 dingoes that represent an ideal opportunity to explore the small island paradigm. To examine temporal and spatial patterns of genetic diversity in this population we analysed single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotype data (72 454 SNPS) for 112 K’gari dingoes collected over a 25-year period (1996 to 2020). Genetic diversity was lower in K’gari dingoes than mainland dingoes at the earliest time point in our study and declined significantly following a management cull in 2001. We did not find any spatial genetic patterns on the island, suggesting high levels of genetic connectivity between socially discrete packs. This connectivity, combined with the social structure and behaviour of dingoes, may act in concert to buffer the population from the impacts of genetic drift in the short term. Nevertheless, a general decline in genetic variation via inbreeding and drift has occurred over the past 20 years which we suggest should be considered in any future management planning for the population. Monitoring patterns of genetic variation, together with a clearer understanding of the social ecology of K’gari dingoes, will aid in the development of measurable genetic targets set over ecologically meaningful timelines, and help ensure continued survival of this culturally important population.

Genetic diversity is essential for maintaining healthy populations and ecosystems. Several approaches have recently been developed to evaluate population genetic trends without necessarily collecting new genetic data. Such “genetic diversity indicators” enable rapid, large-scale evaluation across dozens to thousands of species. Empirical genetic studies, when available, provide detailed information that is important for management, such as estimates of gene flow, inbreeding, genetic erosion and adaptation. In this article, we argue that the development and advancement of genetic diversity indicators is a complementary approach to genetic studies in conservation biology, but not a substitute. Genetic diversity indicators and empirical genetic data can provide different information for conserving genetic diversity. Genetic diversity indicators enable affordable tracking, reporting, prioritization and communication, although, being proxies, do not provide comprehensive evaluation of the genetic status of a species. Conversely, genetic methods offer detailed analysis of the genetic status of a given species or population, although they remain challenging to implement for most species globally, given current capacity and resourcing. We conclude that indicators and genetic studies are both important for genetic conservation actions and recommend they be used in combination for conserving and monitoring genetic diversity.

Honey bee (Apis mellifera) breeding has intensified as populations experience increasing stress and pollination demand increases. Breeding programmes risk genetic diversity losses as mating is focused on a small group of individuals. Loss of diversity at the complementary sex determiner (csd) locus results in decreased viability and reduced honey production. Bees that are homozygous at csd become inviable males rather than workers. We examined csd diversity in four Australian breeding populations: a queen bee breeder from New South Wales, another from Queensland, a Western Australian breeding programme involving 11 bee breeders, and a research population at the NSW Department of Primary Industries. We found 82 unique csd alleles across the four populations, 16 of which have not been previously reported. This study provides a snapshot of csd diversity in Australia which will be useful for the national honey bee genetic improvement programme (Plan Bee).

Increased access to genetic data has substantially improved how we manage threatened species. The Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) is listed as endangered due to the ongoing threat of a highly contagious cancer, devil facial tumour disease (DFTD), causing more than 80% population reductions. To assist future management interventions (e.g. releases into wild sites) we expanded upon previous studies of gene flow for the devil by assessing more recent and broad-scale patterns. We use genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphisms generated via DArTSeq across 21 devil sites to delineate source-sink dynamics across the species’ range. Our findings revealed gene flow is stronger on the northeast and central regions of Tasmania, with high rates of bidirectional gene flow among central sites. The northwest exhibits weaker connectivity relative to other regions of Tasmania, while gene flow appears to be non-existent between the southwest and other areas. Northeast coastal sites tend to serve as ‘sources’ for inland central sites, whereas gene flow appears restricted to the coastline in the northwest. These results are consistent with genetic structure of devil sites and spatial spread of DFTD, which has yet to arrive in the southwest region of Tasmania. Southwest isolation is probably due to mountain ranges and lack of roadways. Interestingly, some waterbodies did not appear to restrict devil movement among sites. Conversely, areas of high elevation act as apparent barriers, as evidenced by limited gene flow observed between eastern and western sites. Integrating source-sink dynamics into conservation management planning will be crucial in developing effective strategies to safeguard the Tasmanian devil and other threatened species facing similar threats (i.e. disease, habitat loss).

Molecular tools are increasingly applied for assessing and monitoring biodiversity and informing conservation action. While recent developments in genetic and genomic methods provide greater sensitivity in analysis and the capacity to address new questions, they are not equally available to all practitioners: There is considerable bias across institutions and countries in access to technologies, funding, and training. Consequently, in many cases, more accessible traditional genetic data (e.g., microsatellites) are still utilized for making conservation decisions. Conservation approaches need to be pragmatic by tackling clearly defined management questions and using the most appropriate methods available, while maximizing the use of limited resources. Here we present some key questions to consider when applying the molecular toolbox for accessible and actionable conservation management. Finally, we highlight a number of important steps to be addressed in a collaborative way, which can facilitate the broad integration of molecular data into conservation.

Abstract Recent scientific evidence shows that genetic diversity must be maintained, managed, and monitored to protect biodiversity and nature's contributions to people. Three genetic diversity indicators, two of which do not require DNA‐based assessment, have been proposed for reporting to the Convention on Biological Diversity and other conservation and policy initiatives. These indicators allow an approximation of the status and trends of genetic diversity to inform policy, using existing demographic and geographic information. Application of these indicators has been initiated and here we describe ongoing efforts in calculating these indicators with examples. We specifically describe a project underway to apply these indicators in nine countries, provide example calculations, address concerns of policy makers and implementation challenges, and describe a roadmap for further development and deployment, incorporating feedback from the broader community. We also present guidance documents and data collection tools for calculating indicators. We demonstrate that Parties can successfully and cost‐effectively report these genetic diversity indicators with existing biodiversity observation data, and, in doing so, better conserve the Earth's biodiversity.