Conservation Biology: Genetic Approaches
Conservation biology is a multidisciplinary field dedicated to protecting global biodiversity and critical habitats. It incorporates biological approaches such as ecology, evolution, and behavior studies, as well as other disciplines, such as political science, law, economics, and cultural anthropology. One of the major goals of conservation biology is preserving critical habitats and the species that inhabit them. Genes can tell us something about how a particular habitat is used by species and populations. Genetic approaches are also used to identify and classify organisms and evaluate the extent of genetic diversity within a particular population.
Categories of Threatened Populations
The International World Conservation Union (IUCN) provides definitions of terms used to describe the status of a species in the wild, based on a number of factors, including the size of a particular population, whether the population is declining in number, and, if so, the extent to which the trend will continue, as well as the threats the population faces. Genetic approaches can play an essential role in helping to evaluate populations, species, and species designations.
The following categories currently cover the range of definitions for species status according to IUCN: Extinct, Extinct in the Wild, Critically Endangered, Endangered, Vulnerable, Lower Risk, and Data Deficient.
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