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02 August 2022 | Story Leonie Bolleurs | Photo Leonie Bolleurs
Alistair Naidoo, second-year master’s student in Conservation Genetics and full-time technician in the Department of Genetics; Prof Paul Grobler, Head of the Department of Genetics; Prof Gordon Luikart; and Hannah Janse van Vuuren, third-year master’s student in Conservation Genetics.

It is an important and exciting time to be doing research in conservation genetics. This is according to Prof Gordon Luikart, Professor of Conservation Ecology and Genetics at the Flathead Lake Bio Station at the University of Montana in the United States. 

Prof Luikart, whose primary research focus is the application of genetics to the conservation of natural and managed populations, recently delivered a lecture, The Expanding Role of Genetics/omics in Wildlife Research and Conservation, on the Bloemfontein Campus of the University of the Free State (UFS). The lecture, hosted by the Department of Genetics, was attended by a group of students and lecturers in conservation and a number of related fields. 

He is one of the leading scientists in the field of conservation genetics, including integration of genomics in conservation projects. He is also co-author of the textbook Conservation and the Genomics of populations – the current prescribed textbook for GENE3744.

Species threatened with extinction

In 2008, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) stated that approximately 10-20% of all vertebrate and plant species are threatened with extinction over the next few decades. In 1984, American biologist Edward O Wilson also said that it will take millions of years to correct the ongoing loss of genetics and species diversity caused by the destruction of natural habitats. “This is the folly our descendants are least likely to forgive us.”

Prof Luikart is of the opinion that genetics has enormous potential to help manage wildlife and prevent extirpation. “My research works to realise this potential and help wildlife managers conserve populations and ecosystems,” he says. 

Conservation managers and biologists have understood the risks of inbreeding for more than 100 years. In his lecture, one of the aspects of genetic conservation he focused on, was the negative effects of inbreeding and how this can be reversed using genetic rescue. 

With the genetic rescue study, they found that the gene flow into recently isolated populations can increase individual fitness and population growth. He proposed that conservation managers should consider genetic principles and rescue as practical and important tools. 

Prof Luikart also provided a list of information that can be retrieved from molecular genetic data to help conservation managers. This includes intel on census and effective population size, gene flow and dispersal, local adaptation and selection, forensics, genetic identification and law enforcement, and disease ecology and transmission. 

Non-invasive genetic monitoring

In terms of detecting gene flow, he focused on a study about non-invasive genetic monitoring that was conducted in the Yellowstone Park. Prof Luikart and a group of students collected the shed hair and faeces of the grizzly bear, obtained from trees and hair traps, which were used as a source of DNA. 

They established, for instance, that inbreeding depression is more common and stronger than previously thought in natural populations. Genetic monitoring, using non-invasive methods as described, has been found to be an effective tool that conservation managers should consider for detecting inbreeding and loss of genome-wide variation.

His research on the bighorn sheep, the alpine ibex, and the black bear informed most of the findings he discussed during his lecture.

News Archive

SAMWOP creates space for sharing research
2016-12-06

Description: SAMWOP Tags: SAMWOP 

Dr Kristina Riedel, Head of the UFS Department of
Linguistics and Language Practice; middle:
Prof Nancy Kula, of the University of Essex; back:
from left, Dr Elias Malete, lecturer at the UFS
Department of Linguistics and Language Practice,
Prof Andy Chebanne, from the University of Botswana;
and Lesoetsa Motsamai, from the University of Stellenbosch,
at the SAMWOP workshop on 24 November 2016.
Photo: Rulanzen Martin

“The Southern African Microlinguistics Workshop (SAMWOP) creates space for sharing the latest research, networking and building stronger collaboration amongst linguists.”

This is what Dr Kristina Riedel, Head of the Department of Linguistics and Language Practice at the University of the Free State (UFS), said of the 5th SAMWOP hosted by her department. The workshop, hosted from 24 to 26 November 2016, also provided linguists who work on theory and language description in South Africa, the opportunity to network. “As a free conference it is very important, particularly for students and junior scholars.”

International delegates attend workshop

Participants at the workshop were from eight countries including the US, Botswana, Mozambique, Brazil and the UK. Prof Nancy Kula (University of Essex, UK), who was recently appointed as research associate to the department, presented jointly with Xiaoxi Liu, work on depressor effects (consonants which lower tones) in Bantu languages. Other presenters discussed Bantu languages, Khoisan languages and Afrikaans.

Microlinguistics analyses language and sound

“Microlinguistics focuses on analysing language data that deals with language sounds, structures and meaning, rather than language in society,” Dr Riedel said. “The range and diversity of the research on African languages presented at SAMWOP5 were a true highlight. There is a need for more research into African languages and SAMWOP presents the opportunity to scholars in the field to share their work, including in the accredited open-access proceedings.

“We are happy that we were able to hold a very successful and well-attended workshop despite the disruptions to the academic calendar this year,” the professor said.

The Linguistics Society of Southern Africa supported the cause in the form of a grant with additional support from the Office of Dean of Humanities at the UFS.

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