BoCP-Implementation: Eco-evolutionary dynamics of rewilding: Real-time genetic monitoring of large-mammal community reassembly

Princeton University, Princeton NJ

Investigators

Abstract

Large wild animals are ecologically and economically important, but their populations are shrinking, and many species are threatened with extinction. A growing number of initiatives seek to reverse these trends by restoring wildlife populations, but the scientific foundation for guiding these efforts is weak. One key obstacle to understanding how and why wildlife populations increase in abundance (or not) is the difficulty of measuring the survival and reproduction of individual animals. The two main aims of this research are to test new methods for monitoring wildlife populations using DNA collected non-invasively from fecal samples, and to apply these methods to understand the process of wildlife recovery in Mozambique’s Gorongosa National Park. This project focuses on Gorongosa because it is the world’s premiere example of large-scale wildlife restoration. The park’s large mammals were nearly eliminated during a long civil war, but most species are now rapidly recovering. This creates unique opportunities to understand how a whole community of animals reassembles from scratch. The research also has a range of broader benefits. First, the techniques devised and validated during this project will be applicable for basic research, wildlife monitoring, and environmental management elsewhere throughout the world. Second, knowledge gained from the research will be directly applied to conserve species that are at risk of extinction. Third, the project will build capacity for cutting-edge genomic analyses in Mozambique, where no such facilities currently exist. Fourth, a diverse group of early-career scientists based in the United States will be trained on the project. Results of the research will be communicated in non-specialist terms to a broad audience, deepening public understanding of Gorongosa’s hopeful story of environmental recovery. This project draws on rapidly advancing genomic capabilities to address a fundamental challenge at the interface of ecology and evolutionary biology: the ability to measure reproductive success and its phenotypic, demographic, and environmental correlates. By sequencing environmental DNA in fecal samples, the investigators will attempt to construct pedigrees and use genomic mark-recapture methods to estimate population sizes and key demographic parameters such as birth and death rates. DNA from the same fecal samples will be sequenced to assess diet composition, gut microbiomes, and gastrointestinal parasites. Based on these data, the research team will answer a suite of questions about the ecological and evolutionary dynamics of a recovering large-mammal community, including: How does the loss and subsequent recovery of top predators affect prey fitness as a function of individual behavior? Does a recovering community tend towards its historical state, or instead follow alternative trajectories? Do behavioral anomalies in small, reintroduced populations persist or dissipate as the population grows? How does a collapsed food web reassemble, and what can this tell us about the mechanisms by which biodiversity is maintained? This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.