Using genomics to identify extinction threats and landscape strategies for conservation management of a threatened reptile

Intensive forestry, agriculture and urbanization reduce the habitat for many species.

As populations become small and isolated, genetic diversity is lost and inbreeding and mutation load can make them succumb to an ‘extinction vortex’.

Traditional monitoring is unable to establish if populations are about to enter an extinction vortex, if they are in the middle of one, or if they have escaped by purging deleterious genetic variants.

Without genetic data, identifying landscape features that can reverse the situation by increasing functional connectivity is also extremely challenging.Our aim is to resolve these issues and identify management strategies that can reverse the decline of the threatened sand lizard.

By applying advanced analyses of whole-genome data of lizards from ~120 locations, we will establish the consequences of habitat fragmentation, and identify features of the landscape that can limit or reverse negative trends by promoting functional connectivity between locations.

Furthermore, we will quantify the impact of declining population size and connectivity on inbreeding and mutation load, and demonstrate to what extent small populations can persist and regain viability by purging deleterious genetic variants.

Based on these findings and in close collaboration with stakeholders, we will provide implementable recommendations for an effective landscape strategy to the management of sand lizards and other threatened species.