History and Evolution of the North American Wildlife Conservation Model

Background: Moose (Alces alces) colonized the North American continent from Asia less than 15,000 years ago, and spread across the boreal forest regions of Canada and the northern United States (US). Contemporary populations have low genetic diversity, due either to low number of individuals in the original migration (founder effect), and/or subsequent population bottlenecks in North America. Genetic tests based on informative single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers are helpful in forensic and wildlife conservation activities, but have been difficult to develop for moose, due to the lack of a reference genome assembly and whole genome sequence (WGS) data. Methods: WGS data were generated for four individual moose from the US states of Alaska, Idaho, Wyoming, and Vermont with minimum and average genome coverage depths of 14- and 19-fold, respectively. Cattle and sheep reference genomes were used for aligning sequence reads and identifying moose SNPs. Results: Approximately 11% and 9% of moose WGS reads aligned to cattle and sheep genomes, respectively. The reads clustered at genomic segments, where sequence identity between these species was greater than 95%. In these segments, average mapped read depth was approximately 19-fold. Sets of 46,005 and 36,934 high-confidence SNPs were identified from cattle and sheep comparisons, respectively, with 773 and 552 of those having minor allele frequency of 0.5 and conserved flanking sequences in all three species. Among the four moose, heterozygosity and allele sharing of SNP genotypes were consistent with decreasing levels of moose genetic diversity from west to east. A minimum set of 317 SNPs, informative across all four moose, was selected as a resource for future SNP assay design. Conclusions: All SNPs and associated information are available, without restriction, to support development of SNP-based tests for animal identification, parentage determination, and estimating relatedness in North American moose.

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The value of the North American model of wildlife conservation—an International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies position

Wildlife Society Bulletin ◽

10.2193/0091-7648(2005)33[374:imotvo]2.0.co;2 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 33 (1) ◽

pp. 374-377 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

Joanna Prukop ◽

Ronald J. Regan

Keyword(s):

North American ◽

Wildlife Conservation ◽

International Association ◽

The North ◽

American Model

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Indigenizing the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation

FACETS ◽

10.1139/facets-2020-0088 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 6 ◽

pp. 1285-1306

Author(s):

Mateen A. Hessami ◽

Ella Bowles ◽

Jesse N. Popp ◽

Adam T. Ford

Keyword(s):

North American ◽

Wildlife Conservation ◽

Common Ground ◽

Holistic Approach ◽

The United States ◽

Conservation Practice ◽

The North ◽

Indigenous Worldviews ◽

American Model ◽

The Many

Although a diversity of approaches to wildlife management persists in Canada and the United States of America, the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation (NAM) is a prevailing model for state, provincial, and federal agencies. The success of the NAM is both celebrated and refuted amongst scholars, with most arguing that a more holistic approach is needed. Colonial rhetoric permeates each of the NAM’s constituent tenets—yet, beyond these cultural and historical problems are the NAM’s underlying conservation values. In many ways, these values share common ground with various Indigenous worldviews. For example, the idea of safeguarding wildlife for future generations, utilizing best available knowledge to solve problems, prioritizing collaboration between nations, and democratizing the process of conserving wildlife all overlap in the many ways that the NAM and common models of Indigenous-led conservation are operationalized. Working to identify shared visions and address necessary amendments of the NAM will advance reconciliation, both in the interest of nature and society. Here, we identify the gaps and linkages between the NAM and Indigenous-led conservation efforts across Canada. We impart a revised NAM—the Indigenizing North American Model of Wildlife Conservation (I-NAM)—that interweaves various Indigenous worldviews and conservation practice from across Canada. We emphasize that the I-NAM should be a continuous learning process that seeks to update and coexist with the NAM, but not replace Indigenous-led conservation.

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