Category: Conversation

Abstract

This study is an epistemological enquiry into the definition of ‘development’. The introduction of new technologies by the state perpetuates the dominant discourse of the times. Green Revolution is one such technology that changed the paradigm of farming in the state of Punjab, India. The developmental ideology of those times paved the way for technological interventions and made the Punjab farmers the stipendiaries of the new system. But this newly- acquired technology has had many negative effects on agriculture as a whole and the Punjab farmer is negotiating these changes as was found through this study conducted in Punjab. This study seeks to critically analyse the definitions of development and the ‘tokenism’ of social responsibility as projected through such development by the state. The field work helps to engage with three kinds of stakeholders – viz. Farmers, Civil Society Organisations and Policy Officials, through In-depth Interviews. The analysis and theory is based on Foucauldian Discourse Analysis, specifically the notion of the ‘subject’ and the ‘panopticon’.

Introduction

According to (Jodhka, 2007) Green Revolution was introduced in Punjab in order to bring (i) self- sufficiency to the country (ii) create a food basket for the country (Jodhka, 2007) (iii) a modern and scientific method of farming in order to guard against famines. The idea of Green Revolution was presented to India by the World Bank (Shiva, 1987) and was executed by MS Swaminathan, who is also known as the father of Green Revolution in India. This form of agriculture was invented by American agronomist Norman Borlaugh. Green Revolution was handed over in a packaged form to the farmers in Punjab in the year 1968.

The Dominant Discourse of Green Revolution

Jodhka (2007) mentions that, Punjab farmers benefitted from Green Revolution due to High Yieding Varieties of seeds that brought about an increase in production per hectare. Punjab produces 22 percent of the country’s wheat, 9 percent of rice and 24 percent of cotton (Jodhka, 2007).The farmers in Punjab are affluent which is reflected in the land holding patterns (Shergill, 1986; Jodhka, 2007).

While Green Revolution was successful in some parts of India as well, it was Punjab that it primarily came to be identified with. The statistics available on different indicators of agricultural growth in Punjab are evidence that amongst all the states of India, the growth rate of Punjab was the highest during 1960s and 1980s, in the sphere of agriculture. “The annual rate of increase in production of food grains during 1961–62 to 1985–86 for the state was more than double than that for the country as a whole” (Jodhka, 2007). The percentage of High Yielding Varieties of seeds in the total area under food grain cultivation in Punjab was almost 73 % in 1974–75, whereas the all- India production was only 31 %. It rose to 95 % in 1983–85, as against the country’s average of just54 %. According to one estimate, of all the tractors owned in India, one-third was owned by Punjab farmers (Jodhka, 2007).

And since the notion of a Green Revolution was popularized by the World Bank, by making it financially viable (Shiva, 1988), it praises the achievements of the state in one of its reports, published in 2004.

Punjab is India’s most prosperous and developed state with the lowest poverty rate. At the end of the 1990s, more than 94 per cent of Punjab’s citizens were above the poverty line, 70 per cent were literate, 94 per cent of the six year olds were enrolled in primary schools, 72 per cent of children under twelve months were immunized, 99 per cent of households had access to safe drinking water, and the average life expectancy of its citizen was 68 years (Jodhka, 2007).

World Bank also presented that according to India’s National Human Development Report, published in 2001, Punjab was ranked at the second position in terms of overall level of human development (Jodhka, 2007). The World Bank report tried to bring out the disparity in the conditions of living in Punjab as compared to other states by stating that the citizens of Punjab had achieved a certain socio-economic level that Indians in other state would not be able to achieve in their life-time (Jodhka, 2007).

Research Methodology

The research methodology of this study is informed by tenets of critical theory. According to critical theory, all “thought is mediated by power relations that are socially and historically constituted, and mark ideological inscriptions on knowledge generation” (Kincheloe and McLaren, 2004).

In-depth Interviews

The field work comprised of data-collection in the form of in-depth interviews. According to Patton (1987) in-depth interviewing, is a form of data collection technique that researchers can use to elicit information from respondents. This technique of interviewing facilitates a well-rounded understanding of the respondents’ point of view (Patton, 1987). In-depth interviews involve asking respondents open-ended questions, and indulging in the probing- technique wherever deemed useful by the researcher (Patton, 1987).

Since this study aims at exploring the discourses of stakeholders which were found missing in the existing scholarship on Green Revolution, (as reflected by the review of literature available). A review of the literature available on Green Revolution reveals that there is a lack of scholarship that takes into account the voices of people that affected the adoption of Green Revolution as technology by the state. This hence, essentially becomes an inquiry on choice of policy by the state. The voices that have been taken into account for this purpose are those of policy makers (executives), activists and off course the farmers.

The Stakeholders Interviewed

• (i) Farmers – A bricolage of narratives was collected from farmers interviewed and engaged in the cultivation of water-intensive paddy but are troubled by receding water aquifers. These include twenty four interviews of both landlords, who were not involved in day to day farming as well as farm labourers.
• (ii) Activists- Workers of NGOs and civil society organisations were interviewed in an attempt to locate the resisting discourses. They can be clubbed under the title of activists.
• (iii) Policy Officials- One of the important stakeholders to this exploration is the policy makers and people who execute these policies. For the purpose of this study, I conducted in-depth interviews officials representing policy makers. Most of who came from the functionalist paradigm as policy makers or executives and engineers. Six government officials were interviewed to substantiate the dominant discourse.

Findings and Analysis

The findings are being presented as the discourses of privilege and resistance of all the stake holders, which are as follows:

The discourse of the farmers : Farmers may have been the stipendiaries of the Green Revolution technology , but a discourse analysis of their narratives presents discourse of resistance. The farmers are negotiating with: (i) the sale of farming land by landed zamindars (ii) Speculative land sales (iii) land sale since the next generation does not want to engage with farming (iv) corporatization of agriculture (v) Hoarding of food grains to negotiate higher prices.

Skepticism towards farming as a mainstay

The new generation, points out that it is extremely difficult to get an electricity connection. Seeing the plight of his father he is skeptical to get into farming himself, since he is facing so many problems with electricity and water supply. He adds that Foreign Direct Investments are allowed to come to Punjab, and then he can have an assured income on a month to month basis by giving it on contracts. The younger generation is more inclined towards the corporatization of farms.

Unemployment amongst Punjabi Youth

Due to a socio- economic and cultural connotation of being ‘Zamindars’ or land-holding communities the youth of Punjab do not engage in farm jobs as contract labour. There is a preference for non-farm related vocations, even though there are many opportunities in agri-business. Many farmers who has sold – off most of his agricultural land, aspires for his son to choose a career more adept to an urban set-up. The son of a farmer had completed his Engineering studies and was unemployed but still unwilling to work as a farmer. There is social stigma attached to working on farms. This was clear in an interview with him, where he points out that he will be considered ‘backward’ if he engages in farming. This is the reason that lakhs of migrant laborers find work opportunities in Punjab’s agricultural sector while some of Punjab’s own workforce remains unemployed. This was also observed in another village of Punjab where the landlord, did not work on his land but had employed other farm workers to tend to the crops.

With the improvement in levels of education people are not keen for manual jobs in Punjab. Agriculture is considered low-paying yet high- risk involving business, as compared to the nature of jobs that are available in urban centers, as was reflected in the interviews. The next generation of farmers in Punjab looks forward to well-paying jobs or corporatized agri-business. This is a discourse of resistance.

Loss of Land, Loss of Agency

Land lords and other farm workers narrate that most of the farmers who have sold off their land have bought land elsewhere. There is a mixed sense of pride as well as loss. Most of such land which has been bought is further away from their earlier farmlands. Such landlords are no longer directly involved in day to day farming. They have given land for contract farming to farm workers and contractors. Hence, there is a change in lifestyle of farmers in villages of Punjab as they are no longer working on their lands, instead have been reduced to or in some other way empowered to become land lords. In a conversation one farmer reveals that farm land is only seen as a symbol of status that will fetch dowry when he gets married or it may be used as mortgage in case he chooses to migrate to a foreign country and take up a loan for the same purpose. The problem of farmers arises from the state’s control over land and irrigation facilities.

The farmers interviewed refer to land mafia which is a term used for real estate agents who may also operate as ‘land developers’. Land development is a normalizing term which is easily used as a substitute for real estate transactions. In other words, the people in villages of Punjab understand the sale of farming land for construction of buildings as ‘development’ of the area.

The role played by the policy officials- Tokenism

The discourse of the policy officials is the dominant discourse of ‘development’. Their narratives reflect the following findings: (i) maintaining the dominant discourse of Green Revolution as an idea of development (ii) the methodical approach of the Punjab Agricultural University (iii) construction of dams for development and irrigation (iv)lack of a new way of defining dark zones (v) poor supply of electricity for irrigation

The discourse of Civil Society Organisations

The only stakeholders who were aware of and understood the concept of Green Revolution were the activists, who question the homogenizing discourses. While most of them were skeptical of the actual utility of the concept in a country such as India, most of their concerns stemmed from socio-technological development that is not sustainable and is ruining the environment and indigenous farm skills. Dr. Anil Gupta informed that many rice varieties had been lost due to the introduction of HYVs, which he understands is a result of ‘western’ agricultural practices imposed on the third world. Dr.Vandana Shiva alludes to the violent imposition of Green Revolution as a reason for terrorism in the state of Punjab. She also points out that Indian farms are experiment fields for western knowledge that are backed by supranational organizations such as the World Bank.

Green Revolution is just another moniker that is laden with hegemonic interests. Indian policies continue to be influenced by such concepts. By adopting the ‘modern’ western technologies of farming and the increasing pressure on farmers to produce more per acre, India has become a subject of scrutiny in the international trade discourse of food negotiation for land sales with corporate on behalf of farmers. Hence the policy officials have an ideational power over the creation of the discourse of Green Revolution.

Conclusion

The discourse of farmers is not just misplaced but there is little evidence in the data collected to prove that there is a farmers’ discourse at all. The conventions and round tables that discuss agricultural issues such as food grain production and the Green Revolution consumption are not a part of the imagination of a Punjab farmer. While they were aware of the concept of Green Revolution, the farmers did not have any knowledge about where their produce was being sold or if it was being exported or not. Hence this is a subalternisation (Spivak, 1988) of the Punjab farmer. The assumption of naturalized power roles by scientists and policymakers create a marginalizing discourse. The panoptic gaze (Foucault, 1978) created to control farmers as subjects marginalizes the farmers and they are systematically alienated from the discourse on Green Revolution. In the case of Punjabi farmers this symbolic event was the Green Revolution and the existential crisis that they face on a daily basis and that shapes the nature of their livelihood and earnings in the problem of water scarcity. Green Revolution changed the life of farmers and farming as a practice forever in Punjab. It is evident in the farming technology and the capitalist mode of food production. The narratives of farmers that have been gathered through field work showcase the effect that Green Revolution continues to have, even after forty five years of its first introduction. Green Revolution is one such event that has changed Punjab forever.

The narratives of various stakeholders help in identifying the roles that these stakeholders play in the legitimization of discourses on Green Revolution. These discourses have been identified as discourses of privilege and resistance. Hence this study seeks to juxtapose the narratives the stakeholders and analyze them by deconstructing the narratives of the stakeholders.

The farmers who are privileged, use the Green Revolution as a site to couch their discourse which is discursively contested by activists and NGO workers, to prove that the farming practices are extremely exploitative. The policy officials and executives run a system of – “constant, coded, systematic observation, run by a differentiated hierarchies” (Foucault, 1972), present a picture of maintaining the dominant discourse of development while being oblivious of international politics of supranational agencies. This was evident from the lack of knowledge of Green Revolution and the subsequent consequences that it can have on the future of agriculture or trade in India (specifically Punjab). The hydrocracy around agriculture creates a situation that supports exploitative farming practices due to bore-well irrigation, use of modern farming techniques – such as paddy cultivation, creation of monocultures, use of fertilizers and other forms of capitalistic inputs along with the other risk that is the constant shrinking due to sale of agricultural lands.

References

1. Foucault, M. (1972). Archaeology of Knowledge. Pantheon Books: New York
2. Foucault, M. (1973) The Order of Things. An Archaeology of the Human Sciences. New York:Vintage Books.
3. Foucault, M. (1977) Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison. Harmondsworth: Penguin.
4. Foucault, M. (1979) The History of Sexuality. Vol. 1. Harmondsworth: Penguin.
5. Foucault, M. (1980) ‘Truth and power’, in C. Gordon (ed.) Power/Knowledge. Selected Interviewsand other Writings 1972–1977. Hemel Hempstead: Harvester Wheatsheaf.
6. Foucault, M. (1987) The Use of Pleasure. The History of Sexuality. Vol. 2. Harmondsworth: Penguin.
7. Foucault, M. (1988) Care of the Self. The History of Sexuality. Vol. 3. Harmondsworth: Penguin.
8. Foucault, M. (1979). The Birth of Biopolitics. Eds. Michel Senellart. Palgrave Macmillan: London
9. Foucault, M. (1994). Govermentality. (Eds) J. Faubion, Power: the Essential Works of Foucault . Eds. James D Faubion.pp. 200-222. London: Penguin Books.
10. Jodhka, S.S. (2007) Beyond “Crises”: Rethinking Contemporary Punjab Agriculture in Globalisation, governance reforms and development in India, Choudhary, K. (Eds.) New Delhi: Sage
11. Kincheloe, J. L., & McLaren, P. L. (1994). Rethinking critical theory and qualitative research. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research (pp. 138-157). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage
12. Patton,Q.P. (1987). How to Use Qualitative Methods in Evaluation. New Delhi: Sage
13. Shiva, V. (1978) The Violence of Green Revolution: Ecological Degradation and Political Conflict in Punjab, Penguin Macmillan: London
14. Shiva, V. (1988.) Geopolitics of Food: America’s Use of Food as a Weapon. Economic and Political Weekly, 23(18), pp. 881-882
15. Shiva, V. (1991),The Violence of Green Revolution: Third World Agriculture, Ecology and Politics. New Delhi: Zed Books
16. Shiva, V. (1992) Environmental Extremism. Economic and Political Weekly, 27 ( 47), p. 2564
17. Shiva , V. (1994). Conflicts of Global Ecology: Environmental Activism in a Period of Global Reach. Alternatives Global, Local, Political, 19( 2), pp. 195-207
18. Shiva, V. (1995), Biotechnical Development and the Conservation of Biodiversity (Eds)Vandana Shiva and Ingunn Moser,in Biopolitics: A Feminist and Ecological Reader on Biotechnology. Zed Book Ltd. : London
19. Shiva, V. (2006). Resisting Water Privatisation Building Water Democracy (paper at) . World Water Forum, (pp. 1-22). Mexico City.
20. Singh, S. (2004). Crisis and Diversification in Punjab Agriculture Role of State and Agribusiness. Economic and Political Weekly. pp5583-5589.
21. Spivak, GC (1988) ‘Can the Subaltern Speak?’ Marxism and the Interpretation of Culture. Ed. Cary Nelson and Lawrence Grossberg. Urbana: University of Illinois P, 271-313.

Introduction

Cell division is important for an organism’s growth. However, DNA must be replicated before the cell divides. DNA is the hereditary molecule that stores instructions to make proteins.1 Since DNA is the hereditary material, it must be copied from a cell to its daughter cell and this is done by the process of DNA replication. DNA replication is a process of copying DNA to produce two identical copies of the original DNA.2 It occurs in both eukaryotic cells and prokaryotes cells during S phase which is a phase of the cell cycle that occurs during interphase stage.

DNA structure

DNA is made of two strands coiled around each other to form spiral antiparallel structure known as the double helix. Each strand consists of four bases adenine (A), cytosine (C), guanine (G) and thymine (T). Adenine is linked with thymine and cytosines with guanines. The backbone of the strands is a repeated pattern of 5-carbon sugar with phosphate groups.3 (figure 1).Figure 2 results of Meselson-Stahl experiment.

Semi-conservation model was supported by Meselson-Stahl experiment. E-coli bacteria was grown in the presence of 15N isotopes then changed to 14N .DNA was collected from two generations of E-coil .The result for the first generation showed that one band of DNA have equal quantity of 14N and 15N .The result for the second generation showed two bands of DNA , one has equal quantity of 14N and 15N ,but the other has only 14N .The result for two generation showed that all original DNA have heavy nitrogen and any new resulting DNA have a light nitrogen .6 (figure 2).7

DNA replication process

[ige: ]

DNA replication is a complex process. There are proteins and enzymes that are involved in this process to ensure complete replication of DNA molecule without any mistake.8

1. The first step is separating the two strands of DNA and this is done by Helicase enzyme. The initiating point where the splitting happens is known as origins of replication. The structure that is created is called Replication Fork and it is a Y shaped structure. Single-strand binding proteins coat the strands to prevent them from reforming.8,9(figure 3).10
2. Next, primers- which are made by primase enzyme -marks the starting point for DNA synthesis. Another enzyme that binds to the primer is called DNA polymerase. It reads the sequence and adds nucleotides that are complementary to those in the template. However, DNA polymerase can only add DNA bases in one direction from 5′-3 ‘on to 3 ‘ end.8.9(see figure 3).10Figure 3 DNA replication process and the enzymes involved.
3. One of the new strands is made continuously and is called leading strand. In leading strand, DNA polymerase adds bases in 5′-3 ‘ continuously. On the other hand, the other new strand is called lagging strand. It cannot be read by DNA polymerase continuously because it runs in the opposite direction. In the lagging strand, there are more RNA primers added, so DNA polymerase can add bases from 5’-3 ‘ in small sections forming gabs called Okazaki Fragments.8,9(figure 3).10
4. Next, the exonuclease enzyme removes all RNA primers from both of the strands and another DNA polymerase fills the gaps that are left. Then, ligase enzyme seals the gabs between Okazaki fragment to form a continuous strand.8,9(figure 3).10
5. The next step is Termination. When DNA reaches the end and RNA primers are removed. It is impossible for DNA polymerase to fill the gabs without primers . As a result, the end of the parental strand is not replicated. These ends -of chromosomes of linearDNA which contains repeated sequences- are called telomeres, so in each DNA replication cycle, a part of the telomere is removed.8,9

Importance of DNA replication

The purpose of DNA replication is creating copies of DNA molecule. This process replaces damaged and dead cells and form the needed gametes for fertility .11DNA replication is an important process during cell division. It is responsible for creating another copy of DNA Which goes to one of the two daughter cells. Without replication, there will not be enough genetic information that help to make orders for making proteins that our body needs.12The rate of DNA replication is different from one cell to another. Some of cells are dividing continuously so they need to replicate their DNA continuously. Some cells are dividing in slower rate, and they don’t need to DNA replication. 12

Errors in DNA replication and DNA Repair

The aim of replication is producing identical copies of the original DNA, errors in the process make this impossible and lead to mutations. Some mutations are fatal to cells, but many are not and cause changes in genetic material. Errors in the DNA replication can be fixed by some mechanisms. One mechanism is done by DNA polymerases called proofreading. If there is a nucleotide linked to a wrong base, DNA polymerases get rid of it and replace.

DNA replication Model

The components of DNA replication model are scissors, tape, and pipe cleaners. First, to make the sides, we take two strands of one color and two strands of another color. Second, we take one of each color and twist them to get two long strands. Third, to make the inside, we take one strand of four different colors and cut each of them into five small strands to get 20 small strands. assign two colors to one strand and two other colors to the other strand. Then we tape the long strands together. Next, we turned our model and compressed it. we are going to repeat the steps again to make two more molecules that represent the two daughter DNA molecules. Next, we are going to cut the first DNA till we reach the middle, and we get Y shaped structure. Then we are going to assign the two daughter strands to the first DNA molecule. Finally, we are going to represent the enzymes that are involved in DNA replication by their symbols in the chart. (Figure 11).20

Conclusion

DNA replication is a process of making two identical copies from one DNA molecule. It has been approved that DNA replicated semi-conservatively. That means the two strands of the parental DNA separate and act as a template for making a new complementary strand. Cellular proofreading and error-checking procedures helps making a perfect replication. DNA replication can be done in vitro by the process of Polymerase chain reaction. It is a way to isolate pieces of DNA region and make copies of it through repeated cycles of heating and cooling to DNA synthesizing.

References

1. Genetics Home Reference. 2019. What is DNA? – Genetics Home Reference – NIH. [ONLINE] Available at: https://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/primer/basics/dna. [Accessed 17 February 2019].
2. Replication | Learn Science at Scitable. 2019. replication | Learn Science at Scitable. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.nature.com/scitable/definition/replication-33. [Accessed 16 February 2019].
3. Live Science. 2019. DNA: Definition, Structure & Discovery | What Is DNA?. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.livescience.com/37247-dna.html. [Accessed 16 February 2019].
4. Structure and Function of DNA | Microbiology. 2019. Structure and Function of DNA | Microbiology. [ONLINE] Available at: https://courses.lumenlearning.com/microbiology/chapter/structure-and-function-of-dna/. [Accessed 16 February 2019]
5. Khan Academy. 2019. Mode of DNA replication: Meselson-Stahl experiment (article) | Khan Academy. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.khanacademy.org/science/biology/dna-as-the-genetic-material/dna-replication/a/mode-of-dna-replication-meselson-stahl-experiment. [Accessed 16 February 2019].
6. Semi-Conservative DNA Replication | Learn Science at Scitable. 2019. Semi-Conservative DNA Replication | Learn Science at Scitable. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/semi-conservative-dna-replication-meselson-and-stahl-semi-conservative-dna-replication-meselson-and-stahl-421. [Accessed 17 February 2019].
7. Semi-Conservative | BioNinja. 2019. Semi-Conservative | BioNinja. [ONLINE] Available at: http://ib.bioninja.com.au/standard-level/topic-2-molecular-biology/27-dna-replication-transcri/semi-conservative.html. [Accessed 16 February 2019].
8. Khan Academy. 2019. Molecular mechanism of DNA replication (article) | Khan Academy. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.khanacademy.org/science/biology/dna-as-the-genetic-material/dna-replication/a/molecular-mechanism-of-dna-replication. [Accessed 16 February 2019].
9. Steps of DNA Replication. 2019. Steps of DNA Replication. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.dnareplication.info/stepsofdnareplication.php. [Accessed 16 February 2019].
10. Encyclopedia Britannica. 2019. Replication | genetics | Britannica.com. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.britannica.com/science/replication/media/498384/110068. [Accessed 16 February 2019].

Genetics in ecology helps us to understand the dynamic relationship that genetic diversity has with conservation, by applying phylogenetics, and using this to aid the evolutionary potential of the genetic structure (Allendorf et al. 2013). By monitoring the genetic structure of a species, a conservation priority can therefore be established. For example, a species considered as monotypic will have a higher priority as it is more at risk of extinction, along with species that have a small population, consequently resulting to inbreeding, reducing the diversity and therefore meaning the species is susceptible to extinction (Frankham et al. 2010).

Molecular markers have allowed researchers to optimise the information that can be found surrounding a species, for example quantifying the amount of genetic diversity and monitoring the immigration of species, with more recent application providing an insight in to how the genes are functioning and adaptations that may be helping or impeding the species chance of survival (Freeland et al. 2011). This has led to the increase study of evolutionary and ecological functional genomics (EEFG) to further understand how genes and polymorphisms can be evolutionarily beneficial (Feder and Mitchell-Olds 2003).

Genetic variation occurs by mutation and recombination during the process of sexual replication (meiosis) leading to diversity. When the population decreases and inbreeding arises, harmful mutations eventuate which leave the population at risk. Studies have found that inbreeding has negative consequences on every aspect of reproduction and survival, with species exhibiting higher juvenile mortality (Frankham 2005). By understanding the genetics behind the phenotypes, better judgements can be made to benefit each individual species and the conservation efforts that are to be put in place.

In order to measure genetic diversity, different traits are studied including proteins, nuclear DNA and mitochondrial DNA amongst other attributes. The advantage to DNA samples opposed to using proteins is that they can be obtained non-invasively in small quantities. There is a universal barcode for individual species thereby identifying them and discovering new genetically different species. By barcoding, an individual’s relationships between taxa can also be established, however, this process is challenged by hybridization and gene flow (Bromham 2016).

Hybridization is the result of two genetically distinct species reproducing to produce an offspring of mixed ancestry, which can result in speciation (Abbott et al. 2013).

The use of genetics also contributes to the determination of sexes, especially when it is impossible to distinguish sexes out in the field. Knowing the number of females and males in a population is vital to predict future generation stability, and the possible altercations that could arise from a gender imbalance. Molecular prey identification can also help us to understand the diets of smaller predatory organisms, for example insects such as the Asian paper wasp (Polistes chinensis antennalis) which was studied by molecular diagnostics. This technique yielded more accurate identification of the prey than previous approaches and resulted in 42 taxa being identified as prey of the Asian paper wasp. (Ward and Ramón-Laca 2013). Accordingly, by the use of genetics ecologists can gain a deeper understanding of trophic levels and relationships between different species.

Further in this essay the concept of animal mating systems, using molecular data, to further explore the genetic relationships amongst individuals, along with identifying where a particular sample has originated, will be explored. It has been in more recent years that the study of behavioural ecology has moved towards molecular research opposed to laboratory-based observations. Samples are collected non-invasively for example using hair or feathers (any biological substance can be used), and the genotypes therefore generated meaning that parents of an individual can be identified by using population allele frequency data.

There are 5 main classifications for different mating systems between organisms; monogamy, polygyny, polyandry, promiscuity and polygamy. Monogamy is one male and female restricting mating with only each other either for one breeding season or longer, with often both parents caring for the offspring (Davies et al. 2012).

Social monogamy is extremely rare in taxonomic groups, apart from birds, where 90% of species are monogamous as it is thought biparental care leads to a higher survival rate of young (Freeland 2011).

Monogamy can be beneficial in other species as well, for example the Western Australian Seahorse (Hippocampus sublengatus). In this study, microsatellite analysis of was performed to find the maternal and paternal genotype. It was discovered that the males mating with only one female within broods have a higher success rate of mating than the polygynous males, therefore it being beneficial to males to be monogamous as they have an increased number of broods, therefore yielding a higher number of offspring during their lifetime (Kvarnemo et al. 2000). The genetic profiling of the embryos has led to a further understanding of mating systems and the potential outcomes, which can be further explored and provide an increased understanding to the dynamics of mating systems.

Monogamy has been established in hammerhead sharks (Sphyrna tiburo), also using microsatellite DNA profiling, with an estimation of over 81% of sampled females genetically monogamous, however, this way of mating may have a negative impact on the sharks, as due to population decline from increased exploitation of fisheries targeting mainly the larger females, a high male-biased sex ratio has been created and consequently there will be a reduced population size as only one female and male will reproduce with each other (Chapman et al. 2004). The advancement of technology in this field is therefore advantageous to the hammerhead sharks, as without the knowledge of monogamous mating within the species, ecologists would be unaware of the increased threat to the sharks, and the ecological problems that they are facing, the study of genetics in this example has consequently contributed to the conservation of the species.

Polygamy is the most common animal mating system, as it is considered to be the most beneficial to both sexes as there is further access to resources from the opposite sex as well as the added contribution of receiving many pre-nuptial gifts. (Kvarnemo 2018).

Generally, polygyny (where one male breeds with multiple females) is favoured by males as this increases the chances of their genes being passed along to the next generation as the reproductive success will be higher with the more females that they mate with. It is predicted that the majority of mammalian species are polygynous as it is considered beneficial to females as a means of protection (Aloise King et al. 2011). Dominant males in group living species tend to have the highest reproductive success, a study of bonobos (Pan paniscus) by Gerloff et al., 1999 found through microsatellite analysis of faecal samples that the dominant bonobos and reproductive success have a positive correlation.

However polyandry, with females mating with more than one male, is favoured by some species, for example, the wattled jacana (Jacana jacana), females lay eggs for different males to fertilise, therefore increasing the genetic diversity of the different clutches and ensuring that there is a higher percentage of offspring surviving (Emlen, Wrege, Webster 1998). Females tend to take more consideration in to choosing a mate as in the majority of cases they invest more time and energy in to raising their offspring, therefore, the good genes hypothesis states that the mate which proves to have the highest fitness value and advantageous characteristics will be chosen (Freeland 2011).

This has led to lekking, where females and males aggregate in a particular area to choose a mate, particularly, the females choose a male who they believe has the most advantageous genes. For example, the black grouse (Tetrao terrix) males who were successful in fights were selected by the female and therefore overtime there will be an evolutionary change in the behaviour of the males to impress females. (Beebee and Rowe 2008). Along with behavioural changes, the appearance of males will also change leading to sexual dimorphism as certain characteristics are more valued than others, for example in peafowls (Pavo cristatus) the male peacock has a large plumage of feathers in vibrant colours to display during courtship.

Another hypothesis as to why females mate with multiple males is the genetic incompatibility theory, which states that the most compatible sperm to the females genotype will fertilise the eggs and therefore produce the most advantageous offspring (Zeh and Zeh 1997)

Every mating system in the ecosystem is different and due to molecular markers, these can be traced and identified to help with our insight into ecological problems, and how we can help to manage, conserve and maintain the natural environment along with the behaviours taking place within it. By having a deeper understanding of the genetics involved in the mating systems the costs and benefits of each classification can be identified and the evolutionary consequences of these actions.

References

1. Abbott, R., Albach, S., Arntzen, J., Baird, S., Boughman, J., Brelsford, A., Buerkle, C., Buggs, R., Butlin, R., Dieckmann, U., Eroukhmanoff, F., Grill, A., Cahan, S., Hermansen, J., Hewitt, G., Hudson, A., Jiggins, C., Jones, J., Keller, B., Marczewski, T., Mallet, J., Martinez-Rodriguez, P., Möst, M., Mullen, S., Nichols, R., Nolte, A., Parisod, C., Pfennig, K., Rice, A., Ritchie, M., Seifert, B., Smadja, C., Stelkens, R., Szymura, J., Väinölä, R., Wolf, J. and Zinner, D., 2013. Hybridization and Speciation. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, [online] 26(2), pp.229-246. Available at: [Accessed 22 March 2020].
2. Allenderorf, F., Luikart, G. and Aitken, S., 2013. Conservation And The Genetics Of Populations. 2nd ed. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, pp.5-9.
3. Aloise King, E., Banks, P. and Brooks, R., 2011. Sexual conflict in mammals: consequences for mating systems and life history. Mammal Review, [online] 43(1), pp.47-58. Available at: [Accessed 22 March 2020].
4. Beebee, T. and Rowe, G., 2008. An Introduction To Molecular Ecology. 2nd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp.107-113.
5. Bromham, L., 2016. An Introduction To Molecular Evolution And Phylogenetics. 2nd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp.284-286.
6. Chapman, D., Prodöhl, P., Gelsleichter, J., Manire, C. and Shivji, M., 2004. Predominance of genetic monogamy by females in a hammerhead shark, Sphyrna tiburo: implications for shark conservation. Molecular Ecology, [online] 13(7), pp.1965-1974. Available at: [Accessed 22 March 2020].
7. Davies, N., Krebs, J. and West, S., 2012. An Introduction To Behavioural Ecology. 4th ed. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, p.254.
8. Emlen, S., Wrege, P. and Webster, M., 1998. Cuckoldry as a cost of polyandry in the sex–role–reversed wattled jacana, Jacana jacana. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences, [online] 265(1413), pp.2359-2364. Available at: [Accessed 22 March 2020].
9. Feder, M. and Mitchell-Olds, T., 2003. Evolutionary and ecological functional genomics. Nature Reviews Genetics, [online] 4(8), pp.649-655. Available at: [Accessed 22 March 2020].
10. Frankham, R., 2005. Genetics and extinction. Biological Conservation, [online] 126(2), pp.131-140. Available at: .
11. Frankham, R., Ballou, J. and Briscoe, D., 2010. Introduction To Conservation Genetics. 2nd ed. New York: Cambridge University Press, pp.10-20.
12. Freeland, J., Kirk, H. and Peterson, S., 2011. Molecular Ecology. 2nd ed. Chichester: John Wiley and Sons, pp.1,271-286.
13. Gerloff, U., Hartung, B., Fruth, B., Hohmann, G. and Tautz, D., 1999. Intracommunity relationships, dispersal pattern and paternity success in a wild living community of Bonobos (Pan paniscus) determined from DNA analysis of faecal samples. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences, [online] 266(1424), pp.1189-1195. Available at: [Accessed 22 March 2020].
14. Kvarnemo, C., 2018. Why do some animals mate with one partner rather than many? A review of causes and consequences of monogamy. Biological Reviews, [online] 93(4), pp.1795-1812. Available at: [Accessed 22 March 2020].
15. Kvarnemo, C., Moore, G., Jones, A., Nelson, W. and Avise, J., 2000. Monogamous pair bonds and mate switching in the Western Australian seahorse Hippocampus subelongatus. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, [online] 13(6), pp.882-888. Available at: [Accessed 22 March 2020].
16. Ward, D. and Ramón-Laca, A., 2013. Molecular identification of the prey range of the invasive Asian paper wasp. Ecology and Evolution, [online] 3(13), pp.4408-4414. Available at: [Accessed 22 March 2020].
17. Zeh, J. and Zeh, D., 1997. The evolution of polyandry II: post–copulatory defenses against genetic incompatibility. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences, [online] 264(1378), pp.69-75. Available at: [Accessed 22 March 2020].

Introduction

Conservation of biological resources has become imperative due to the accelerated climate change that challenges the survival of many species of organisms essential to maintain the balance in various ecosystems. Exploration of genetic resources and its diversity is one of the best methods to gain insights to develop a suitable program for conservation and utilization of resources at the brink of extinction and subjected to endangerment. For plants, molecular marker technologies like Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLP), Simple Sequence Repeat (SSR), Inter Simple Sequence Repeat (ISSR) and other such methods can be used to characterize genotypes and acquire information on germplasm and useful traits that can be applied for designing conservation strategies (Odong et al., 2011; Zeinalabedini et al., 2012). Chrysanthemum morifolium, a member of Asteraceae family, is a flowering plant that finds multiple uses as an economically and medicinally important crop – it is the second most cut flower after rose (Kobeissi et al., 2019) and possesses anti-bacterial, anti-viral, anti-inflammatory, anti-mutagenic, anti-neoplastic activities (Deng et al., 2010; Teixeira da Silva, 2003, Liu et al., 2007) attributed to the presence of phenolic and flavonoid components. It is also used in the treatment of common cold, headache, dizziness, wind-heat, etc. Genetic improvement of this allohexaploid plant has been challenging due to its genetic complexity, high levels of heterozygosity, presence of inbreeding depression and self-incompatibility (Anderson, 2006). Also, there are very limited sources of genetic knowledge about the various genotypes that can be put to fruitful use (Feng et al., 2016; Kobeissi et al., 2019). Many genotypes have been developed by cultivation and breeding (Anderson, 2006). According to (Liu et al., 2012), selection of appropriate parents which are distinct genotypes is essential for improvement of suitable cultivars. Continuous asexual propagation by cuttings has led to loss in genetic diversity and has negatively influenced the stability of chemical constituents (Shao et al., 2010). In this article, an effort has been made to understand the use of different molecular markers to assess the genetic diversity of various genotypes in China and Iran.

Assessment using SSR markers (Feng et al., 2016)

In this study, Expressed Sequence Tag (EST) datasets (7300 from GenBank) were used to identify the SSR markers in 32 different genotypes of C.morifolium grown in China. SSR markers are advantageous for detection of genetic diversity as they exhibit genetic co-dominance, they are multi-allelic, spread across the genome and their ease of scorability (Powell et al., 1996). An in-silico method was performed to identify suitable SSR loci using MicroSAtellite (MISA) software. This resulted in the identification of hexa-, penta-, tetra-, tri-, and di nucleotide repeats with a tandem array of core repeats of not less than 4, 4, 5, 7 and 10 respectively. Primers were generated for the loci with proper flanking sequences and PCR amplification enabled the identification of 218 microsatellites from 207 ESTs, out of which 10 ESTs contained more than one loci (Table 1). The primer pairs that produced stable amplification and gave rise to clear separated bands with polymorphism were used for rest of the analysis. This comprised of 17 novel EST-SSR markers and 38 markers that were used in other studies. 98.9% (1306 out of 1319) of the bands amplified exhibited polymorphism. Polymorphic Information Content (PIC) was found to be 0.972 on an average. This suggested that high levels of genetic diversity exists among the genotypes used in the study and that this can be used for creating breeding strategies for the improvement of cultivars for various characteristics. Unweighted Pair Group Method Analysis (UPGMA) with arithmetic mean dendogram divided the genotypes into two groups with significant similarity index (0.584) and Principal Coordinate Analysis (PCoA) was also performed which confirmed the dendogram generated. The clustering was based on the origin and ecological distribution of the genotypes which indicated that adopting in situ conservation strategies would be the best choice for the conservation of germplasm of C.morifolium genotypes as their populations are on decline due to rapid urbanization and a few populations have become rare.

Assessment using morphology, ISSR and SRAP markers (Shao et al., 2010)

In this study, 29 populations of C.morifolium, and 1 each of C.indicum and C.nankingense were used to study 20 different morphological traits and identify ISSR and Sequence-Related Amplified Polymorphism (SRAP). Generally, morphological traits are used to quantify genetic variation and assess the performance of genotypes in their environment though studying these is a labor-intensive process and the data could be affected due to the environmental influences (Fu et al., 2008). Here, the data gathered was standardized and used to determine the Euclidean distance between the different genotypes. Nine traits exhibited high Co-efficient of Variation (CV) values which signified the existence of high levels of genetic diversity in the population being studied. 182 ISSR marker fragments were produced and 81.87% were polymorphic. UPGMA method was used to cluster them and it yielded 3 clusters. Genotypes in northern and southern regions were grouped separately and two outgroup species were grouped in a separate cluster. 243 SRAP marker fragments were amplified and 75.72% were polymorphic. Again, application of UPGMA resulted in three clusters though these were random and not based on regions. These results suggested that in situ conservation areas need to be established for conservation of core populations that possess high levels of genetic diversity.

Assessment using AFLP markers and phenotypic traits (Roein et al., 2014)

This study used 48 germplasms of C.morifolium to assess genetic diversity and population structure of these plants in Iran to design breeding programs to improve various characteristics of the plant. 15 phenotypic traits were studied and Phenotypic Co-efficient of Variation (PCV) and Genotypic Co-efficient of Variation (GCV) were determined. As PCV was greater than GCV, it indicated that phenotypic characters can determine reliable phenotypic and genotypic variances in the study population. These were used for construction of dendogram using Ward’s method which grouped them into four clusters based on different aspects of flower. Further, 2114 AFLP marker loci were identified of which 2099 were polymorphic. Based on this data, Neighbor-Joining method was used to generate a dendogram. This resulted in clustering of genotypes into 6 groups which was confirmed by PCoA. It also showed very low correlation between primer combinations which in turn signified that the markers represent the entire genome and that they can be used in future population studies. Population structure analysis classified the genotypes into 4 clusters that represented a mixed population which could be attributed to history of domestication, breeding, resource exchange and heterozygosity levels and self-incompatibility. (Anderson 2006, Zhang et al., 2010; Zhao et al., 2010). As the clustering obtained by phenotyping and molecular analysis were different, it shows that interspecific hybridization could be explored to come up with new varieties with remarkable characteristics (Cheng et al., 2011). Also, the high levels of polymorphism identified, suggest that this data can be utilized for germplasm conservation.

Assessment using SCoT and SSR markers (Kobeissi et al., 2019)

This study used 32 genotypes to study SSR and Start Codon Targeted (SCoT) polymorphism. Of the 30 SSR primers used, 25 were polymorphic. It resulted in the amplification of 64 alleles with an average PIC value of 0.37. Primers with more number of alleles had a greater PIC value which indicated high levels of genetic variation. 7 out of 8 SCoT primers were polymorphic and produced 63 bands of which 61 were polymorphic with an average PIC value of 0.34. SplitsTree software was used for clustering analysis of both the results which gave rise to 4 groups. From the PIC values obtained, it was inferred that the efficiency of either methods is almost equivalent. The cophenetic coefficient, which determines whether the dendogram preserves the pairwise distances between the original data points or not, is also equal (SSR – 0.71 and SCoT – 0.68). Thus, the data suggests that conservation of the genotypes can be performed in addition to identification of genes responsible for horticulturally important traits like flower color and shape, flowering time and disease and insect resistance.

Conclusion

It is evident from the above described studies that in-situ conservation of various genotypes of C.morifolium would be the best strategy to conserve the germplasm of this economically and medicinally important plant. The pursuit of finding ways to conserve the germplasm started with methods like Random Amplification of Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and AFLP which yielded results giving only a minimal understanding of the genetic diversity. The field has hence progressed to the use of relatively high-throughput methods like SCoT which gave knowledge about the specific conserved regions of DNA and detected polymorphism of higher levels (Collard and Mackill, 2008; Hajibarat et al., 2015). Conservation genetics goes hand-in-hand with better understanding of the environmental factors which influence the survival of the species, phenotypes that correlate with the changes in the biological state of the members of the species and finally but most importantly understanding and cataloging of all genotypes that are associated with these phenotypes and other traits that govern or control diversity. For this purpose, large scale genome-wide association studies (GWAS) to screen and map for critical genotypes would be essential. Such large-scale projects could be achieved by fostering international collaborations under frameworks or regional consortia to enhance the utilization of genetic resources as laid down by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). This would also benefit academia and industry by better communication between scientists and breeders worldwide.

References

1. Anderson NO. (2006) Flower breeding and genetics. Issues, challenges and opportunities for the 21st Century. Springer, Dordrecht
2. Cheng, X., Chen, S., Chen, F., Deng, Y., Fang, W., Tang, F., Liu, Z. and Shao, W. (2011) Creating novel chrysanthemum germplasm via interspecific hybridization and backcrossing. Euphytica, 177, 45–53.
3. Collard, B.C.Y. and Mackill, D.J. (2008) Start Codon Targeted (SCoT) Polymorphism: A Simple, Novel DNA Marker Technique for Generating Gene-Targeted Markers in Plants. Plant Mol Biol Rep, 27, 86.
4. Deng, Y., Chen, S., Lu, A., Chen, F., Tang, F., Guan, Z. and Teng, N. (2010) Production and characterisation of the intergeneric hybrids between Dendranthema morifolium and Artemisia vulgaris exhibiting enhanced resistance to chrysanthemum aphid (Macrosiphoniella sanbourni). Planta, 231, 693–703.
5. Feng, S., He, R., Lu, J., Jiang, M., Shen, X., Jiang, Y., Wang, Z. and Wang, H. (2016) Development of SSR Markers and Assessment of Genetic Diversity in Medicinal Chrysanthemum morifolium Cultivars. Front. Genet., 7. Available at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fgene.2016.00113/full [Accessed November 14, 2019].
6. Fu, X., Ning, G., Gao, L. and Bao, M. (2008) Genetic diversity of Dianthus accessions as assessed using two molecular marker systems (SRAPs and ISSRs) and morphological traits. Scientia Horticulturae, 117, 263–270.
7. Hajibarat, Zahra, Saidi, A., Hajibarat, Zohreh and Talebi, R. (2015) Characterization of genetic diversity in chickpea using SSR markers, Start Codon Targeted Polymorphism (SCoT) and Conserved DNA-Derived Polymorphism (CDDP). Physiol Mol Biol Plants, 21, 365–373.
8. Kobeissi, B., Saidi, A., Kobeissi, A. and Shafie, M. (2019) Applicability of SCoT and SSR Molecular Markers for Genetic Diversity Analysis in Chrysanthemum morifolium Genotypes. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., India, Sect. B Biol. Sci., 89, 1067–1077.
9. Liu, P.-L., Wan, Q., Guo, Y.-P., Yang, J. and Rao, G.-Y. (2012) Phylogeny of the Genus Chrysanthemum L.: Evidence from Single-Copy Nuclear Gene and Chloroplast DNA Sequences. PLOS ONE, 7, e48970.
10. Odong, T.L., Heerwaarden, J. van, Jansen, J., Hintum, T.J.L. van and Eeuwijk, F.A. van (2011) Determination of genetic structure of germplasm collections: are traditional hierarchical clustering methods appropriate for molecular marker data? Theor Appl Genet, 123, 195–205.
11. Powell, W., Machray, G.C. and Provan, J. (1996) Polymorphism revealed by simple sequence repeats. Trends in Plant Science, 1, 215–222.
12. Roein, Z., Hassanpour Asil, M., Sabouri, A. and Dadras, A.R. (2014) Genetic structure of Chrysanthemum genotypes from Iran assessed by AFLP markers and phenotypic traits. Plant Syst Evol, 300, 493–503.
13. Shao, Q.-S., Guo, Q.-S., Deng, Y.-M. and Guo, H.-P. (2010) A comparative analysis of genetic diversity in medicinal Chrysanthemum morifolium based on morphology, ISSR and SRAP markers. Biochemical Systematics and Ecology, 38, 1160–1169.
14. Teixeira da Silva, J.A. (2003) Chrysanthemum: advances in tissue culture, cryopreservation, postharvest technology, genetics and transgenic biotechnology. Biotechnology Advances, 21, 715–766.
15. Zeinalabedini, M., Sohrabi, S., Nikoumanesh, K., Imani, A. and Mardi, M. (2012) Phenotypic and molecular variability and genetic structure of Iranian almond cultivars. Plant Syst Evol, 298, 1917–1929.
16. Zhang, F., Chen, S., Chen, F., Fang, W. and Li, F. (2010) A preliminary genetic linkage map of chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum morifolium) cultivars using RAPD, ISSR and AFLP markers. Scientia Horticulturae, 125, 422–428.
17. Zhao, W.-G., Chung, J.-W., Cho, Y.-I., et al. (2010) Molecular genetic diversity and population structure in Lycium accessions using SSR markers. Comptes Rendus Biologies, 333, 793–800.

Climate change and anthropogenic measures are an increasing obstacle for global biodiversity. As global biodiversity continues to be threatened and ecological systems disturbed, measures for conserving biodiversity can become challenging (Sutherland et al., 2010).Similar to other ecological systems, marine environments face several anthropogenic challenges, such as overfishing, chemical contamination, pollution and habitat loss (Korpinen et al., 2016). Along with climate change, these factors all contribute to the ongoing decrease in genetic diversity of marine species (Pinsky et al., 2014). Ellegren et al. (2018) defined genetic diversity as the variation in DNA sequences amongst individuals of a known population. There are many components that contribute towards genetic diversity but it is broadly recognized that the life history of a species is what shapes genetic diversity (Ellegren et al., 2018).

Evolutionary processes and genetic diversity are the foundation for building resilience in species populations, community ecology and ecosystem functions. As a result, resilience depends on the ability of a population to withstand extreme changes in the environment (Sgro et al., 2010). There are two parts to genetic diversity, (1) neutral diversity and (2) adaptive diversity. Neutral diversity reflects an element of the genome that does not undergo natural selection and comprises of components such as mutation, migration and genetic drift. Adaptive diversity consists of an organism’s ability to adapt to a new environment (Sgro et al., 2010). Climatic fluctuations in small sized populations are at a higher risk of extinction than loss of genetic diversity. Therefore, an important factor of resilience is to maintain a species’ population at a large and effective size to preserve genetic diversity and ongoing evolution (Sgro et al., 2010).

An alternative measure by Oterga-Cisnero et al. (2018) focused on a trait- based approach to assess the sensitivity of 40 marine species in Southern Benguela ecosystem, to climate change. Changes in the water temperature and environmental conditions have been previously recorded and observed to have effects on the marine life present. Oterga-Cisnero et al. (2018) accounted for abundance, distribution and phenology as the total sensitivity score in relation to climate change. An overview of species most likely to be affected by climate change was estimated using various attributes such as fecundity, stock status, life cycles and additional stressors etc. Using a logic rule, the results were analyzed and compared to overall sensitivity (low, medium-low, medium-high and high) and data quality (low, medium and high). While most species scored a medium-low or medium-high sensitivity value only a few scored high sensitivity values. Nevertheless, it was found that the species that scored high sensitivity values all had a depleted stock status, emphasizing that they are vulnerable to disturbances and climatic changes (Oterga-Cisnero et al., 2018).

In this study we used eight (8) of the forty (40) species in the study done by Oterga-Cisnero et al. (2018) to compare their genetic diversity to their sensitivity scores. We aim to assess whether their genetic diversity values are congruent to their sensitivity scores. Genetic diversity will be measured using microsatellite loci, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) or mitochondrial (mt) DNA markers.

West coast rock lobster (Jasus lalandi)

The west-coast rock lobster, Jasus lalandii, has been under intense measures of exploitation by anthropogenic procedures which in result has drastically impacted its population numbers (Matthee et al. 2007). Genetic diversity for the west-coast rock lobster was determined using mitochondrial (mt) DNA. Results include J. lalandii had a nucleotide diversity value of 0.002 (s.d. ± 0.001). While most individuals shared a common haplotype diversity value of 59.6%, contrarily there was no significant variation among populations. The sensitivity score of J. lalandii, in relation to climate change was medium-high. Although juvenile and adult J. lalandii species are expected to adapt to ongoing climate change aspects, J. lalandii still faces difficulties due to its extensive larval phase thus making it vulnerable to variability in climate (Ortega-Cisneros et al., 2018). This is congruent with the findings of Matthee et al. (2007), in which Mathee states that strong differential selection pressures can be the cause of low haplotype and nucleotide diversity.

Black musselcracker (Cymatoceps nasutus)

Black musselcracker, Cymatoceps nasutus, is generally an inshore and offshore (80m) species and is increasing popular amongst kayakers. C. nasutus is both commercially recreationally sought after. Due to this, exploitation generally occurs which result in decreased population numbers. Genetic diversity was determined using mtDNA and nuclear (n) DNA. The mtDNA haplotype diversity was high (h= 0.878) and ranged from 0.795 – 0.903. Nucleotide diversity (π) was found to be constant and ranged from 0.005 – 0.008. Genetic diversities ranged from 0.123 – 0.220 and the total sample 0.180. The average number of alleles per locus ranged from 1.333 – 2.000. While the expected heterozygosity was 0.180 and the observed heterozygosity was 0.177. The sensitivity score for C. nasutus was medium high. Similar to that of J. lalandii, the exploitation and life history of C. nasutus is also what makes it vulnerable to changes in its environment and climate.

Abalone (Haliotis midae)

The abalone industry in South Africa makes up the largest sector in terms of revenue. The abundance and extensive distribution of the endemic abalone species, Haliotis midae, is rapidly leading to an increase in its market value (Rhode et al. 2012). Thus, making H. midae, a target for exploitation. Together with habitat loss, climate change and predation pressures, there has since been a decline in H. midae populations (Beste-van der merwe et al. 2011). It is therefore important to establish the genetic diversity of H. midae to ensure the sustainability and conservation of H. midae (Beste-van der merwe et al. 2011; Rhode et al. 2012). Genetic diversity was determined using microsatellites and SNPs. The microsatellite loci displayed high levels of genetic variation with the total number of alleles per locus ranging from 12-43. Observed and expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.35 – 0.848 and 0.53 – 0.939. For the SNPs values, observed and expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.121 – 0.870 and 0.232 – 0.489. According to Orterga-Cisneros et al. (2018), H. midae has a relatively high sensitivity score. With its constant exploitation H. midae has resulted in a depleted stock status, therefore making it increasingly vulnerable to ongoing climate change.

Brown Mussel (Perna perna)

Perna perna is a subtropical rocky shore species that is both ecologically and economically significant as it is a central source of food (Coelho et al., 2012). Genetic diversity for P. perna was determined using 10 microsatellite loci markers. An average of 11 alleles per locus ranged from 5-27. The expected and observed heterozygosity values varied from 0.31- 0.95 and 0.23 – 1.0. The results from Coelho et al. (2012) indicates that the microsatellite loci can be an effective measure to identify processes affecting species boundaries. The sensitivity score for P. perna was medium-high.

Kingklip (Genypterus capensis)

Genetic diversity for kingklip, Genypterus capensis, was determined using mtDNA and microsatellites. Historical haplotype diversity (h= 0.902) for kingklip (as well as nucleotide diversity (∏= 0.009) values were high due to fast growth from a population with a low effective population size (Henriques et al., 2017). This is similar to the Cape hake, Merluccius capensis, which occurs with this species. Contemporary genetic diversity scores of H= 0.777; allelic richness, AR = 18.601 are lower than historical figures and figures of other commercially exploited marine fishes. This is due to the removal of large female fish during commercial exploitation which results in a decreased effective population sizes (Hauser et al., 2003). Kingklip is listed as having a medium-low sensitivity score according to Ortega-Cisneros et al. This is in congruence with the genetic diversity scores found in Henriques et al. as high genetic diversity reduces the sensitivity of the species to climate change and other disturbances. Although this species has been exploited for a long time genetic diversity has not decreased drastically.

White Steenbras (Lithognathus lithognathus)

White or West Coast Steenbras, Lithognathus lithognathus, is an endemic species that has historically been commercially exploited in the Western Cape and still today. Genetic diversity was determined using mtDNA and microsatellites (Bennet et al., 2017). High haplotype and nucleotide diversities were found with overall values of h=0.985 and ∏= 0.011 at the population scale. This species has been listed as having a high sensitivity (see Table 1) with a medium data quality score. Genetic diversity values and the sensitivity scores are compatible as this species exhibits high genetic diversity similar to that of kingklip. However, this species is endemic and thus is more prone to negative population effects due to intensive harvesting within its restricted range. The sensitivity score reflect the rarity of this species.

Yellowtail (Seriola lalandi)

Genetic diversity was measured using mtDNA and microsatellites. Swart et al (2016) found high observed heterozygosity per population (H0= 0.722). Haplotype diversity was high while nucleotide diversity was low across populations as can be seen in Table 1. Yellowtail is listed as having a medium-low sensitivity. This is somewhat congruent with the genetic diversity scores as the individual populations have lower genetic diversity scores relative to other species with the same rating. Although genetic diversity is lower, the low sensitivity rating is largely due to the relative abundance of the species as it occurs in both hemispheres.

Deep water hake (Merluccius paradoxus)

Deep-water hake, Merluccius paradoxus, is a demersal fish species found in Namibian and South African waters and is an important commercial species. Genetic diversity values for this were obtained by Von der Heyden et al. using mtDNA and microsatellites. Genetic diversity is average for this species with h=0.51 ±0.016 and π = 0.0013 ± 0.001. This is congruent with a sensitivity rating of medium-low as the species is commercially exploited and has a low haplotype diversity relative to other species such as kingklip and white Steenbras. A relatively low haplotype diversity suggests that this species arose later than others and so contains less evolutionary history.

Shallow water hake (Merluccius capensis)

Von der Heyden et al. also determined genetic diversity of shallow-water hake, M. capensis, using mtDNA and microsatellites. Genetic diversity values of h=0.88 ± 0.02 and π = 0.006± 0.0036 were found. These values are consistent with a medium-low sensitivity rating as the species is commercially exploited. This species has greater genetic diversity than deep-water hake. The sensitivity score of medium-low is more suitable for this species than for deep-water hake.

Discussion

Genetic diversity measures are important to consider in conjunction with sensitivity analyses in order to investigate the true vulnerability of species and ensure that resources are used efficiently and effectively for conservation. For the 8 species listed above, we found that most of the genetic diversity measures were congruent with the sensitivity analysis scores. Species with high levels of genetic diversity were scored with high or medium-high sensitivity. However, the black musselcracker and West Coast rock lobster had low genetic diversity measures but were given medium-high sensitivity scores. In these cases, it can be seen that genetic analyses alone would have been insufficient to determine whether these species require protection. The sensitivity analyses revealed exceptionally high exploitation of these species resulting in high sensitivity to climate change as well as a decline in genetic diversity with ongoing exploitation. While sensitivity analyses are useful and are based on various traits such as abundance and phenology, genetic approaches are further elaborative. Genetics analyses are useful in accounting for the genetic structure of populations based on life history (Galarza et al., 2009). It is important to consider the unique sensitivities and evolutionary and genetic histories of each species for the development of good conservation planning particularly in marine conservation and the use of MPAs. Population genetics analyses are vital to the establishment of more effective MPAs as they can be used to estimate gene flow and connectivity between MPAs, identify areas of special interest for protection, and be used to analyse and improve existing MPAs (von der Heyden at al., 2009). This will improve the protection of commercially exploited species in order to replenish fish stocks for future sustainable use if used correctly in conjunction with sensitivity analyses.

Conclusion

Due to a multitude of anthropogenic effects and the onset of climate change it has become increasingly important to protect species, especially those that we rely on, from extinction at local and global scales. Intuitively, it would be beneficial to combine various tools used for conservation planning to improve conservation and identify deficient areas. We found that genetic diversity measures were helpful in elucidating sensitivity scores for the 8 species chosen. We also found that although both tools are powerful, their combined use can lead to improved conservation planning. The use of genetic analyses in conjunction with sensitivity analyses can be used to improve conservation of marine ecosystems and subsequently, individual species with high economic value.

A child by nature is a social being, in need to integrate into groups that help him to create successful relationships with peers who are close to him in age and have common tendencies, goals and interests. Because these groups has a significant impact on a child or adolescent behaviours including an internal and external discipline within the classroom, sometimes its impact can equal the same role as school and home and go beyond that. Peer groups occupied a big place in children lives, the reasons for that is because it teaches them to pick their own friends, interact with them and to feel the kind of equality between peers in the group. Despite the important role that the group of peers plays in the behaviour of children, it is the only place in which the child may find himself, fulfil his demands and satisfy his desires without being subjected to the pressure of authority that may occurs in his family and school. However, there are negative things that a child may face in a group without becoming aware of it, such as a child joining a group of peers without knowing its goals and motives, and sometimes a group of peers consists of frustrated children and have a reason to destroy the child who joins them, by committing offences that society does not accept, in particular due to the lack of supervision from school and the child’s family.

Before we discuss this in details, or come to the main point on the role that developmental psychology plays in this regard, we will talk first about the adolescent gang. Adolescent gang has been the focus of researchers who examined the predictors of adolescent gang membership, in which they found significant factors in the family, school, peers and also in individual domains. It was not clear if protective factors and risks are in any difference from predictive salience at various developmental period due to the lack of knowledge or information available in this regard. There is a limited research on the protective and risk factors for joining a gang differs by gender, gender differences in protective and risk factors which has been examined by studies, and may be informative. For examples in longitudinal studies by researchers, they measured all five environment domains (family, school, individual, neighbourhood and peer groups), (Howell & Egley, 2005).

The first test of the predictors of gang membership (Hill, Howell, Hawkins, & Battin Pearson, 1999), used data from a developmental project to explore childhood (age 10-11), and the risk of adolescent gang membership (age 13-18), this study examined all known 26 potential risk factors and 21 of them significantly predicted late joining of a gang, indicate that the predictor of joining a gang is the same as predictors of violence and the use of substance. A second study by (Thornberry, Krohn), et al. (2003). Longitudinal studies that use risk factors measured only once, point towards predicting that late gang membership doesn’t allow for the test of proximal precursors or anything with relation to development. Another test which was conducted by (Tanner-Smith, Wilson, and Lipsey)- (in press), showed that the strengths of risk factors vary from one developmental period to another, and the strongest risk factors for crime in adolescence and also the early adulthood period for those with violence or criminal behaviours. In Kroneman, Loeber, and Hipwell (2004) study, mixed results were shown, they discovered that neighbourhood disadvantage has an effect on deviation, which were high in boys rather than girls. And in a same direction, Fagan, Van Horn, Hawkins, and Arthur (2007) discovered that boys experienced more risk and few protective factors, as well as these factors were very highly associated with serious deviation in regards to boys. While, Penney, Lee, and Moretti (2010) discovered that the violent deviation’s risk factors for boys were equally the same as girls. The fact that high environment factors for gang membership vary by gender remains an experimental question. Peers could be more influential in regards to boys, but other factors like family, are more prominent predictors of gang membership for girls. So, we know that boys are more likely to be members of gangs than girls, according to the (National Youth Gang Centre, 2010).

In the last few decades, there was an increase of girls joining gangs (Howell, 2012; Peterson, 2012). However, the research of the protective and risk factors for boys and girls during adolescent development is scattered, Bell, 2009). (According to: Gilman, A. B., Hawkins, J. D. et al. (2014). The developmental dynamics of joining a gang in adolescence: patterns and predictors of gang membership, Journal of Research on Adolescence, vol. 24, no. 2, pp. 204–19), this study tests if these factors effects is different as well as the differences of ages and gender, conducting this study, they used: (The Seattle Social Development Project (SSDP) sample (n=808). By age 19, 173 participants had joined a gang). A survival analysis was used, and found that unique predictors of joining a gang includes the living of a member of the gang and those who were antisocial, the statistics of time and gender interactions were not significant. Many top theories plays important roles in children’s development, they did explain the human function and help to create different assumptions of children. An example of Freudian theory, who was behind the ‘’predictable stages’’, as well as the regulated child’s notion. He was into understanding the adult mind by following children experiences, so, he contributed to the unformed child’s notion. Another theory has contributed to the education system and was very influent, that is the famous ‘Piaget’s theory’ of cognitive development, it helped in accomplishing tasks. Piaget believed that children cognitive development was formed due to two elements: social experience and biological influences. In sociologists of childhood, his ideas represented unacceptable approaches in developmental psychology to the study of children (cf. James et al., 1998). In national identity of children development, Piaget theory found a lack of children understanding between the ages 7-8 &10-11 (Piaget and Weil, 1951), the lack of understanding at 7-8 was relevant to the child understanding of the relationship between cities and nations, while the other age group relates to the operational understanding of the concept of national group membership, so the understanding of nations and national identity develop together with the child’s cognitive ability. So, despite the spread of national identity, it is reasonable to say that national identities are often invisible to children and adults.

People do not think about national identity on a regular basis, even though things that are unnoticeably associated with national identity (Billig, 1995). In (1988), Aboud argues that there is a discontinuity at the age 6-7 (as Piaget claimed), but she suggested that in group favouritism reaches a peak. However, at the age 6-12 years, polarisation decreases, it was due to cognitive advances, such as multiple classifications usage and the onset of conservation (Aboud and Amato, 2001). Tajfel’s 1978 theory of social identity (Tajfel & Turner, 1986) was approached by others to explain the developmental of children’s national identity. This social identity theory considers different social groups membership (i.e.: ethnic background, gender and national groups), can be internalised as part of the self-concept, this can help in obtaining a sense of positive self-worth. However, in order for the in-group to look better than any out-groups, comparisons should be chosen. So, despite the fact that cognitive development theory can explain why there is an increase in national out-groups (during the middle childhood) and a reduction in favouritism in national in-group, it cannot explain why some children shows in-group favouritism at 6 years, or there is deferential development of children as a result of their ethnicity, use of language or location and why national groups are evaluated significantly in a negative way from other out-groups. In early childhood, individual and demographic risk factors are associated with gang membership, in grades 5, 6 or 7, measures were used as fixed time control in analysis. Children growing desires and demands to get close with others, in particular peers relationships increased during middle childhood. During this time children starts to seek independence, this means they are more motivated to explore the world and start to depend on themselves. In order to achieve this, they need to raise their knowledge level as well as their sense of security. In regard to the attachment security role, the attachment theory itself argues for the importance of attachment security in forming the relationships between children and peers, in addition to their competence to engage and negotiate in their relationships. In order for the evidence for support, there is a finding in the Minnesota Parent–Child Project that provides some evidence for the predictive competence with peers (Sroufe, 1983). So, despite the mix results, the view that secure attachment is linked to social competence in school years, is supported by evidence. Despite the attachment theory been focusing in early years, there was a growing interest in development, transformation, which has been happening during the past two decades, and also function of attachment in the later childhood and adolescence. When reviewing the finding of continuity of attachment from infancy to middle hood, there was a similar result, for example: Bohlin et al (2000) made assessment to attachment in infancy (using the SST) and in middle childhood (using the SAT), but he failed to get any consistency of note, Moss et al. (2004) has found a great continuity from preschool to school age. Having gone briefly through these top theories, we notice the following: Societal social cognitive-motivational theory: does not make predictions about changes of age related. Cognitive developmental theory: does not explain evidence that shows variable national identity.

Traditional social identity theory: does not explain why the national identity strength is not related to attitude of national out-groups. Social identity theory: does not explain evidence for the national identity variables. The links between adolescents’ identity development and their relationship with peers are not completely clear. The possible intermediate factors that could determine the relationship between adolescent identity development and their relationships with peers are discussed. Further empirical researches is needed in this aspect. The most important functions of the peer groups can be identified as follows: peer groups gives the child an opportunity on how to deal with similar and equal individuals, to find his style of equal relationships and interactions that is not provided by family or school and to be free from authority, peer groups provide its members with opportunities to develop their own experiences and expand their knowledge and interests, peer groups helps in developing recognition and observance of the other’s rights which become a common or clear rules that everyone need to respect, peer groups are distinguished in its socialisation process from other bodies because it help the child to be independent from his parents, so that their authority would be lesser, peer groups correct deviation or extremism in their members behaviours (they have no authority on non-members, but their own members must respect what they agreed on by the criteria, and this can maintain and control its members), peer groups help to gain appropriate social directions which cannot be gained by other means of upbringing (in the context of the participation of the child in the activity of the peer groups, he gains experiences and learn social places and roles such as group advisor, as well as a leadership and other roles, while he observe these roles or performs them). During adolescence, peer groups changes dramatically, adolescence like to have little time with adult supervision, and instead prefers to spend more time with peers. During this period their communication is shifted, at home, they like to talk to their parents about school and the careers ahead of them, while at school they like to talk to their peers about the relationships with other peers and also about private stuff. Generally children search for groups that can accept them as members, even if it meant that the group is not following a decent way, on the other hand, they are less likely to accept others who are different from them. In term of emotional development, children’s interaction with peers gives them opportunities to experience various emotions like joy and acceptance. Peers intimacy give children skills to cope with situations as well as giving them self-steam, which are very beneficial to their development. So, lots of experiences can be gained from wide range of emotions when joining a group, and that includes issues such as: sham, embarrassment and more. These emotions can be evolve when exposed to specific events.

There is also what is called ‘’peers pressure’’, which interferes in children’s development, such pressure can encourage teenagers to involve in various activities, such as sport or helping them to avoid dangerous behaviours, it can also lead to those involve to trying other things, such as: drugs, smokes or alcohol, as well as getting them in troubles with behaviours issues or school absence, so, it is really depending on the group that a child or a teenager involve with, the behaviours can be from moderate to extreme. So, from the above, it is clear that peer groups has got advantages and disadvantages in the development of children, these advantages includes: teach unity and collective behaviour, identity information, help as a practicing path to adulthood, help in teaching gender role and also help as a source of information. While the disadvantages includes: troubles and problems in the future, risk factors, aggression and antisocial behaviour and peer pressure. The family has an important role to play here by guiding the child to avoid the negatives and risks of the group of peers, and can do so as follows: establishing a relationship based on trust between the child and family (so the child does not hide any secrets such as harmful events from them during his participation in the group), the family need to visit school occasionally to talk to teachers about their child’s behaviour and also to get to know the behaviours of his peers, talk to the child and guide him by explaining the rights and wrongs (and talk to him realistically, honestly and objectively as that would be his internal discipline), teach the child that each culture has its own distinguishes and characters by introducing him to the most important rules of behaviour in society that make him accept the traditions and customs of other children, act in front of your child with a good manner and respect to be his role model, provide behaviour model in front of him by dealing with others politely and with respect (because children often copy their parent’s behaviours), give an opportunity to the child to assume social responsibility and to depend on himself, using a reward points (if you like) and also punishment when necessary to encourage or deter the child to improve his behaviour, build a trust between you and your child (so he always feels that he can come back to you for advice if there is a pressure on him). These guidance are very essential in order to help your child to cope with his peers, as it is obvious that the influence of the group of peers in the process of socialising the child is determined by the assemblage of social roles, behavioural standards’ clarity, and the presence of general direction and values, that children work to achieve and follow them in their behaviours. So, it is clear how important the role of peer group plays in the process of socialisation and in bringing up a child and in adolescence, develop the child’s sensitivity and values as well as working to form the directions of children, and it is also clear that developmental psychology’s role improve the understanding of those peer groups role that they have been playing in the child’s life (as we explained above). If the family, media…etc., plays an important part in raising a child, the peer group has its influence (in general) on social development, and (in particular) its impact on childhood’s socialisation.

In conclusion, developmental psychology is identified as the scientific study that explains the changes of human during their life (i.e. feeling, thinking and behaviours), it was originally focusing on infants and children developments, but later it involved adolescents and adults. It also involves a wide range of fields, including: child psychopathology, educational psychology, forensic developmental psychology, cognitive psychology, cultural psychology, ecological psychology and child development. Many psychologists contributed to developmental psychology and some were very influential, for examples: ‘The societal-social-cognitive-motivational theory’, provides a framework which integrates the influences which impact on children’s intergroup attitudes. Another example is the ‘Piaget constructive theory’, we learned that his proposes includes: cognitive development draw four qualitatively different stages, Piagetian theory which was challenged by researchers who stress the effect of cultural and social factors on the children’s thinking’s development, children develop their conceptual understandings through problem solving and active engagement. However, despite their important roles (which we have been explaining in this essay), traditional theories have overlooked the extent of the developmental variability that occurs, and have underestimated the extent to which environmental factors impact upon the development of national identifications and attitudes. Through the reading of various theories we learned that no clear evidence was shown in regards to the assumption that protective factors and environment risk of gang membership do vary by gender. Also, we learned that every environment domain showed to be equal in predicting the joining of gangs for boys and girls. However, in regards to proximal risk factors, also no evidence was found that interventions for boys and girls need to focus on various environment domains. This essay has gone through many of the theories and discussed how developmental psychology improve the understanding of the different peer group’s role on children development, and more importantly this discussion was in a critical way

In most developing countries there are two types of industries that issue, direct and manufacture poultry genotypes: one using high performance laying or broiler genotypes; and the other using lower performance indigenous breeds, having lower performance chicks with higher cost makes it unprofitable to commercial broilers under harsh conditions. The performance of the idigenous genotypes improves under constricted feeding conditions, however, not to the extent that it is economically viable. Today there is a lot of concern about what comes out of a chicken in the nutrient output. Worldwide, most of animal production, including poultry, are affected by regulations, policy, and public perceptions (Williams, 2013). With applying poultry genetics, nutrition, housing, and management, poultry health and disease can be less predictable. Consumers perceptions of the risk related to food consumption differ among countries, as does the availability of information.

Since the introduction of modern poultry breeding in the 19th century, a lot of new breeds have come up. Another major factor in support to production systems is the globalization of the market for livestock genetics. Improved access to the growth of the world trade for patent poultry genetics enable livestock companies to sell their product worldwide (Hoffman, 2005). The increase in the access makes for more opportunity to produce potential market products for genetics and creating new breeds of poultry.

Economic effects of patent poultry genetics have been a widely discussed topic since the 19th century when modern poultry breeding got introduced. The demand for animal protein will increase in the next two decades in places with rapid economic growth, urbanization, and household incomes that are higher (Williams, 2013). It is said that water is the most important nutrient in poultry nutrition but the quality of water is taken for granted and that means that with poor water quality, you will get poor productivity and also very large economic plumits.

There are many socio-economic aspects as well, including, but not limited to competition with use as food for humans such as poultry products, poor pricing relative to other crops like beef or pork, the cost per unit of energy or limiting amino acids relative to tradition and rewriting the genetic code for patent poultry, and cost of processing. With applying poultry genetic knowledge in commercial breeding programmes, poultry health and disease can be least predictable (Williams, 2013). A big portion of poultry welfare is affected by genetics. Most segments of animal production including poultry are affected by policy and public perception.

There are a few patents in poultry breeding that cover identification methods for single genes, it is not feasible to patent existing breeds or lines of poultry (Hoffman, 2005). When feeding conditions are confined, the performance of idigenous genotypes improve. Over the last 20 years, it has been said that there are concerns about a loss in genetic variability in commercial poultry strains following dramatic global reductions in the number of commercial poultry breeders and the populations under selection. There is also concern that this could put the industry in jeopardy in the event of a disease outbreak. The patent poultry industry could have a huge economic plummet as disease spreads around to every genetic code and infecting them to the point where it is unfixable. In the past genetic diversity was determined by phenotypes. Now DNA analysis has provided new technology to determine the relationship among breeds and ecotypes (Williams, 2013). Determining the relationship between these breeds and ecotypes can help boost the industry and make a better economic outcome for consumers looking to find patent poultry genetics.

The topic of the public perception of patent poultry genetics and the economic effect will be talked about for many years to come as the industry keeps growing and the demand grows. The economic effects and public perception of patent poultry genetics have been discussed for a long time, ever since modern poultry breeding was introduced. There are many economic aspects that go into patent poultry genetics, such as competition with use as food for humans, poor pricing relative to other crops, the cost of energy, and limiting amino acids relative to tradition. The perception by the public of patent poultry genetics is very bad, in the case of the industry being in jeopardy in the event of disease and the technology used to determine the relationship among breeds and ecotypes (Williams, 2013). Cryo-conservation of isolated embryonic cells, primordial germ cells or blastoderm cells may be an option in the future, but is currently too costly for genetic conservation programmes (Hoffmann, 2008). To conduct analysis for diseases in the poultry industry, a future challenge will be to organize the health infrastructure needed to conduct such analysis. It is said that new virus strains and disease problems will come forth in the future, such as Avian leukosis, Newcastle disease, and highly pathogenic avian influenza.

One aim of this investigation was to identify the population growth rate of the Killer Whale population and to determine if they are in danger of going extinct. The population models used in this investigation analysed the different stages of the life cycle of the Killer Whale population. These stages included; yearlings, juveniles, mature/reproducing females and non- reproducing populations. Using the Lefkovitch matrix transition and R studio the population dynamics of this population were graphically illustrated, and the population growth rates determined. An initial analysis into the population of Orcinus Orcas, Killer Whale in the coastal regions of British Columbia and Washington state shows that the population has a positive growth rate, and over the next 100 years the population is said to grow exponentially assuming that there is no illegal harvesting of the population. The analysis of the stochastic models considers other factors of density dependency such as the harsh environments which the population may be subjected to throughout the course of the 100 years. Although the population growth rate differs slightly from that of the deterministic model, there is not much difference between the two values, suggesting that although the models are not perfect, they give an accurate representation of the population dynamics of Killer Whales along the coast of British Columbia and Washington state.

The elasticities of the deterministic and stochastic population models indicated that the mature/reproductive stage is the most fundamental element of the Killer Whales life cycle and that any change to the proportion of females surviving this stage would result in an exponential decline in the population growth rate. As part of the analysis, a harvesting scenario of this stage in the lifecycle showed that a 6% change in the proportion of this population surviving would lead to a reduction in the population growth over the next 100 years and may eventually lead to the extinction of the animals. Including a harvesting scenario as part of this investigation as, it allows for the development of sustainable conservation strategies to protect the Killer Whale species to prevent these endangered animals going extinct in the future.

It is assumed that anthropogenic activities have resulted in the consequential threats to the conservation of many endangered animals, including; Killer Whales and Grizzly bears. To mitigate the effects of human activity on various animal populations protected areas have been utilised as appropriate conservation strategies. A paper by Williams assessed the benefit of introducing these protected areas for the Killer Whale populations. They named them marine protected areas (MPA). The results of their investigation found that the Killer Whales displayed a greater preference for the MPA compared to normal waters. For a space to be characterised as a marine protected area, it is fundamental that specific attributes are examined. These include; salinity, sea surface temperature and topography. Many other conservationists have advocated for the construction of specific Killer Whale sanctuaries, aimed at protecting the Killer Whale populations. They have suggested that these sanctuaries could be used to protect the Whales for their entire life, or they could be targeted to Whales who are at specific stages in their lifecycle, for example those at the reproductive stage. Based on the results of this investigation, it may be useful to design an MPA to protect the mature, reproducing female Whales, as this has been shown to have a major impact on the population growth rate.

There are numerous other strategies which have been aimed at the conservation of Killer Whales. Some of these strategies have included; minimise the noise and disturbances caused by large vessels around habitats where Killer whales have been observed feeding. There is also a conservation strategy which involves restricting mass fishing in certain areas which have been known to act as foraging zones for the Killer Whales. One study investigated genetically distinct Killer whales and how their population dynamics differ depending on their fish consumption. The study suggested that some forms of the Killer Whale are exclusively dependent on a single species of salmon as a food source. The paper investigated the effects of salmon fishing on the population dynamics of the Killer Whale population. They gave evidence to show that in areas where there is a high level of salmon fishing, there is a reduction in the population growth rate of the Killer Whales. This is an interesting concept which indicates that there could be a decline in the population growth rate as an indirect result of negative anthropogenic activity which could potentially be included in the population model of this investigation as part of the future prospects. Weiler identified that a decline in the salmon populations has been one of the main challenges faced by conservationists as it has resulted in a decline in the population of Killer Whales, particularly along the coast of Washington state. They claim that one of the causes for the reduction of the salmon population is due to the construction of dams which have been known to prevent the migration of fish, remove habitats and change the flow of the river. This results in a lack of salmon fish migrating downstream towards to the coastal regions where they would normally act as an abundant food source for the Killer Whales.

Conclusion

This investigation focused on assessing the population growth of Killer Whales in the coastal regions of Columbia and Washington state. It was found that the population growth of the animals is expected to increase in the next 100 years assuming that there are no major changes to their environmental conditions. This was confirmed through the construction of deterministic and density- dependent stochastic models. This study also wanted to determine which stage of the Killer Whales life cycle had the biggest impact on the population growth. Using Lefkovitch matrix transitions, sensitivity values and elasticity values, it was found that the mature, reproducing female stage had the biggest impact on the population growth of the population. Next, a harvesting scenario was introduced to determine what percentage of the mature, reproducing female stage could be harvested without having an impact on the population growth rate. From this, it was found that a 6% decrease in the proportion of mature, reproducing females surviving would lead to a decrease in the growth of the population in the next 100 years and would eventually lead to the extinction of the killer Whales in that region. This information is important as it allows for conservationists to develop strategies to protect this species and prevent them from going extinct in the future.

A large number of methods for modelling are in vogue and evaluating the relative performance of different methods remains a continuous challenge in ecology and conservation biology. In general, the various methods used in species distribution modelling can be classified in two categories, one set of methods require species presence and absence data for model construction and other set of methods rely on presence only data for making predictions. Presence-only data differ from presence–absence data in that they indicate locations where the target organism was observed to occur, but cannot be used to define locations where the organism does not occur. Predictions based on presence-absence or abundance data are more robust because it gives valuable information about surveyed locations and at the same time absence records convey valuable information regarding a habitat that is unsuitable or habitat that is suitable but is unoccupied, perhaps because of inaccessibility. This idea is commonly linked to the concept of modelling potential distributions.

However, absence data are also sometimes viewed as misleading because the species or environment is not at equilibrium (e.g., invasions, climate change) or the species not easily detected. Data from various sources like herbaria, museums have immensely contributed to presence-only models of species distribution for plant and animal species. Presence-only information is also much more available and requires much less collection effort than presence–absence information. Recent progress in biodiversity informatics and the development of extensive web services and databases of biodiversity data (GBIF, MaNIS, FishNet, HerpNet) have contributed significantly to the accessibility of such data to the public.

Modelling approaches

Climate envelopes

Climate envelope models are a type of species distribution models that predict suitable environments for a species based on climatic variables. These models define climate envelops for a species by comparing species known occurrences with climatic conditions prevailing at the occurrence site.Climate envelopes use only records of species presence, and thus may be useful when information about species absence is not available. The most commonly used climate envelope model is BIOCLIM. It was first used to model plant species distribution in Australia, using one-by-one degree latitude–longitude grid cells. In its simplest form it produces a binary prediction of presence and absence, but it can also produce a prediction of relative environmental suitability by using different proportions of the species occurrence data to define the climate envelope. In some studies, BIOCLIM has been reported to model the distributions of species reasonably well.

However, in comparisons of several techniques, BIOCLIM has emerged amongst the worst-performing. It has a tendency to over-predict observed distributions, particularly for more widespread species. Most examples of BIOCLIM’s poor performance have come from studies focusing on small areas. BIOCLIM may be useful for modelling the broad environmental limits to distributions over very large study areas. DOMAIN is a better performing technique as compared to BIOCLIM and has been shown to overcome some of the problems of over-prediction associated with BIOCLIM. In comparison of modelling techniques its performance has been generally intermediate, although relatively better than other techniques with very small number of presence records.

Logistic regression

Logistic regression modeling techiniques model species distributions as a binomial response against climate predictors.Among various logistic regression modeling techiniques‘General Linear Models’ (GLMs) have been used widely to predict the distribution of species because the model outputs are easy to interpret and also the software is available freely. GLMs have generally performed very well in comparisons of different modelling techniques, although relatively poorly with very small sample sizes. The second category of logistic regression modelling techiniques is ‘Generalized Additive Models’ (GAMs). GAMs have also performed very well in published studies, and often somewhat better than GLMs, although they are even more sensitive to small sample sizes. As with GLMs, the software is freely available and relatively easy to use, but the output is not easy to interpret.

Maximum Entropy Method (Maxent)

Phillips et al., (2006) introduced the use of the maximum entropy method (MaxEnt) for modelling species geographic distributions with presence-only data. MaxEnt is a general-purpose machine learning method with a simple and precise mathematical formulation, and it has a number of aspects that make it well-suited for species distribution modelling. In MaxEnt, one is given a set of samples from a distribution over some space, as well as a set of features on this space. The idea of MaxEnt is to estimate the target distribution by finding the distribution of maximum entropy. For species distribution modelling, the occurrence localities of the species serve as the sample points, the geographical region of interest is the space on which this distribution is defined, and the features are the environmental variables. Maximum-entropy is quite useful for modelling species geographic distributions, a critical problem in conservation biology and is currently one of the most popular methods used in species distribution modelling.

The models generated by MaxEnt have a natural probabilistic interpretation, giving a smooth gradation from most to least suitable conditions. It has also shown that the models can be easily interpreted by experts, a property of great practical importance. Other advantages of Maxent include:

1. it works on presence only data and does not require data on species absence.
2. the predictive power of maxent has been proven to outperform other modelling methods.
3. it can utilize both continuous and categorical data, and can incorporate interactions between different variables.
4. the Maxent probability distribution has a concise mathematical definition, and is therefore amenable to analysis.
5. over-fitting can be avoided by using regularization.
6. the output is continuous, allowing fine distinctions to be made between the modelled suitability of different areas.

Climate change impacts have resulted in ecological changes that cause physiological stress on species and can affect population dynamics. Sources of stress include biotic factors such as predation and competition, as well as abiotic factors such as extremes in temperature and increased frequency of fires and drought. For example, global temperature levels have and are expected to rise, with eighteen of the 19 warmest years occurring since 2001. Temperature increase and lack of available water may lead to impacts on both abiotic and physical components of organisms and likely reduced, survival, reproduction and the health of a species. Food sources are also likely to be impacted by changing temperatures for example, in Australia Eucalyptus trees may be affected by rising atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) levels, which can change the chemical composition within their leaves. It is, therefore, important to monitor and conserve species that are experiencing these changes.

Koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus) is a wide-ranging endemic folivorous marsupial to Australia, whose habitat is specific to a number of Eucalyptus species, which provides a majority of their diet and water uptake. There specific feeding behaviour, with only 35 of 600 species of Eucalyptus being preferred by Koalas, means that koalas are highly susceptible to climate changes. Koala populations are distributed across 30 bioregions within Queensland (QLD), Victoria, South Australia, New South Wales (NSW) and the Australia Capital Territory (ACT) . However, currently, Koala populations are a threatened species at a Commonwealth specifically in NSW, QLD and the ACT. Koalas are highly susceptible to ecological changes such as habitat loss and fragmentation which is made evident in a recent population decline of 51% in south-eastern QLD. Koala population declines are attributed to a number of causes including diseases such as Chlamydia, habitat fragmentation and loss and mortality due to predation and fires. However, the species are particularly vulnerable to changes in temperature which result in impacts on Eucalyptus species, therefore impacting their diet and water availability, as well as suffering from heat waves which cause the spread of diseases, heat stress and reduced breeding rates.

The conservation efforts of Koalas within Australia are essential as Koalas are an endemic species and are a vital part of Australia ecosystems and biodiversity. Communities are already calling for action and providing assistance to help conserve this species. With dire impacts on their habitats, diet and water availability, Koalas could potentially become extinct by 2050. Therefore, it is imperative that Koala populations converse and population mortality rates are declined. To aid in the conservation of NSW Koala populations, we propose a study to assess the benefits and impacts of providing water supplementation bowls to Koalas and monitoring whether they have an effect on Koala stress levels. Our study site includes Wonderful Plains, located south of Sydney, which contains a population of 100 Koalas.