Pedigrees are a bridge between researchers, practitioners, and
Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities
Pedigrees are a useful tool for understanding genetics and informing
management efforts for threatened species. Beyond these uses, we contend
that pedigrees help bridge the gap between conservation research and
practice (i.e., the ‘research-implementation gap’ or the ‘conservation
genomics gap’; Knight et al., 2008; Shafer et al., 2015). Funding for
documenting and maintaining pedigree data requires close collaboration
between natural resource agencies that often invest in long-term
monitoring and research institutions that often invest in short-term
projects that might complement the long-term monitoring investments.
Collating and refining pedigree data is a time consuming task that often
requires great communication between practitioners who collect long term
demographic data sets and researchers who help validate pedigrees and
perform downstream analyses. Indeed, the act of building a pedigree
requires mutual knowledge of species life history, genealogy, and the
genetic data used for validation. This co-development of pedigree
resources builds trust, which can translate into improved application of
genetic and genomic research into the conservation management of
threatened species (Box 1).
In illustrating connections that link the present to the past, pedigrees
are well-aligned with both Indigenous and non-Indigenous worldviews
(Hudson, Ahuriri-Driscoll, Lea & Lea, 2007; Collier-Robinson et al.,
2019; Hudson et al., 2020). Given this alignment, pedigrees can provide
a centerpoint for discussions with Indigenous decision makers regarding
conservation genetics research of culturally significant species (Box
2). Further, in our experience working with Indigenous Peoples and Local
Communities (IPLC) to enhance the recovery of threatened taonga
(treasured) species in Aotearoa New Zealand, discussing familial ties
between individuals provides opportunities for all parties to share
diverse knowledge regarding these individuals as well as the
environments around them. Given this, we encourage researchers to
consider the use of pedigrees to help build mutually beneficial
relationships with IPLC.
We have also found that pedigrees provide a helpful visual to
communicate fundamental conservation genetics concepts like relatedness,
inbreeding, and heritability without the jargon to non-scientific
audiences, in large part because pedigrees are relatable. Indeed, our
collective co-authorship has had experience using pedigrees–generally
presented as family trees–as highly effective tools for engaging with
school groups, university classrooms, retirees, policy makers, and
politicians regarding conservation genetic management of threatened
species. Effective science communication enhances conservation outcomes
(see Holderegger et al., 2019), and we are confident that pedigrees will
remain an important tool for science communicators for years to come.