Lisa Chellman (12/5): "Back from the brink” by Nicolas Dussex

New Zealands’s most well-known conservation story is about the two Chatham Island black robins that were able to save their species population. The population suffered a major decline when rats invaded the area and by 1976, there were only 7 birds left. Researchers moved the remaining birds to an island with no predators and the only breeding pair were later labeled as “Adam and Eve” for the robin population. However, scientists worried that this would cause an increase in robins with genetic defects, but data displayed that this was not the case. Studies also revealed that even though inbreeding among the robin population increased substantially, there was not an increase in the number of harmful mutations. What if the robin’s recovery stops, slows down, or reverses as more harmful mutations gather in the population? Scientists continue to study this remarkable conservation story and how the robins react to different threats. 

https://theconversation.com/back-from-the-brink-how-genome-research-is-helping-the-recovery-of-the-chatham-island-black-robin-194319

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