Abstract
Although oceans provide critical ecosystem services and support the most abundant populations on earth, the extent of damage impacting oceans and the diversity of strategies to protect them is disconcertingly, and disproportionately, understudied. While conventional modes of conservation have made strides in mitigating impacts of human activities on ocean ecosystems, those strategies alone cannot completely stem the tide of mounting threats. Biotechnology and genomic research should be harnessed and developed within conservation frameworks to foster the persistence of viable ocean ecosystems. This document distills the results of a targeted survey, the Ocean Genomics Horizon Scan, which assessed opportunities to bring novel genetic rescue tools to marine conservation. From this Horizon Scan, we have identified how novel approaches from synthetic biology and genomics can alleviate major marine threats. While ethical frameworks for biotechnological interventions are necessary for effective and responsible practice, here we primarily assessed technological and social factors directly affecting technical development and deployment of biotechnology interventions for marine conservation. Genetic insight can greatly enhance established conservation methods, but the severity of many threats may demand genomic intervention. While intervention is controversial, for many marine areas the cost of inaction is too high to allow controversy to be a barrier to conserving viable ecosystems. Here, we offer a set of recommendations for engagement and program development to deploy genetic rescue safely and responsibly.
Highlights
Wildlife biodiversity and abundance are experiencing unprecedented declines, with every marine ecosystem subject to multiple anthropogenic threats [1]
Human-caused biodiversity loss is significantly outpacing rates of evolution and adaptation in natural populations [2,3]. Under such rampant biodiversity loss, genetic variation that took millions of years to evolve is disappearing, and with it, the potential for remaining populations to adapt to rapidly changing environments [4]
The ocean is the critical source of globally vital ecosystem services and home to the most bio-abundant populations of life on earth: From the most abundant bacteria, Pelagibacter, estimated at 1028 cells, and the most abundant phototroph, Prochlorococcus, numbering 1027 cells [9], to the most numerous animal species, such as the bristletooth fish, numbering 1018 individuals [10], Antarctic krill, numbering 1014 individuals [11], and copepods, which are innumerable [12]
Summary
Wildlife biodiversity and abundance are experiencing unprecedented declines, with every marine ecosystem subject to multiple anthropogenic threats [1]. The long-term implications of diminishing ocean health on global biodiversity and human wellbeing likely far exceed (and exacerbate) parallel effects in other ecosystems. Advances in biotechnology and genomic research should be harnessed and developed within a wide variety of conservation frameworks to foster viable ocean ecosystems far into the future. Regardless of near-term, long-term, or far-future readiness, a focused initiative to develop these innovations into a holistic Genetic Rescue Toolkit has the potential to help save highly biodiverse marine ecosystems, such as coral reefs. We present our findings on the immediate steps that can be taken to build and apply a dynamic and effective conservation genomics toolkit for marine ecosystems, and in closing, discuss the social, ethical, and economic implications of threats to ocean biodiversity
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