Abstract
Wildlife DNA forensics is an applied field that has emerged from a synthesis of conser- vation genetic research and forensic genetic practice to meet the increasing need for investigative tools in wildlife law enforcement. This review describes the principal technologies and applications available to wildlife forensic geneticists, focussing on the four most common casework questions: What species is it? Where did it come from? Who did it come from? Was it captive bred? The conver- sion of established research tools into forensic identification systems is discussed, explaining the need for method validation at each stage of the analytical process, from sample collection to data analysis. The requirement for wildlife DNA forensic analysis to be performed under equivalent qual- ity assurance standards to those of human forensic genetics is highlighted and approaches for the interpretation and presentation of DNA evidence are described. A perspective is provided on the potential for new genetic techniques and their future role in the increasingly complex fight to enforce the protection of endangered species. The review concludes with a number of recommendations for promoting a unified, rigorous approach to the development and application of wildlife DNA forensic techniques.
Highlights
The field of conservation genetics has developed over the past 20 yr to support the application of molecular genetic analysis to problems and questions encountered in species conservation
The breadth of possible applications requires conservation geneticists to draw on a wide range of established biological subjects including population genetics, molecular ecology, molecular phylogenetics, phylogeography and taxonomy
One area of conservation genetics that has long been recognized but is receiving increasing attention is the development of analytical techniques capable of providing DNA evidence to assist in conservation law enforcement, commonly termed ‘wildlife DNA forensics’
Summary
The field of conservation genetics has developed over the past 20 yr to support the application of molecular genetic analysis to problems and questions encountered in species conservation. The breadth of possible applications requires conservation geneticists to draw on a wide range of established biological subjects including population genetics, molecular ecology, molecular phylogenetics, phylogeography and taxonomy. Their principal objective is to synthesize this knowledge and develop best practice solutions to specific challenges faced in conservation (Frankham et al 2002). Wildlife DNA forensics is essentially concerned with the identification of evidence items in order to determine the species, population, relationship or indi-
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