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Croatia is one of a few countries in Europe where all three species of large Carnivores - bear (Ursus arctos), wolf (Canis lupus) and lynx (Lynx lynx) still live together in healthy populations. However, increasing levels of habitat and population fragmenta-tion pose a considerable threat to the genetic and demographic viability of these populations (e.g. Randi et al. 2000, Funk et al. submitted). The demand for better understanding the population dynamics of those species is also increasing in line with growing awareness of the need for sustainable management of large Carnivores, as well as other species and environment they live in. Molecular ecological tools now occupy a central role in researching population structure and dynamics as well as in evaluating conservation status and management strategies. These tools allow us to address the following topics: genetic variation, effective population size, population structure, relatedness and dispersal, measurement of the gene-flow and evolutionary history, as well as inter- and intra-population relationships. The recent advent of techniques for screening genetic variation will allow us to collect materials using less-invasive approaches (faecal and hair material, museum specimens). Some materials have already been collected, because this project would be extension of ongoing project “ Study of large Carnivores of Croatia” (project leader: Prof. Dr. Djuro Huber, project funded by the Croatian Ministry of Science and Technology). First data on the population genetic status of Croatian wolf populations in relation to other European wolf populations have been collected (Randi et al. 2000, Funk et al. submitted). We plan to continue with sample collection to reach appropriate number for conservation genetics research. The visit of Dr Stephan Funk to Croatia will include field work (collection of faecal samples for genetic analysis) as well as consultation. The visit of a Croatian scientist to Great Britain would include laboratory work (mitochondrial DNA sequencing, screening with microsatellite markers), because we aren’t equipped for those kind of research in our labs in Croatia so far. These molecular marker methods are applied to tackle conservation problems generally and with this project we would initiate molecular ecology / conservation genetics research on large Carnivores in Croatia, which would contribute to better understanding of their biology and that would in turn contribute to their sustainable management and conservation.
Short description of the task performed by Croatian partner
Ovo web sjedište koristi tehnologiju "kolačića" (eng. cookie) da bi se korisnicima prikazao dinamičan i personaliziran sadržaj, te su oni nužni za ispravan rad. Ako nastavite pregledavati ove stranice, kolačići će biti korišteni u suradnji s vašim preglednikom Weba.
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