Restricted Research - Award List, Note/Discussion Page
Fiscal Year: 2023
2025 The University of Texas at El Paso (143913)
Principal Investigator: Lavretsky,Philip
Total Amount of Contract, Award, or Gift (Annual before 2011): $ 8,950
Exceeds $250,000 (Is it flagged?): No
Start and End Dates: 2/1/23 - 3/31/24
Restricted Research: YES
Academic Discipline: Biological Sciences
Department, Center, School, or Institute: Biological Sciences
Title of Contract, Award, or Gift: Reconstructing the genomic history and conservation threat from a century of game-farm Mallard releases in North America
Name of Granting or Contracting Agency/Entity:
DUCKS UNLIMITED CANADA
Program Title: #N/A
Note:
Understanding the effects management strategies (i.e., supplemental stocking) have on wild populations is vital to the future of waterfowl conservation. Equipped with thousands of mallard samples that span North America and time (i.e., 1800-2020), I will be using the latest genomic and 3D-imaging technologies to determine the adaptive consequences that a century of game-farm mallard stocking efforts have had on wild mallard populations. I will first establish genomic regions that carry variation that arose through the artificial selective process that resulted in the game-farm mallard breed. I will then assess this genetic variation across hundreds of samples representing different hybrid ages to establish at which generation such domestically-derived variation is lost, and thus a lineage is effective wild. Next, I will explore morphological change across space and time using micro-CT scanning technology. Coupling genomic and morphological data, I will be able to directly link traits with their associated genetic variation. Together, my research will attempt to shed light into mechanistic consequences on overall bill shape and feeding efficiency that these releases have had on wild mallard populations. Such information will not only help engage the hunting community and general public on the perils of such practices, but will be critical data for state and federal agencies attempting to establish management practices to reverse these impacts to ensure that mallards remain wild and adaptive in the future.
Discussion: No discussion notes