Conservation Strategies for Local Breed Biodiversity

Abstract

Breeds of domesticated animals are often overlooked as contributing to biodiversity. Their unique role at the junction of natural and human-influenced environments makes them important potential contributors to biodiversity and ecosystem function. Effective conservation of livestock breeds rests upon valid recognition of breeds as repeatable genomic packages with a reasonably high level of predictability for performance. Local or landrace breeds that lack breeder organization are especially difficult to conserve due to lack of formal recognition as breeds. Achieving success with them involves three major steps: Discover, Secure, and Sustain. Early in the process an evaluation of candidate populations for status as genetic resources is essential. This process is aided by a phenotypic matrix which can be used alongside historical investigations and genetic (DNA) studies. The goal is to include all qualifying animals and to exclude all those that do not qualify. Securing some populations depends on careful rescue protocols for maximizing the recovery of genetic variation, and this can then be followed by breeding protocols that provide for maintaining the population’s production potential along with a healthy and viable genetic structure for long-term survival and use. Sustaining breeds for the long term is also enabled by assuring market demand for the breed and its products.

Keep Garfagnina alive. An integrated study on patterns of homozygosity, genomic inbreeding, admixture and breed traceability of the Italian Garfagnina goat breed

“…FAO further outlines the cultural component of a breed. In addition, local livestock populations, generally consisting of small populations and restricted to specific geographical regions, often face difficulties to obtain formal recognition of a breed, since local farmers may not be organized in a breeding association [ 34 ]. This difficulty poses further restrictions in policies and funding and, in turn, increases the risk of extinction.…”

“…This difficulty poses further restrictions in policies and funding and, in turn, increases the risk of extinction. Three main pillars have been recently reported for such livestock populations [ 34 ]: “ Discover , secure and sustain ”. For this purpose, it is essential to conduct studies on quantification of genetic resources of the population in concert with phenotypic and genetic analysis.…”

Relationships between the distribution of wildlife and livestock diversity

“…These local livestock breeds evolved long before industrialization, are unique autochthonous of certain regions and have been regarded to as eco-cultural entities (see e.g. Sponenberg, Martin, Couch, & Beranger, 2019), the product of adaptation to local environmental and human conditions (Colino-Rabanal, Rodríguez-Díaz, Blanco-Villegas, Peris, & Lizana, 2018). Despite the long history of interactions and potential influences of livestock on wildlife across this region, little is known about how and if, both wildlife diversity and livestock diversity are related.…”

The Patagonian Sheepdog: Historical Perspective on a Herding Dog in Chile

“…Because of their geographic isolation, adaptation to harsh climatic conditions, and cultural importance, the genetic diversity and functional attributes of Patagonian sheepdogs need to be maintained. Such conservation efforts require further data on biological, genetic, and historical-cultural variables [8].…”