Anna Brüniche-Olsen

Escaping bottlenecks: The demographic path to genetic recovery in koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus) Population bottlenecks can lead to evolutionary dead ends by eroding genetic diversity and intensifying inbreeding. Although theory predicts possible escape routes, direct observations of this process...

Escaping bottlenecks: The demographic path to genetic recovery in koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus) 🐨 🧬 #consgen #popgen

I much enjoy your Avian Hybrids blog. You do an excellent job of communicating science 😊

Life-history traits and habitat availability shape genomic diversity in birds: implications for conservation Abstract. More than 25% of species assessed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) are threatened with extinction. Understanding how

Link to the original @royalsocietypublishing.org article:

Great write up of our study showing that both extrinsic factors (e.g. habitat availability) and intrinsic traits (e.g. body mass and diet) play important roles in shaping patterns of genomic diversity in birds 🦜 🧬 🌏
#consgen #popgen

The effective population size – and why it matters Since the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework was adopted in 2022, “maintaining and restoring genetic diversity” in wild species is on the global agenda. The headline indicat…

Effective population size is a key ingredient in indicators used to monitor genetic #biodiversity – and a fundamental concept in population genetics.

But what is it, really? 🧬 We try to explain in our new blog post ⬇️
#ConsGen #Genetics #PopGen #Monitoring #KMGBF
ginamo.org/2026/03/02/t...

Misusing research to trap songbirds in Spain

How bird hunting is still ongoing through scientific branding. 🪶🦤
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

‪
@eveliendegreef.bsky.social's latest is out in the @asn-amnat.bsky.social feature exploring the challenges of genetic forecasting😀

"Identifying Areas of Potential Risk Based on Future Genetic Adaptability in Three Arctic Whale Species"
doi.org/10.1086/738889 🧪🌎🧬🌐 #consgen #popgen #evobio

🧬 Museums + zoos = a rapid ID pipeline.
Using a local network in Ecuador, we genetically identified trafficked olingos (Bassaricyon), revealed a likely new country record, and shared a recipe for accessing high-quality samples from the wild. url: academic.oup.com/biolinnean/a...

The Importance of Effective Population Size in Conservation and Biodiversity Monitoring Effective population size (Ne) is a key concept in biology and conservation. Stripped to its bare essentials, it reflects how much genetic drift a population experiences, expressed as a number of ind...

We have compiled a special issue for @evolappjournal.bsky.social on Effective population size in Conservation and Biodiversity Monitoring, dedicated to the late Michael W. Bruford.
This SI is a must read for everyone who struggles with what "effective population size" means.
#consgen

New paper out in Biological Invasions! We show that “genetic rescue” can unintentionally boost invasive fallow deer in Australia. Genomic data & simulations reveal how escaped genotypes from farms may increase pop growth & spread → key implications for management. link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Borgerforslag mod industriel svineproduktion i strid med Dyrevelfærdsloven Folketinget pålægges at ændre dyrevelfærdsloven og tilhørende bekendtgørelser således, at der indføres følgende forbud og krav til svineproduktionen f

Så er der et nyt borgerforslag som I alle sammen gerne må gå ind og skrive under på, så vi ikke fortsat skal være en skinkenation der behandler vores mange millioner svin dårligere end hvad loven ellers siger man skal. Tak!

www.borgerforslag.dk/se-og-stoet-...

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A big thanks to all co-authors Mischa Fraser, Rasmus Heller, @lauradbertola.bsky.social, Christina Hvilsom, Renzo Balboa and Xiaodong Liu. The paper is out now in Conservation Genetics.

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🦒 Take-home: Zoo giraffes often have mixed ancestry and uneven genetic diversity, meaning studbooks alone can miss key information. Integrating genomic data with pedigree records is essential to manage inbreeding, maintain diversity, and maximize the conservation value of ex situ populations.

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🧬 Genetic diversity varies widely among zoo giraffes. Some individuals show long runs of homozygosity, indicating recent inbreeding, while others retain high diversity, reflecting very different management histories.

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🦒Genome-wide data reveal that many zoo giraffes have admixed ancestry, often combining multiple wild lineages. These complex genetic backgrounds are largely invisible in studbooks, yet crucial for informed breeding and conservation decisions.

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🧬 We use whole-genome data to investigate patterns of admixture, genetic diversity, and inbreeding in zoo giraffes, informed by reference data from wild populations—and show why genomics matters for better ex situ conservation decisions.
#consgen #pogpen #zoo #giraffe #genomics

🎉🎉 New publication out! 🎉🎉
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🦒 The giraffe known as Marius made global headlines when he was euthanized by Copenhagen Zoo in 2014 after being deemed surplus. His story highlights how challenging it is to manage zoo populations for conservation with limited resources 🧬
doi.org/10.1007/s105...

Inbred source populations result in genetic rescue of imperiled trout populations Genetic rescue—assisted translocation to reduce inbreeding and increase population viability—is a promising conservation strategy for mitigating the e…

Work by Bell, Kovach, Whiteley and colleagues demonstrates that even inbred trout source populations can be used for genetic rescue. Great news for folks considering translocation efforts, but are faced with the challenge of identifying suitable (genetically diverse) donor populations #ConsGen

Not Just Ne Ne-More: New Applications for SMC from Ecology to Phylogenies Abstract. Genomes contain the mutational footprint of an organism’s evolutionary history, shaped by diverse forces including ecological factors, selective

In a new GBE Review, @david-peede.bsky.social et al. overview the SMC model and extensions, discuss examples of discoveries made with the help of SMC-based inference, and comment on the assumptions, benefits, and drawbacks of various methods.

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/gbe/...

#genome #evolution #compbio

MBE | SLiM 5: Eco-evolutionary Simulations Across Multiple Chromosomes and Full Genomes

Haller, Ralph & Messer present SLiM 5, a major extension of the SLiM simulation framework for simulating multiple chromosomes, enabling a heightened level of realism for full-genome simulations.

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msaf313

#evobio #molbio #compbio

Evaluating inbreeding and assessing the risk of outbreeding depression in genetic rescue using whole-genome sequence data
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Pangenomes: new tools for ecological and evolutionary genomics Genomic structural variation is an important component of genetic variation in natural populations. By assembling and analyzing multiple high-quality genomes within a species or clade, pangenomes capt...

www.cell.com/trends/ecolo...

Humpback whale genomes reflect the increased efficiency of commercial whaling Humpback whale genomes reflect shifts in whaling practices and their potential impact on the animals’ adaptive capacity.

A new #ScienceAdvances study shows that commercial whaling in the Southern Ocean over the past century reduced the genetic diversity—and possibly the evolutionary fitness—of the region’s humpback whales. https://scim.ag/4anxPpM

cover of the Dec 2025 issue of Trends in Ecology and Evolution highlighting our recent publication "The social dimensions of conservation translocations" featuring a beautiful little bird, a black robin, perched on a tree trunk. Two bands are visible on her left leg (red, silver).

What are the ‘social dimensions’ of moving species for conservation and why does engaging with them matter?

This is the focus of our new paper doi.org/10.1016/j.tr... on the cover of the Dec issue of TREE @cp-trendsecolevo.bsky.social led by @aisrayne.bsky.social

🙏 to Kevin Parker for the 📷

Team fish - we need your help! We are trying to build a database of all the fish chromosome-scale genomes where sex chromosomes have been identified. Have you build one or some? Do you know someone who has? Can you post the link in the comments? Please spread the word and repost! Thank you!

Accurate Runs of Homozygosity Estimation From Low Coverage Genome Sequences in Non‐Model Species Runs of homozygosity (ROH) are increasingly being analysed using whole genome sequences in non-model species as a measure of inbreeding and to assess demographic history, thus providing useful inform...

Accurate Runs of Homozygosity Estimation From Low Coverage Genome Sequences in Non-Model Species
#popgen #consgen
doi.org/10.1111/1755...

Optimising Genome‐Wide Detection of Runs of Homozygosity: Impacts of Reference Genome Quality and Sequencing Parameters on Inbreeding Assessment Inbreeding and inbreeding depression pose a critical challenge to the persistence of small and isolated populations, driving the need for precise assessment of genomic metrics. Genome-wide runs of ho...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Anthropocene genetic diversity loss in the marine tropics | PNAS Genetic diversity is a crucial component of biodiversity, and as such, its maintenance and preservation is of high conservation concern. Tropical e...

Anthropocene genetic diversity loss in the marine tropics
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

That's So Last Season: Unraveling the Genomic Consequences of Fur Farming in Arctic Foxes (Vulpes lagopus) Humans have relied on animal fur for centuries, yet fur farming only began recently during the mid-19th Century. Little is known about this incipient domestication or the genomic processes involved. ...

New study on arctic fox genomics shows strong effects of fur farming: reduced diversity, inbreeding, and coastal origins linked to Icelandic foxes. A reminder that domestication leaves deep genetic footprints.
🔗 doi.org/10.1111/mec.70166

Hvor slemt skal det blive, før politikerne griber ind? Debatindlæg | Læs Politikens mange forskellige debatindlæg. Det enkelte indlæg er udtryk for skribentens holdning. Du kan også få bragt dit debatindlæg.

Har skrevet denne her slasker. Helt kort, så lurer jeg på hvad der mon egentlig skal til, før Socialdemokratiet og Venstre vil hjælpe de mange millioner lidende dyr i det danske, konventionelle industrilandbrug?

politiken.dk/debat/debati...