Ecosystems are the stage on which the play of evolution is acted, and ecosystems are complex, spatially structured and temporally varying. The purpose of this Research Topic is to explore critical challenges and opportunities for the transition from landscape genetics to landscape genomics. Landscape genetics has focused on the spatial analysis of small genetic datasets, typically comprised of less than 20 microsatellite markers, taken from clusters of individuals in putative populations or distributed individuals across landscapes. The recent emergence of large scale genomic datasets produced by next generation sequencing methods poses tremendous challenge and opportunity to the field. Perhaps the greatest is to produce, process, curate, archive and analyze spatially referenced genomic datasets in a way such that research is led by a priori hypotheses regarding how environmental heterogeneity and temporal dynamics interact to affect gene flow and selection. The papers in the Research Topic cover a broad range of topics under this area of focus, from reviews of the emergence of landscape genetics, to best practices in spatial analysis of genetic data. The compilation, like the emerging field itself, is eclectic and illustrates the scope of both the challenges and opportunities of this emerging field.

The relentless loss of biodiversity is among the greatest problems facing the world today. The third edition of this established textbook provides an updated and comprehensive overview of the essential background, concepts, and tools required to understand how genetics can be used to conserve species, reduce threat of extinction, and manage species of ecological or commercial importance. This edition is thoroughly revised to reflect the major contribution of genomics to conservation of populations and species. It includes two new chapters: "Genetic Monitoring" and a final "Conservation Genetics in Practice" chapter that addresses the role of science and policy in conservation genetics. New genomic techniques and statistical analyses are crucial tools for the conservation geneticist. This accessible and authoritative textbook provides an essential toolkit grounded in population genetics theory, coupled with basic and applied research examples from plants, animals, and microbes. The book examines genetic and phenotypic variation in natural populations, the principles and mechanisms of evolutionary change, evolutionary response to anthropogenic change, and applications in conservation and management. Conservation and the Genomics of Populations helps demystify genetics and genomics for conservation practitioners and early career scientists, so that population genetic theory and new genomic data can help raise the bar in conserving biodiversity in the most critical 20 year period in the history of life on Earth. It is aimed at a global market of applied population geneticists, conservation practitioners, and natural resource managers working for wildlife and habitat management agencies. It will be of particular relevance and use to upper undergraduate and graduate students taking courses in conservation biology, conservation genetics, and wildlife management.

Loss of biodiversity is among the greatest problems facing the world today. Conservation and the Genetics of Populations gives a comprehensive overview of the essential background, concepts, and tools needed to understand how genetic information can be used to conserve species threatened with extinction, and to manage species of ecological or commercial importance. New molecular techniques, statistical methods, and computer programs, genetic principles, and methods are becoming increasingly useful in the conservation of biological diversity. Using a balance of data and theory, coupled with basic and applied research examples, this book examines genetic and phenotypic variation in natural populations, the principles and mechanisms of evolutionary change, the interpretation of genetic data from natural populations, and how these can be applied to conservation. The book includes examples from plants, animals, and microbes in wild and captive populations. This second edition contains new chapters on Climate Change and Exploited Populations as well as new sections on genomics, genetic monitoring, emerging diseases, metagenomics, and more. One-third of the references in this edition were published after the first edition. Each of the 22 chapters and the statistical appendix have a Guest Box written by an expert in that particular topic (including James Crow, Louis Bernatchez, Loren Rieseberg, Rick Shine, and Lisette Waits). This book is essential for advanced undergraduate and graduate students of conservation genetics, natural resource management, and conservation biology, as well as professional conservation biologists working for wildlife and habitat management agencies. Additional resources for this book can be found at: www.wiley.com/go/allendorf/populations.

This book informs the reader about applications of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and nature-inspired algorithms in different situations. Each chapter in this book is written by topic experts on AI, nature-inspired algorithms and data science. The basic concepts relevant to these topics are explained, including evolutionary computing (EC), artificial neural networks (ANN), swarm intelligence (SI), and fuzzy systems (FS). Additionally, the book also covers optimization algorithms for data analysis. The contents include algorithms that can be used in systems designed for plant science research, load balancing, environmental analysis and healthcare. The goal of the book is to equip the reader - students and data analysts - with the information needed to apply basic AI algorithms to resolve actual problems encountered in a professional environment.

The aim of this book is to systematize and discuss population genetic studies of freshwater fish in a region that harbors the greatest diversity of species among all inland water ecosystems. This volume explores the genetic evaluation for a number of orders, families and species of Neotropical fishes, and provides an overview on genetic resources and diversity and their relationships with fish domestication, breeding, and food production.

LANDSCAPE GENETICS: CONCEPTS, METHODS, APPLICATIONS LANDSCAPE GENETICS: CONCEPTS, METHODS, APPLICATIONS Edited by Niko Balkenhol, Samuel A. Cushman, Andrew T. Storfer, Lisette P. Waits Landscape genetics is an exciting and rapidly growing field, melding methods and theory from landscape ecology and population genetics to address some of the most challenging and urgent ecological and evolutionary topics of our time. Landscape genetic approaches now enable researchers to study in detail how environmental complexity in space and time affect gene flow, genetic drift, and local adaptation. However, learning about the concepts and methods underlying the field remains challenging due to the highly interdisciplinary nature of the field, which relies on topics that have traditionally been treated separately in classes and textbooks. In this edited volume, some of the leading experts in landscape genetics provide the first comprehensive introduction to underlying concepts, commonly used methods, and current and future applications of landscape genetics. Consistent with the interdisciplinary nature of the field, the book includes textbook-like chapters that synthesize fundamental concepts and methods underlying landscape genetics (Part 1), chapters on advanced topics that deserve a more in-depth treatment (Part 2), and chapters illustrating the use of concepts and methods in empirical applications (Part 3). Aimed at beginning landscape geneticists and experienced researchers alike, this book will be helpful for all scientists and practitioners interested in learning, teaching, and applying landscape genetics.

Population genomics has revolutionized various disciplines of biology including population, evolutionary, ecological and conservation genetics, plant and animal breeding, human health, medicine and pharmacology by allowing to address novel and long-standing questions with unprecedented power and accuracy. It employs large-scale or genome-wide genetic information and bioinformatics to address various fundamental and applied aspects in biology and related disciplines, and provides a comprehensive genome-wide perspective and new insights that were not possible before. These advances have become possible due to the development of new and low-cost sequencing and genotyping technologies and novel statistical approaches and software, bioinformatics tools, and models. Population genomics is tremendously advancing our understanding the roles of evolutionary processes, such as mutation, genetic drift, gene flow, and natural selection, in shaping up genetic variation at individual loci and across the genome and populations; improving the assessment of population genetic parameters or processes such as adaptive evolution, effective population size, gene flow, admixture, inbreeding and outbreeding depression, demography, and biogeography; resolving evolutionary histories and phylogenetic relationships of extant, ancient and extinct species; understanding the genomic basis of fitness, adaptation, speciation, complex ecological and economically important traits, and disease and insect resistance; facilitating forensics, genetic medicine and pharmacology; delineating conservation genetic units; and understanding the genetic effects of resource management practices, and assisting conservation and sustainable management of genetic resources. This Population Genomics book discusses the concepts, approaches, applications and promises of population genomics in addressing most of the above fundamental and applied crucial aspects in a variety of organisms from microorganisms to humans. The book provides insights into a range of emerging population genomics topics including population epigenomics, landscape genomics, seascape genomics, paleogenomics, ecological and evolutionary genomics, biogeography, demography, speciation, admixture, colonization and invasion, genomic selection, and plant and animal domestication. This book fills a vacuum in the field and is expected to become a primary reference in Population Genomics world-wide.