title: Building strong relationships between conservation genetics and primary industry leads to mutually beneficial genomic advances.
abstract: Several reviews in the past decade have heralded the benefits of embracing high-throughput sequencing technologies to inform conservation policy and the management of threatened species, but few have offered practical advice on how to expedite the transition from conservation genetics to conservation genomics. Here, we argue that an effective and efficient way to navigate this transition is to capitalize on emerging synergies between conservation genetics and primary industry (e.g., agriculture, fisheries, forestry and horticulture). Here, we demonstrate how building strong relationships between conservation geneticists and primary industry scientists is leading to mutually-beneficial outcomes for both disciplines. Based on our collective experience as collaborative New Zealand-based scientists, we also provide insight for forging these cross-sector relationships.
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, University of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch, 8140, New Zealand. stephanie.galla@pg.canterbury.ac.nz.
authors.forename: Stephanie J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Galla
authors.affiliation: Landcare Research, Private Bag 92170, Auckland Mail Centre, Auckland, 1142, New Zealand.|School of Biological Sciences, University of Auckland, Auckland, 1010, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Thomas R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Buckley
authors.affiliation: The Elshire Group, Ltd., 52 Victoria Avenue, Palmerston North, 4410, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Rob
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Elshire
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, University of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch, 8140, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Marie L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Hale
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, University of Otago, P.O. Box 913, Dunedin, 9054, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Knapp
authors.affiliation: Breeding and Genomics, New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research, Private Bag 4704, Christchurch, 8140, New Zealand.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: McCallum
authors.affiliation: AgResearch, Ruakura Research Centre, Bisley Road, Private Bag 3115, Hamilton, 3240, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Roger
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Moraga
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, University of Auckland, Auckland, 1010, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Anna W
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Santure
authors.affiliation: Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Otago, P.O. Box 56, 710 Cumberland Street, Dunedin, 9054, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Phillip
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Wilcox
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, University of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch, 8140, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Tammy E
authors.initials: TE
authors.lastname: Steeves
mesh_terms: D000383:Agriculture; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D005398:Fisheries; D016468:Forestry; D023281:Genomics; D033183:Interdisciplinary Communication; D000070516:Intersectoral Collaboration; D009520:New Zealand
keywords: applied research; conservation genomics; high-throughput sequencing; interdisciplinary research; next-generation sequencing