Topic:Conservation
Conservation and horses encompass the study and practice of maintaining and protecting horse populations and their habitats. This field involves understanding the ecological roles of horses, their interactions with ecosystems, and the impact of human activities on their survival. Conservation efforts may include habitat preservation, genetic diversity maintenance, and the management of wild horse populations to prevent overgrazing and ensure ecological balance. Research in this area explores strategies for sustainable coexistence between horses and their environments, assessing the effects of environmental changes and human interventions. This page compiles peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that investigate the methodologies, challenges, and outcomes associated with conservation practices related to equine populations.
Complete mitochondrial genome sequences of Korean native horse from Jeju Island: uncovering the spatio-temporal dynamics. The Korean native horse (Jeju horse) is one of the most important animals in Korean historical, cultural, and economical viewpoints. In the early 1980s, the Jeju horse was close to extinction. The aim of this study is to explore the phylogenomics of Korean native horse focusing on spatio-temporal dynamics. We determined complete mitochondrial genome sequences for the first Korean native (n = 6) and additional Mongolian (n = 2) horses. Those sequences were analyzed together with 143 published ones using Bayesian coalescent approach as well as three different phylogenetic analysis method...
[The importance of conservation of rare domestic animal breeds using the example of Arc Warder]. The domestic animals descend from various wild ancestors. Thus, for example, of the wolf, the dog (15 000 BC), of the Bezoar goat the goat (10 000 BC), of the Asian mouflon the sheep (10 000 BC), of the wild boar the pig (8000 BC) and of the aurochs the cattle (7000 BC). Domestication has dramatically changed our culture and led to a great diversity of animal breeds. This is a unique cultural and historical treasure, which we have to preserve for future generations. The zoological park Arc Warder is Europe's largest center for rare and endangered domestic animal breeds. Arc Ward...
Genetic diversity of the Yonaguni horse based on polymorphisms in microsatellites and mitochondrial DNA. Thirty-two microsatellites and a mitochondrial DNA haplotypes of endangered Yonaguni horses were analyzed to establish a pedigree registration system and to understand their genetic diversity for planning effective conservation. Blood samples were collected from 78 of the 130 horses in existence, and DNA was extracted and genotyped. There were two major findings. One is that it is possible to use microsatellites for Yonaguni horse pedigree registration in the future because the power of exclusion of parentage testing is reliable at 0.999998. The second is the clarification of the current genet...
Genetic characterization of the Miyako horse based on polymorphisms of microsatellites and mitochondrial DNA. To help plan conservation of the endangered Miyako horse, a biological resource of the Miyako Islands in Japan, we characterized the genetics of the breed by genotyping 32 microsatellites and identifying mitochondrial DNA haplotypes. We also calculated genetic distances between individuals based on the proportion of shared alleles and visualized the genetic relationships with a phylogenetic tree. Two important results were obtained. One is that accurate pedigree registration of the horse by using microsatellites is possible, as the exclusion power of parentage testing is 0.999998. Another is t...
Using Different Grazing Practices for Increasing Plant Biodiversity in the Dykes and Embankments Along the Rhône River (Southern France). Extensive grazing by domestic herbivores is a widespread management practice used since the 80s in many European agro-ecosystems such as semi-natural grasslands to maintain open habitats and to enhance biodiversity. Such grazing systems have principally been tested in cultural ecosystems of high nature value threatened by grazing abandonment. However, there have been few case studies of grazing management in very anthropized ecosystems, such as the new ecosystems created by urban or industrial conversions. In Southern France, the Rhône channeling for navigation and electricity production gene...
Effective population sizes in cattle, sheep, horses, pigs and goats estimated from census and herdbook data. Accurate measures of effective population sizes (Ne ) in livestock require good quality data and specialized skills for their computation and analysis. Ne can be estimated by Wright's equation Ne =4MF/(M+ F) (M, F being sires and dams, respectively), but this requires assumptions which are often not met. Total census sizes Nc of livestock breeds are collated globally. This paper investigates whether estimates of Ne can be made from Nc ; this would facilitate conservation monitoring. Some Ne methodologies avoid the assumptions of Wright's equation and permit measurement, rather than estimation,...
Genetic relationship between the Nordestino horse and national and international horse breeds. Knowledge of genetic diversity and relationships between breeds is very important for conservation programs. Hair samples were collected from 393 individual Nordestino horses and genotyped using 14 microsatellite markers in order to investigate the genetic relationship between this breed and 66 international horse breeds. There was high allelic diversity and inbreeding coefficient within population values were not significant, which was probably due to crossbreeding. Despite the Nordestino horse population being in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, a global deficit of heterozygotes was observed. Thi...
Evolutionary Genomics and Conservation of the Endangered Przewalski’s Horse. Przewalski's horses (PHs, Equus ferus ssp. przewalskii) were discovered in the Asian steppes in the 1870s and represent the last remaining true wild horses. PHs became extinct in the wild in the 1960s but survived in captivity, thanks to major conservation efforts. The current population is still endangered, with just 2,109 individuals, one-quarter of which are in Chinese and Mongolian reintroduction reserves [1]. These horses descend from a founding population of 12 wild-caught PHs and possibly up to four domesticated individuals [2-4]. With a stocky build, an erect mane, and stripped and sho...
Comparative genetic diversity in a sample of pony breeds from the U.K. and North America: a case study in the conservation of global genetic resources. Most species exist as subdivided ex situ daughter population(s) derived from a single original group of individuals. Such subdivision occurs for many reasons both natural and manmade. Traditional British and Irish pony breeds were introduced to North America (U.S.A. and Canada) within the last 150 years, and subsequently equivalent breed societies were established. We have analyzed selected U.K. and North American equivalent pony populations as a case study for understanding the relationship between putative source and derived subpopulations. Diversity was measured using mitochondrial DNA and ...
Small Ne of the Isolated and Unmanaged Horse Population on Sable Island. For small, isolated populations 2 common conservation concerns relate to genetic threats: inbreeding and negative consequences associated with loss of genetic diversity due to drift. Mitigating these threats often involves conservation actions that can be controversial, such as translocations or captive breeding programs. Although such actions have been successful in some situations, in others they have had undesirable outcomes. Here, we estimated the effective population size (N e ) of the Sable Island horses to assess the risk to this population of these genetic threats. We found surprising ...
A genetic analysis of the Italian Salernitano horse. Salernitano (SAL) is an ancient Italian horse breed developed over the course of the ages together with Napoletano and, during the 20th century, by crossing with Thoroughbred horse lines. Excellent in hurdle jumping, this breed is currently facing a concrete risk of extinction due to the lack of appropriate management strategies. This research is the first SAL genetic characterization that aims to set up the basic knowledge for a conservation plan. A representative sample of 61 SALs was analyzed by means of a set of 16 microsatellites markers (short tandem repeats (STRs)). The sequence of hype...
Morphological and genetic characterization of an emerging Azorean horse breed: the Terceira Pony. The Terceira Pony is a horse indigenous to Terceira Island in the Azores. These horses were very important during the colonization of the island. Due to their very balanced proportions and correct gaits, and with an average withers height of 1.28 m, the Terceira Pony is often confused with a miniature pure-bred Lusitano. This population was officially recognized as the fourth Portuguese equine breed by the national authorities in January, 2014. The aim of this study was to analyze the morphology and the genetic diversity by means of microsatellite markers of this emerging horse breed. The biom...
Improving environmental management on small-scale farms: perspectives of extension educators and horse farm operators. Although the number of small-scale farms is increasing in North America and Europe, few studies have been conducted to better understand environmental management in this sector. We investigate this issue by examining environmental management on horse farms from both the perspective of the "expert" extension educator and horse farm operator. We conducted a Delphi survey and follow-up interviews with extension educators in Indiana and Kentucky. We also conducted interviews and farm assessments with 15 horse farm operators in the two states. Our results suggest a disconnection between the percept...
Livestock as a potential biological control agent for an invasive wetland plant. Invasive species threaten biodiversity and incur costs exceeding billions of US$. Eradication efforts, however, are nearly always unsuccessful. Throughout much of North America, land managers have used expensive, and ultimately ineffective, techniques to combat invasive Phragmites australis in marshes. Here, we reveal that Phragmites may potentially be controlled by employing an affordable measure from its native European range: livestock grazing. Experimental field tests demonstrate that rotational goat grazing (where goats have no choice but to graze Phragmites) can reduce Phragmites cover f...
The role of an alpha animal in changing environmental conditions. The maintenance and development of conservation areas by grazing of large herbivores, such as Przewalski's horses, is common practice. Several nature conservation areas house male bachelor groups of this species. When males are needed for breeding they are removed from the groups, often without considering group compositions and individual social positions. However, alpha animals are needed for ensuring group stability and decision making in potentially dangerous situations in several species. To investigate the role of the alpha male in a bachelor group, we observed the behaviour of five Prze...
Patterns of livestock predation by carnivores: human-wildlife conflict in northwest Yunnan, China. Alleviating human-carnivore conflict is central to large carnivore conservation and is often of economic importance, where people coexist with carnivores. In this article, we report on the patterns of predation and economic losses from wild carnivores preying on livestock in three villages of northern Baima Xueshan Nature Reserve, northwest Yunnan during a 2-year period between January 2010 and December 2011. We analyzed claims from 149 households that 258 head of livestock were predated. Wolves (Canis lupus) were responsible for 79.1 % of livestock predation; Asiatic black bears (Selenarctos ...
Mitochondrial and pedigree analysis in Przewalski’s horse populations: implications for genetic management and reintroductions. Przewalski's horses have been imported from the western zoos to China since 1985. Yet the genetic diversity in China's populations has not been studied, thus lacking of such knowledge inevitably affects this population's management. The aim of this study was to assess genetic diversity in Chinese population of Przewalski's horses via mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region and pedigree analysis. Methods: Two captive and one reintroduced populations were examined based on mitochondrial DNA control region variation via fecal sampling from 2010 to 2012, together with pedigree analysis. Results: ...
Genetic diversity and conservation in a small endangered horse population. The Old Kladruber horses arose in the 17th century as a breed used for ceremonial purposes. Currently, grey and black coat colour varieties exist as two sub-populations with different recent breeding history. As the population underwent historical bottlenecks and intensive inbreeding, loss of genetic variation is considered as the major threat. Therefore, genetic diversity in neutral and non-neutral molecular markers was examined in the current nucleus population. Fifty microsatellites, 13 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in immunity-related genes, three mutations in coat colour genes an...
Genetic diversity and phylogenetic analysis of native mountain ponies of Britain and Ireland reveals a novel rare population. The conservation of unique populations of animals is critical in order to preserve valuable genetic diversity and, where populations are free-living, maintain their irreplaceable influence upon habitat ecology. An accurate assessment of genetic diversity and structure within and between populations is crucial in order to design and implement conservation strategies in natural and domesticated species. Moreover, where it is possible to identify relic populations that are related to a structured breed an ideal opportunity presents itself to model processes that reveal historical factors that hav...
Landscape-scale factors affecting feral horse habitat use during summer within the rocky mountain foothills. Public lands occupied by feral horses in North America are frequently managed for multiple uses with land use conflict occurring among feral horses, livestock, wildlife, and native grassland conservation. The factors affecting habitat use by horses is critical to understand where conflict may be greatest. We related horse presence and abundance to landscape attributes in a GIS to examine habitat preferences using 98 field plots sampled within a portion of the Rocky Mountain Forest Reserve of SW Alberta, Canada. Horse abundance was greatest in grassland and cut block habitats, and lowest in con...
Variation in fecal egg counts in horses managed for conservation purposes: individual egg shedding consistency, age effects and seasonal variation. Cyathostomins are the most prevalent equine intestinal parasites and resistance has been reported in these nematodes against all 3 licensed anthelmintic classes. Strategies need to be developed that are less dependent upon drugs and more reliant on management-based control. To develop these we need to understand natural transmission patterns better. Here, we analysed longitudinal fecal egg count (FEC) data from 5 pony populations used for conservation purposes. We tested how egg excretion varied amongst populations and individuals, and how this was affected by age and climate. There was eviden...
Breeding or assisted reproduction? Relevance of the horse model applied to the conservation of endangered equids. Many wild equids are at present endangered in the wild. Concurrently, increased mechanization has pushed back the numbers of some old native horse breeds to levels that are no longer compatible with survival of the breed. Strong concerns arose in the last decade to preserve animal biodiversity, including that of rare horse breeds. Genome Resource Banking refers to the cryostorage of genetic material and is an approach for ex situ conservation, which should be applied in combination with in situ conservation programmes. In this review, we propose that, owing to the great reproductive similarity...
Genetic variability in local Brazilian horse lines using microsatellite markers. Genetic variability at 11 microsatellite markers was analyzed in five naturalized/local Brazilian horse breeds or genetic groups. Blood samples were collected from 328 animals of the breeds Campeira (Santa Catarina State), Lavradeira (Roraima State), Pantaneira (Pantanal Mato-Grossense), Mangalarga Marchador (Minas Gerais State), as well as the genetic group Baixadeiro (Maranhão State), and the exotic breeds English Thoroughbred and Arab. We found significant genetic variability within evaluated microsatellite loci, with observed heterozygosis varying between 0.426 and 0.768 and polymorphism ...
Founder and present maternal diversity in two endangered Spanish horse breeds assessed via pedigree and mitochondrial DNA information. Pedigree information and 179 mtDNA sequences from two endangered Spanish horse breeds, the Asturcón pony (143) and the Mallorquí horse (36), were analysed to asses: (i) the pedigree and molecular maternal genetic diversity of the two breeds; (ii) the concordance between the dam lines recorded in the corresponding studbooks and the mtDNA haplotypes identified; and (iii) to assess the losses of maternal genetic variability occurred from the foundation of the studbooks to present. Up to 50 Asturcón and 18 Mallorquí founder dam lines were identified in the studbooks analysed. Up to 315 Asturc...
Genetic diversity and admixture among Canadian, Mountain and Moorland and Nordic pony populations. As part of the requirements of the Convention on Biological Diversity, Canada has been investigating the genetic diversity of its native equine and pony populations. Along with examining four indigenous Canadian equine populations (Canadian horse, Lac La Croix pony, Newfoundland pony and Sable Island population), another 10 Mountain and Moorland, three Nordic, four horse and two feral equine populations (thought to have influenced some pony breeds) were also investigated. In total, 821 individuals were genotyped at 38 microsatellite loci. Results of the analysis of molecular variance indicated...
Population statistics and biological traits of endangered kiso horse. The objective of this study was to clarify the current status of endangered Kiso horse, population statistics and biological traits, in order to take a step for the conservation by scientific approach. We surveyed 125 Kiso horses (86.2% of the whole breed), analyzed the construction of the population, and calculated the coefficient of inbreeding and effective population size. Moreover, we confirmed coat color variations and the traditional traits of the Kiso horse, and measured their height at the withers and chest circumference to clarify their physical characteristics. The population pyramid...
Genetic structure and differentiation of the Italian catria horse. Catria is 1 of the 22 native Italian horse breeds that now survive from a larger number. Thirty individuals, representative of the Catria horse, were analyzed for 11 microsatellites and compared with data of 10 breeds reared in Italy. Three different approaches, genetic distances, correspondence analysis, and clustering methods, were considered to study genetic relationships among Catria and the other horse populations. Genetic differentiation among breeds was highly significant (P < 0.01) for all loci. Average F(ST) values indicate that around 10% of the total genetic variation was explain...
Composition of milk from minor dairy animals and buffalo breeds: a biodiversity perspective. A comprehensive review is presented of the nutrient composition for buffalo, mare, and dromedary camel milks at the level of breed, and species-level data for yak, mithun, musk ox, donkey, Bactrian camel, llama, alpaca, reindeer and moose milks. Average values of nutrients were calculated and compared. Interspecies values (g 100 g⁻¹) were 0.7-16.1 for total fat, 1.6-10.5 for protein, 2.6-6.6 for lactose, and 67.9-90.8 for water. Reindeer and moose milks had the highest fat and protein concentrations and the lowest lactose contents. Mare and donkey milks had the lowest protein and fat conten...
High microsatellite and mitochondrial diversity in Anatolian native horse breeds shows Anatolia as a genetic conduit between Europe and Asia. The horse has been a food source, but more importantly, it has been a means for transport. Its domestication was one of the crucial steps in the history of human civilization. Despite the archaeological and molecular studies carried out on the history of horse domestication, which would contribute to conservation of the breeds, the details of the domestication of horses still remain to be resolved. We employed 21 microsatellite loci and mitochondrial control region partial sequences to analyse genetic variability within and among four Anatolian native horse breeds, Ayvacık Pony, Malakan Horse...
Genetic analysis of the Venezuelan Criollo horse. Various horse populations in the Americas have an origin in Spain; they are remnants of the first livestock introduced to the continent early in the colonial period (16th and 17th centuries). We evaluated genetic variability within the Venezuelan Criollo horse and its relationship with other horse breeds. We observed high levels of genetic diversity within the Criollo breed. Significant population differentiation was observed between all South American breeds. The Venezuelan Criollo horse showed high levels of genetic diversity, and from a conservation standpoint, there is no immediate danger ...