This Turkey Tuesday is about population genetics and what research is teaching us about this topic. Population genetics is simply the study of genetic variation within and among populations, and specific to wild turkeys, topics like gene flow and genetic diversity are certainly of interest. The restoration of the wild turkey is considered one of the greatest conservation successes in North America, and it involved translocations of wild birds all over the continent. It’s believed that these activities created hybrid vigor, as releases often mixed flocks of birds from different areas, resulting in increased genetic diversity within newly created populations. Well, ongoing research is showing that gene flow isn’t operating as smoothly as it could – in other words, turkeys within relatively short distances of each other are not mixing genetically. It is unclear why this is occurring, but a lack of gene flow can contribute to lower genetic diversity, which is also being observed in some populations. What does this mean? For one, reduced genetic diversity results in a shrinking gene pool, which can create challenges for populations that are responding to changes to the environment – such as habitat loss and degradation. Two, genetic diversity and gene flow have known links to reproductive output and population vitality, which is why broad-scale research efforts such as Wild Turkey DNA that are evaluating population genetics were developed. The take home is there is much to learn about wild turkey genetics and potential links between genetic variation and sustainability of our turkey populations.
Photo by Clayton Worrel
