Software engineering. Because of the computer revolution, we are now using software that is increasingly sophisticated. The evolution of computer systems has come about from a human need to produce software too complicated for a human mind to write. Software engineers took a page from biological evolution—natural selection—which the engineers call genetic algorithms. The concept is that of writing simpler pieces of software that engineers put into competitions against each other. The software then evolves by mutating, that is, by essentially inserting random changes into the code and then going through succeeding rounds of selection. Soft-ware engineers have borrowed this process from evolutionary biologists. (Massimo Pigliucci, PhD., professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolution at the State University of New York)
Forensics. The ways that DNA evidence is interpreted and analyzed in forensic cases depends directly on principles of evolution. To be able to say that a DNA match for a suspect is significant to a case, the examiner must know important facts about the distribution of that particular kind of DNA in a human population. Ergo, the forensic scientist must know about how human populations themselves evolve in order to make a more meaningful comparison among the simple suspect data being analyzed.
Two interesting examples are found in Linda Stone, Paul F. Lurquin, Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza, Genes, Culture, and Human Evolution: A Synthesis, Chapter 14, Forensic Science, pp 262-263 2007, Blackwell Publishing. “MtDNA studies were performed on Neanderthal fossilized bones to evaluate their contributions to the modern gene pool. In addition, genetic technology is now widely used in forensics in the identification of criminals and their victims.
“Recent skeletons can also yield enough DNA for forensic studies. One interesting case is that of members of the Romanov dynasty, a family line that ruled Russia from 1613 until 1917, the year of the Bolshevik Revolution. Tsar Nicholas II, his wife Tsarina Alexandra, and their five children were executed by Bolshevik guards who feared that counter-revolutionary troops approaching the town of Ekaterinograd might attempt to release their captives. The Romanovs’ bodies were buried in an unidentified grave. In 1991, a Russian geologist uncovered a pit containing several skeletons in the vicinity. British and Russian geneticists examined DNA isolated from the presumed skeleton of Alexandra and her three daughters and found it to be a perfect match for Prince Philip of Edinburgh (a maternal descendant of the Tsarina). DNA from the presumed skeleton of the Tsar was less straightforward, but further research demonstrated a rare mtDNA occurrence…and confirmed his identity…
“Closer to our current times is the Laci Peterson murder case. In November, 2004, Scott Peterson of Modesto, California was found guilty of murdering his pregnant wife, Laci, whose decomposed body was recovered from the San Francisco Bay together with that of her unborn son. In spite of the advanced state of decay of the bodies, mtDNA was recovered and confirmed their identities.
“[Scott Peterson was caught in a lie having denied that Laci had ever been on his boat] and that he was fishing on his new boat the day of her disappearance. A single hair found on the boat matched Laci’s mtDNA which convinced the jury of Scott’s guilt.” Forensics is another example of evolutionary medicine wherein biotechnological and medical research are able to use exquisite evolutionary principles.
Onofri, V., et. al., Development of Multiples PCRs for Evolutionary and Forensic Applications of 37 Human Y Chromosome SNPs. Forensic Science International, Volume 157, Issue 1: 23-35, details an elaborate and exquisitely well verified study of Y chromosomes and describes an efficient and rapid test for typing 37 single nucleotide polymorphisms using six PCR multiplexes. The sequential application of these multiplexes is a robust and effective resource for typing the most frequent European Y-SNP haplogroups and appears to be suitable for forensic purposes and evolutionary studies.
Management of territory. Scientists in the broad field of evolution studies are involved in issues related to occupancy of areas of habitat. City planners, developers, the forest services, large agri-businesses, and wildlife management personnel are regularly faced with thorny issues of what kind of animals and how many can live in a given territory. Burgeoning human populations push for ever more space at the expense of each other, the environment, and other creatures that share our planet. One need only gain even a super-ficial knowledge of the problems faced over use and preservation of Brazilian rain forest territory to appreciate the magnitude of the problems. Real science, based on factual evolutionary history and process-ses is frequently regarded as the only way to arrive at sensible and sustainable compromises. Implications are serious for conservation and management of declining populations. Concerned environmentalists, protective of wild animal populations and their habitat, seek formal evolution based scientific studies in order to convey their requests to government entities.
UNESCO MAB Biosphere Reserves Directory of the World Network of Biosphere Reserves studies the condition and uses of particularly important and fragile regions of biodiversity in order to protect those few areas left on earth where plants and animals teeter in a delicate natural balance. The beauty and quality of such regions are strong draws for tourists and therefore provide much needed income for the local populations of people, provide a rich area of study for biologists of all stripes, and are considered to be treasures of our world worthy of careful management and safe-keeping. One such area is Gran Canaris, an island under the strict protection of Spain. In spite of its small surface, Gran Canaria presents a great biodiversity. Its insular condition, geographic isolation, and the variety of ecological niches available for the vegetation have favored a high number of endemic species. Of the 600 taxa of terrestrial vascular flora identified in the Gran Canaria Bio-sphere Reserve created by UNESCO with the ongoing consultation of evolutionary scientists, 95 are endemic to Gran Canaria alone, 101 are endemic to the Canary Archipelego, and 32 are endemic to Macronesia. This high rate of endemism makes the area of vital importance for the conservation of biodiversity, an issue the United Nations takes seriously enough to expend considerable resources to further and to require strict scientific evidence to effect present management and future preservation.
Pursuing the advice of its evolutionary scientists, the Gran Canaria Biosphere occupies one-third of the island and is surrounded by a buffer zone. It includes a number of self-interested municipalities, and the local people have enthusiastically adopted the practices recommended by the scientists in order to protect their own tourism industry. In recent years, different specific scientific programs have been developed and co-financed with the European Commission through the LIFE project which has been involved in such projects as conservation of the chaffinch, bottlenose dolphin, loggerhead turtle, endangered flora, the impact of invasive species, the establishment of permanent forest monitoring plots for the analysis of the state of the forests, and even the ecological impact of tourist whale-watching. UNESCO, under the direction of its scientists and fully trained managers, regularly and continuously monitors the effects of drought, erosion, geology, geomorphy, groundwater, habitat, hydrology, modeling, physical oceanography/oceans, soil, and topography, all based on the scientific disciplines with a firm evolutionary base.
Ongoing monitoring studies include afforestation/reforestation, algae, amphibians, arid/semiarid zones, biogeography, biology, biotechnology, birds, coastal marine zones, endemic species, ethology, evolutionary studies/paleoecology, fire ecology, fishes, invertebrates, island/highland/mountain systems, species inventory and a host of others. The impact and interrelationship of socio-economic factors are an integral part of the evaluation and monitoring efforts. UNESCO and the Spanish government keep a watchful and studied eye on agriculture/production systems, agroforestry, anthro-pological studies, archeology/paleontology, cultural aspects, demography, firewood cut-ting/harvesting, fisheries, livestock and related impacts such as overgrazing, recreation, quality economies, small business initiatives, tourism, traditional practices/ ethnology and traditional knowledge. All of this for the management of an area less than the size of New York City considered to be of inestimable value to mankind.
Anthony R.E. Sinclair, et. al., Wildlife Ecology Conservation and Management, 2nd Ed., Blackwell Publishers, 2006, writes,
“Territoriality can play a stabilizing role on population dynamics. If there is an upper limit on the number of territories that can be supported, this can effectively cap breeding by the predator population preventing large-scale predator-prey cycles. Since many top carnivores are territorial (e.g., wolves, weasels, lions, hyenas, and tigers) this suggests that a deeper understanding of carnivore territory formation and dynamics in relation to changes in abundance of both predators and prey is essential to adequate conservation and management efforts. Foraging success is strongly affected by behavioral decisions of both predators and their prey. Evolutionary conservationists managing territories must consider a number of these decisions in planning.
“Foraging decisions are shaped by multiple constraints: optimal patch departure timing, shift to better patches, etc. Risk-sensitive foraging demands complex approaches to decision evaluation—measurement of habitat specific preferences demands special statistical tools such as resource selection functions. The knowledge, computers, and understanding of applications from the statistical resources already reside with the many methods of studying evolution, and managers employ the knowledge and tools liberally and professionally. How social processes influence foraging decisions is critical to fitness. Fitness is likely to decline as population density in a preferred habitat grows.”
In the modern world where humans have come to exercise such dominion, it is incumbent on the same humans to provide ecological management based on scientific principles and data to ensure survival and persistence of the several species utilizing habitats.
The desert tortoise of the Mojave Desert is an endangered species. Other than to minimize contact between the species and humans, little has been known or done that is effective in fostering the survival of tortoises. Hazare, L. C., et. al., Nutritional Value of Exotic Plants Eaten by Desert Tortoise Juveniles, publication in preparation, is one of many studies undertaken by the University of California, Santa Barbara and other California Universities’, evolutionary biology researchers to determine the evolution, physiology, nutrition, foraging, predation upon, and territory of the tortoises in order to offer them effective protection. Dr. Hazare and his colleagues’ work investigated the nutritional quality of four natural food plants to determine which nutrients limited growth of wild tortoises and to evaluate the potential nutritional impact of invasive plant species on tortoise growth and survivorship. To date, it has been determined that phosphorus and nitrogen were potentially limiting nutrients, and the work in progress is assessing the ecological importance of phophorus nutrition for tortoises. The several university biology departments involved in these ongoing studies of desert tortoise territory are working directly with the State of California and interested environmentalist/ecologist groups to assist the tortoises to be successful individually and as a species to live in an optimum habitat, to limit predation, and to prevent human misbehavior with regards to this endangered species.
Conservation biology. An excellent discussion of the subject is found in Scott P. Carroll, Editor, and Charles W. Fox, Editor, Conservation Biology: Evolution in Action, Oxford University Press, New York, 2008. The following is quoted from that book, pages 11, 13-14:
“Forensic applications: The goal of DNA coding methodologies is for use in large-scale taxonomic screening of one or a few reference loci to assign individuals to species and to tease apart cryptically varying taxa. The most frequently used gene for this task is cytochrome c oxidase (COI) from the mitochondrion. For identifications—often of relevance to conservation—will undoubtedly be enhanced by COI sequencing and any standardization of genetic methods and data has inherent advantages. Ultimately, richer genomic characterizations will be desirable, especially in problematic situations…
“Evolutionary genetics studies include important considerations such as environmental changes or introduction of invasive species. Conservation genetics has important links to this topic, if for no other reason than that evolution is by definition, genetic change across time. The general answer is clear: [today’s populations] will respond exactly as populations have responded across millennia by adapting or by going extinct…]
“Considerable discussion has centered on phylogenetic destructiveness as a measure of taxon “worth” when priority decisions are made regarding investigation of ecosystems with the availability only of finite time and conservation resources. A basic notion is that unique (in other words, long separated) evolutionary lineages contribute disproportionately to the planet’s overall genetic diversity, such that their extinction would constitute a far greater loss of biodiversity than would the extinction of species that have extant close relatives. That evolutionary/ecological conservation argument often conflicts with a species’ inherent charismatic appeal to humans, and conservation biology can help provide firm science-based choices about how and where to use limited funds and other resources for conservation purposes.
“Biodiversity can be exuberant and tenacious, but, paradoxically, it can also be fragile. The overarching working question of conservation biology is what balance, if any, will be achieved in the coming decades between each of the counterposing genetic forces…We have already destroyed a noticeable amount of the planet’s evolutionary genetics heritage in direct or indirect consequence of the burgeoning human population…The truly pressing issue for the 21st century is the degree to which standing biodiversity, and the ecological and evolutionary processes that foster its maintenance, can be preserved at best quasi-intact for future generations.”
Modern theories of ecology, evolution, and conservation biology share a core of concepts and techniques that span classical academic disciplines. The common core, coupled with the emergence of powerful new technologies, invites cross disciplinary approaches, which generate many of today’s most exciting scientific knowledge. At the University of Hawai’i at Manoa (UHM), the interdisciplinary graduate specialization in ecology, evolution, and conservation biology brings together faculty members from participating graduate programs (anthropology, botany, cell and molecular biology, entomology, and geography) to provide the training students need to contribute effectively to this research area. The objectives of the interdisciplinary specialization, as stated by the university are: to exploit Hawai’s unique opportunites to integrate tropical population biology and natural history studies with modern laboratory techniques, to provide the interdisciplinary, conceptual, and technical training to participate in academic and research programs in ecology, evolution, and conservation biology, and to foster scholarly training in research programs including expertise in all of the disciplines. All of this to further the better management of the fragile and complicated eco-systems of the earth, an enterprise that is regularly contributing to the betterment of the earth and the people and other animals, plants, and waters on it. And it all hinges on what has been learned from the study of evolution.