Southern Africa is highly diverse in its oceanography and biodiversity, yet is also extremely threated by human-mediated changes. Therefore a major aim of our laboratory is to identify and provide evidence for the conservation of natural genetic and genomic diversity that exists in the region. Identifying populations with high amounts of standing genetic variation or those with potential adaptive capacity will help us understand which populations or regions may be more resilient to change, which impacts the conservation decision making. Developing frameworks that support the integration of molecular data into conservation and management is at the core of the research efforts of our lab.
Selected key papers:
Henriques R, Mann BQ, Nielsen ES, Hui C, von der Heyden S. (2020) Extending biodiversity conservation with functional and evolutionary diversity: a case study of South African sparid fishes. African Journal of Marine Science 42: 315 - 321
Nielsen ES, Beger M, Henriques R, von der Heyden S. (2020) A comparison of genetic and genomic approaches to represent evolutionary potential in conservation planning. Biological Conservation 251: 108770
Mertens LEA, Treml EA, von der Heyden S. (2018) Genetic and biophysical models help define marine conservation focus areas. Frontiers Marine Science: Marine Conservation and Sustainability, 5:268
Nielsen ES, Beger M, Henriques R, Selkoe KA, von der Heyden (2017) Multi-species genetic objectives in spatial conservation planning. Conservation Biology 31: 872-882
Baco AR, Etter RJ, Ribeiro PA, von der Heyden S, Beerli P, Kinlan BP. (2016) A Synthesis of Genetic Connectivity in Deep-Sea Fauna and Implications for Marine Reserve Design. Molecular Ecology, 25: 3276-3298
Wright D, Bishop JM, Matthee CA, von der Heyden S. (2015) Genetic isolation by distance reveals restricted dispersal across a range of life-histories: implications for biodiversity conservation planning across highly variable marine environments. Diversity and Distributions, 21: 698-710
von der Heyden S, Beger M, Toonen RJ, van Herwerden L, Juinio-Meñez A, Ravago-Gotanco R, Fauvelot C, Bernardi G. (2014) The application of genetics to marine management and conservation: examples from the Indo-Pacific. Bulletin of Marine Science, 90: 123-158
von der Heyden S (2009) Why do we need to integrate population genetics into South African Marine Protected Area planning? African Journal of Marine Science 31: 263-269