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1 May 2010 Got Hybridization? A Multidisciplinary Approach for Informing Science Policy
Norman C. Ellstrand, David Biggs, Andrea Kaus, Pesach Lubinsky, Lucinda A. McDade, Kristine Preston, Linda M. Prince, Helen M. Regan, Veronique Rorive, Oliver A. Ryder, Kristina A. Schierenbeck
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Abstract

Hybridization in the wild between closely related species is not unusual. In some cases, hybridization may prove beneficial for a rare taxon. Under certain conditions, however, a rare taxon can be driven rapidly to extinction by hybridizing with a more common taxon. This problem is urgent because human activities are increasingly bringing together cross-compatible species that were previously geographically isolated. US conservation policy has yet to address how to deal with hybrid-derived individuals whose ancestry includes an endangered species. Developing sound science-based conservation policy that addresses hybridization requires cross-disciplinary social-science and life-science research to address the following two questions: (1) How do human decisions with regard to species protection, trade, transportation, land use, and other factors affect the opportunities for, and rates of hybridization between, rare species and more common relatives? and (2) How do the positive or negative perceived values regarding hybrids and hybrid-derived individuals compare with values regarding their nonhybridized counterparts from social, cultural, economic, and environmental perspectives? In this article we explore the ways to inform such policy using a multidisciplinary approach.

© 2010 by American Institute of Biological Sciences. All rights reserved. Request permission to photocopy or reproduce article content at the University of California Press's Rights and Permissions Web site at www.ucpressjournals.com/reprintinfo.asp.
Norman C. Ellstrand, David Biggs, Andrea Kaus, Pesach Lubinsky, Lucinda A. McDade, Kristine Preston, Linda M. Prince, Helen M. Regan, Veronique Rorive, Oliver A. Ryder, and Kristina A. Schierenbeck "Got Hybridization? A Multidisciplinary Approach for Informing Science Policy," BioScience 60(5), 384-388, (1 May 2010). https://doi.org/10.1525/bio.2010.60.5.8
Published: 1 May 2010
JOURNAL ARTICLE
5 PAGES

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KEYWORDS
anthropogenic change
conservation
extinction
hybridization
policy
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