Measuring Health and Stress of Wildlife Amphibian Populations

One of the central questions in wildlife management is also the most difficult to answer: What constitutes a healthy population of animals? Researchers feel that epigenetics can offer new insights into wildlife health. Epigenetics is a field of study that focuses on changes in gene activity that do not involve changes in DNA sequences. One epigenetic process, DNA methylation (DNAm), is attracting a great deal of attention because of how well it aligns to age. DNAm occurs when molecules (methyl groups) bind to DNA and alter how genes are expressed. As individuals age, methyl groups accumulate on our DNA. Notably, this accumulation is thought to happen faster during periods of stress or otherwise unhealthy living conditions, leading to faster aging of the body relative to calendar age. By measuring DNAm levels in organisms, researchers hope to get a clear picture of both the calendar age and overall health of three closely related toad species – western toads, Yosemite toads and Dixie Valley toads. The team will use tools recently developed by UCLA scientists for measuring DNAm from easily obtainable DNA samples. They hope findings will show how epigenetics can successfully measure the health of threatened and endangered amphibians, with broader insights to help with conservation efforts of multiple animal species.