Saving Black Abalone through Conservation Genomics

Black abalone populations have plummeted since the 1980’s, due in part to overharvesting, disease, and environmental changes impacting the kelp forest habitats vital for their survival. To help save these plant-eating marine snails, researchers will generate basic genomic information to learn more about the diversity and structure of surviving populations. A better understanding of the complex adaptive patterns of surviving black abalone, including genetic adaptations to survive devastating disease outbreaks, will greatly benefit conservation efforts. The team hopes this new information will help inform captive breeding of black abalone as well as strategies to reintroduce them to once-abundant areas of abalone habitat in the kelp forest ecosystems along the Pacific coast from Mexico to Northern California.