查看文章

Research focusing on population genetic variation has informed our understanding of North American wild sheep conservation and management for decades. New techniques, however, are emerging at an increasing rate, including genomics approaches that investigate a larger portion of the genome than was previously possible. Research has addressed questions at many scales, from assessing relationships among individuals within single populations, to broad‐scale patterns of genetic variation across multiple states or provinces, to deep evolutionary relationships among species. Meanwhile, wildlife managers seek answers for management‐relevant questions old and new that could be informed by appropriate analyses using traditional population genetics tools and newer genomic methodologies. Improving communication among researchers and wildlife managers responsible for wild sheep populations or other taxa across multiple jurisdictions, as well as clarifying what questions are best addressed by different genetic or genomic approaches, could facilitate collaboration and improve research. To that end, the informal Wild Sheep Genomic Working Group was established in 2018, including members from both research and management backgrounds. A “frequently‐asked questions”(FAQ) document was established to facilitate conversation; questions were collated from group members and presented as part of a special session on genetics and genomics at the Northern Wild Sheep and Goat Council Symposium held in Whitefish, Montana, during May 2018. Here, we present an edited version of those questions with responses provided …