ORG.one project Spizaetus isidori

Part of the conservation genomics project in Ecuador led by Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Ecuador.Rapid sequencing of the critically endangered Andean eagle (Spizaetus isidori). Recognizing that small, isolated populations often experience decreased fitness due to inbreeding depression has shaped conservation strategies for many years. In contrast, long-term small population size results in a reduced burden of strongly deleterious recessive alleles, providing a mechanism for the absence of inbreeding depression. In this project, we are using WGS data on several Andean eagle samples to assess the effects of land fragmentation on the last isolated and known population of this species in the wild. In particular, we will evaluate ROH and the proportion of highly deleterious mutations and run simulations with SLim to determine if the Andean eagle is a long-term isolated population subject to purging selection of harmful variation or if this isolated population is highly inbred and in risk of extinction. No animals were harmed or killed for their DNA.