Genetically Engineered Organisms, Wildlife, and Habitat A Workshop Summary (2008) / Chapter Skim
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3 Research Questions, Approaches, Projects, and Needs
3 Research Questions, Approaches, Projects, and Needs
Pages 33-48
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From page 33... ...
During the first breakout session, the groups were asked to identify research questions or topics related to the potential impacts of GEOs on wildlife and habitats at the given interface and to consider the range of research approaches available that could address these topics and themes, including fundamental or theoretical research, modeling, laboratory, and field approaches. During a second breakout session, the groups were assigned with building on the research topics they identified by drafting more specific proposals for research at their respective ecosystem interface.
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From page 34... ...
AGRICULTURE/WILDLAND INTERFACE Two separate groups met to discuss research topics examining the potential impacts of GEOs at the interface of agricultural lands and wildlands. Each group developed its ideas for questions that would be important to pursue, and they also described different approaches or tools to address those questions.
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From page 35... ...
One suggestion for a research topic was whether it would be possible to use the tools of genetic engineering to develop plants or microbes or other organisms that would be released in order to improve compromised or degraded ecosystems (e.g. transgenic microbes to metabolize soil contaminants or transgenic ash trees to protect against emerald ash borers)
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From page 36... ...
Identification and Use of Indicator Species It might be possible to identify species that would be useful indicators of direct effects of GE crops on wildlife, both for direct toxicity testing or other negative effects, and for examining effects at higher trophic levels. Perhaps standard protocols could be developed using indicators to evaluate the risk of GE crops to wildlife.
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From page 37... ...
Targeted Data Collection and Integration In addition to analyzing and integrating historical data, an effort could be made to collect data in farmlands that would permit detection of landscape-level and long-term effects of transgenic organisms. Key data to augment existing databases could include increased monitoring of agricultural habitat, a comprehensive database on commercial releases and field tests of transgenic events by county, determination of the incidence of high exposure of organisms in order to see spatial overlap with
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From page 38... ...
database and making satellite imagery available to the public at no charge via the Internet. Research Proposals The agriculture participants regrouped in the second breakout session to see if they could develop more research proposals based on the research topics summarized above.
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From page 39... ...
, could be addressed through a large-scale working farm experiment, situating study sites in areas where wildlife and habitats of concern overlap with agriculture, looking at current agricultural practices, as well as those anticipated in the next decade. The group proposed two regions to study soy and corn farming: The Platte River Valley because it is already designated as a USGS Priority Ecosystem Science Study Area and is a hotspot for migratory birds, and, as a contrast, upstate New York because of its different scale of agricultural land use, as well as different pests, wildlife, and habitats.
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From page 40... ...
summarized her group's proposal to estimate the number and diversity of bees and other pollinators on different habitat types in the agricultural landscape, to measure the seed set of selected native outcrossing species of plants, and to characterize landscape loads of pollen, including GE pollen. Because the study would focus on agricultural practices, which is broader than the use of GE crops, the study would be able to document the impact of GE pollen relative to other practices.
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Potential ecological effects include possible gene flow into native populations, nontarget activity of antibiosis (growth inhibition) or pathogenicity, the alteration of rhizosphere communities, and the alteration of species composition in wild plant communities.
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From page 42... ...
development of new technologies for genetic manipulation. Gene Flow Because current environmental concerns and regulations prevent gene flow from being studied in the field, the group felt that simulations and alternatives using GEO proxies, such as natural mutants, are needed.
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Biotechnology The effects of genetic background in forest trees on GE expression and the resulting phenotype is much less understood than in agricultural crops. The group saw a need for better technology for inserting genes precisely and for alternative breeding approaches for moving genetic constructs into different genetic backgrounds.
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The group proposed development of spatially explicit landscape models linked to the results of exemplar studies. Perhaps with the assistance of USGS mapping expertise, the research could answer questions about where genes will move and what impacts may occur.
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AQUACULTURE/AQUATIC HABITAT INTERFACE A significant challenge in studying the ecological effects of GE fish, in addition to the containment issue referred to earlier, is their diversity, said Tim King (USGS) , as he introduced the priority research areas of the aquatic subgroup.
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From page 46... ...
Research Approaches Development of Models of Critical Fitness and Ecological Consequences One approach to understanding and predicting fish-environment interactions is to develop models with real world conditions in mind. Thus, the breakout group felt that models need to be integrated with data collected on real ecosystems, fish demography, and information about the fish genetics as it relates to critical fitness traits and ecological consequence traits.
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From page 47... ...
Another important point of discussion was how to develop principles so that experiments help the risk assessment process, even if the experimental subject is not the exact species or environment that a regulatory agency has to deal with. The two research proposals of the fisheries group are as follows: Exploring the Environmental Impacts of GE Native Fish Species The group proposed research to look at the effects of genes that influence growth enhancement, disease resistance, and sterility/reproductive
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From page 48... ...
• Reproductive fitness: The research would explore whether the transgenic traits influence the ability of the non-native GE fish to become established. Field studies that look at the same ecological effects of unmodified non-native fish and that parallel these four studies would inform future risk assessments and mesocosm studies.
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