Genomic erosion in the assessment of species' extinction risk and recovery potential

van Oosterhout, Cock ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5653-738X, Speak, Samuel A. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4207-7562, Birley, Thomas, Hitchings, Lewis W. G., Bortoluzzi, Chiara, Percival-Alwyn, Lawrence, Urban, Lara, Groombridge, Jim J., Segelbacher, Gernot and Morales, Hernán E. (2026) Genomic erosion in the assessment of species' extinction risk and recovery potential. Journal of Heredity, 117 (5). pp. 1008-1021. ISSN 0022-1503

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Abstract

Many species are undergoing rapid population declines and environmental deterioration, leading to genomic erosion. Here we define genomic erosion as the loss of genetic diversity, accumulation of deleterious mutations, maladaptation, and introgression, all of which can undermine individual fitness and long-term population viability. Critically, this process continues even after demographic recovery due to a time-lagged impact of genetic drift, which is known as drift debt. Current conservation assessments, such as the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List, focus on short-term extinction risk and do not capture the long-term consequences of genomic erosion. Likewise, the longer-term assessments of the International Union for Conservation of Nature Green Status may overestimate population recovery by failing to account for the enduring effects of genomic erosion. As genome sequencing becomes increasingly accessible, there is a growing opportunity to quantify genomic erosion and integrate it into conservation planning. Here, we use genomic simulations to illustrate how different genomic metrics are sensitive to the drift debt. We test how ancestral effective population size (Ne) and bottleneck history influence the tempo and severity of genomic erosion. Furthermore, we demonstrate how these dynamics shape genetic load and additive genetic variation, which are key indicators of long-term evolutionary potential. Finally, we present a proof-of-concept for a Genomic Green Status framework that aligns genomic metrics with conservation impact assessments, laying the foundation for genomics-informed strategies to support species recovery.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	Data availability: The code used to support the arguments in this perspective is openly available in https://github.com/hmoral/genomic_erosion_perspective.
Uncontrolled Keywords:	biodiversity,conservation,extinction,genomic erosion,genomics,biotechnology,molecular biology,genetics,genetics(clinical) ,/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/1300/1305
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Science > School of Environmental Sciences
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Science > Research Centres > Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Environmental Biology Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Centre for Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences
Related URLs:	https://www.scopus.com/pages/publication...
Depositing User:	LivePure Connector
Date Deposited:	24 Sep 2026 11:09
Last Modified:	27 Sep 2026 05:31
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/104629
DOI:	10.1093/jhered/esag011

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