Judkins
Research
Bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) are found on the North American continent typically around bodies of water. Bald eagles suffered from an extreme bottleneck caused by DDT in the mid 1900’s. This bottleneck was a major contributor to a population crash leaving only 387 nesting pairs in the contiguous United States. While the population has increased and is currently in exponential growth, the current and historical genetic variation is unknown. Furthermore, populations that differ from the normal behavior of bald eagles, such as Sonoran Desert bald eagles, are of concern as some believe it should be managed as a separate management unit from other bald eagles. Currently, bald eagles suffer from stressors such as habitat loss, lead poisoning, illegal shootings, electrocutions, and windfarms.
While bald eagles have an interesting history with their relatively quick population decline and recovery, little genetic work has been done to determine the results of this decline. Furthermore, basic ecological questions about bald eagles are highly disputed. My research aims to fill in some of these knowledge gaps about bald eagles. My third chapter of my dissertation aims to develop genetically based conservation units using the ~37,000 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) I have developed. I hope to provide insight into the best management practices for bald eagles, determine regions of the genome under selection, be able to identify the natal location of eagles and their parts, and provide tools for forensics purposes. I also hope to be able to provide insight into the results of the bottleneck and reintroductions of bald eagles around the country (citation below). My fourth chapter aims to do an in-depth study of bald eagle in the New Jersey area. The samples for this chapter come from nestlings that have been surveyed for 30 years. Using my SNP array, I plan to look at parentage, relatedness, inbreeding, etc. to answer some of the debated ecological questions about bald eagles. I also hope to compare the current state of this population to other populations throughout the United States. I am currently doing analyses on this chapter.
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1. Judkins M.E., Bouger B.M., Warren W.C., Van Den Bussche R.A. (2019) A 50K SNP array reveals genetic structure for bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus). Conservation Genetics. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10592-019-01216-x.
To learn more about my first and second chapter, please visit my golden eagle research page.