Marsupials from space: fluctuating asymmetry, geographical information systems and animal conservation
- 16 January 2006
- journal article
- Published by The Royal Society in Proceedings Of The Royal Society B-Biological Sciences
- Vol. 273 (1589) , 1007-1012
- https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2005.3386
Abstract
We report the development of a new quantitative method of assessing the effects of anthropogenic impacts on living beings; this method allows us to assess actual impacts and to travel backwards in time to assess impacts. In this method, we have crossed data on fluctuating asymmetry (FA, a measure of environmental or genetic stress), using Didelphis albiventris as a model, with geographical information systems data relating to environmental composition. Our results show that more impacted environments resulted in statistically higher levels of FA. Our method appears to be a useful and flexible conservation tool for assessing anthropogenic impacts.Keywords
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