Water Access Boosts Genetic Diversity in Wildlife

by Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
April 27, 2026

Relatively simple habitat management can influence population genetics, providing conservation managers with the opportunity to support genetic resilience not only through breeding programs or translocations, but also by changing how essential resources are distributed in the wild, thereby avoiding more invasive methods that may harm populations.

A Ben-Gurion University of the Negev research team has demonstrated how resource distribution across a landscape can shape mating structure, reproductive success, and genetic diversity in wild populations, and have presented a practical framework for managers to use resource management to influence genetic diversity non-invasively.

Their findings were published in the journal Ecological Applications this month.

Dr. Shirli Bar-David, Prof. Amos Bouskila and their PhD student Noa Yaffa Kan-Lingwood demonstrated the principle through a case study of the Asiatic wild ass (Equus hemionus) population in the Negev Desert, Israel, which exhibits a resource-defense polygyny mating system, in which reproducing males establish territories near water sources to gain access to females, making water sources particularly important for mating.

Keep reading: https://www.bgu.ac.il/en/news-and-articles/water-access-boosts-genetic-diversity-in-wildlife/

Read the Ecological Applications paper: https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/eap.70226