Many species have declined in the last century, and enormous efforts are currently invested to prevent their extinctions, mostly through management of habitat and reduction of human-induced disturbances. However, very few conservation measures have been thoroughly evaluated and very little is known on the response of populations to management plans.
Our group specialized in the applications of molecular tools to study demographic parameters in threatened vertebrate species following management actions. In particular, we monitored the spatial expansion and genetic structure of two protected mammal species, Eurasian beaver and Eurasian otter, now recovering after decades of overexploitation and persecution.