Demography and environment modulate the effects of genetic diversity on extinction risk in a butterfly metapopulation.

ABSTRACT: Linking genetic diversity to extinction is a common goal in genomic studies. Recently, a debate has arisen regarding the importance of genetic variation in conservation as some studies have failed to find associations between genome-wide genetic diversity and extinction risk. However, only rarely are genetic diversity and fitness measured together in the wild, and typically demographic history and environment are ignored. It is therefore difficult to infer whether a lack of an association is real or obscured by confounding factors. To address these shortcomings, we analyzed genetic data from 7,501 individuals with extinction data from 279 meadows and mortality of 1,742 larval nests in a butterfly metapopulation. We found a strong negative association between genetic diversity and extinctio

SUBMITTER: DiLeo MF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11331070 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature