Genetic estimates of contemporary effective population size in an endangered butterfly indicate a possible role for genetic compensation.

ABSTRACT: The effective population size (N e ) is a critical evolutionary and conservation parameter that can indicate the adaptive potential of populations. Robust estimates of N e of endangered taxa have been previously hampered by estimators that are sensitive to sample size. We estimated N e on two remaining populations of the endangered Miami blue butterfly, a formerly widespread taxon in Florida. Our goal was to determine the consistency of various temporal and point estimators on inferring N e and to determine the utility of this information for understanding the role of genetic stochasticity. We found that recently developed 'unbiased estimators' generally performed better than some older methods in that the former had more realistic N e estimates and were more consistent with what is known

SUBMITTER: Saarinen EV 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3352457 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature