Combining genetic and demographic data for prioritizing conservation actions: insights from a threatened fish species.

ABSTRACT: Prioritizing and making efficient conservation plans for threatened populations requires information at both evolutionary and ecological timescales. Nevertheless, few studies integrate multidisciplinary approaches, mainly because of the difficulty for conservationists to assess simultaneously the evolutionary and ecological status of populations. Here, we sought to demonstrate how combining genetic and demographic analyses allows prioritizing and initiating conservation plans. To do so, we combined snapshot microsatellite data and a 30-year-long demographic survey on a threatened freshwater fish species (Parachondrostoma toxostoma) at the river basin scale. Our results revealed low levels of genetic diversity and weak effective population sizes (<63 individuals) in all populations. We furt

SUBMITTER: Paz-Vinas I 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3930054 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature