Do estimates of contemporary effective population size tell us what we want to know?

ABSTRACT: Estimation of effective population size (N_e ) from genetic marker data is a major focus for biodiversity conservation because it is essential to know at what rates inbreeding is increasing and additive genetic variation is lost. But are these the rates assessed when applying commonly used N_e estimation techniques? Here we use recently developed analytical tools and demonstrate that in the case of substructured populations the answer is no. This is because the following: Genetic change can be quantified in several ways reflecting different types of N_e such as inbreeding (N_eI ), variance (N_eV ), additive genetic variance (N_eAV ), linkage disequilibrium equilibrium (N_eLD ), eigenvalue (N_eE ) and coalescenc

SUBMITTER: Ryman N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6850010 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature