Data Entry: Please note that the research database will be replaced by UNIverse by the end of October 2023. Please enter your data into the system https://universe-intern.unibas.ch. Thanks
Conservation genetics as a management tool: the five best-supported paradigms to assist the management of threatened species
Journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Volume
119
Number
1
Pages / Article-Number
e2105076119
Mesh terms
Animals; Biological Evolution; Conservation of Natural Resources; Endangered Species; Gene Flow; Genetic Load; Genetic Markers; Genetic Variation; Genetics, Population; Population Density; Population Dynamics
Abstract
About 50 y ago, Crow and Kimura [An Introduction to Population Genetics Theory (1970)] and Ohta and Kimura [Genet. Res. 22, 201-204 (1973)] laid the foundations of conservation genetics by predicting the relationship between population size and genetic marker diversity. This work sparked an enormous research effort investigating the importance of population dynamics, in particular small population size, for population mean performance, population viability, and evolutionary potential. In light of a recent perspective [J. C. Teixeira, C. D. Huber, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 118, 10 (2021)] that challenges some fundamental assumptions in conservation genetics, it is timely to summarize what the field has achieved, what robust patterns have emerged, and worthwhile future research directions. We consider theory and methodological breakthroughs that have helped management, and we outline some fundamental and applied challenges for conservation genetics.
