TITLE:
Monitoring Endangered Species Populations: Gene Dispersal Can Have Pronounced Effects on the Relationship between Census Size and Genetic Diversity
AUTHORS:
Steven H. Rogstad, Stephan Pelikan
KEYWORDS:
Biodiversity; Fragmented Populations; Plant Population Modeling; Population Genetics; Restoration Management; Species Conservation
JOURNAL NAME:
American Journal of Plant Sciences,
Vol.4 No.10,
October
9,
2013
ABSTRACT: Anthropogenic activities are increasing habitat
fragmentation, as well as the number of threatened and endangered species. Thus,
isolated fragments with natural remnant stands, or in situ or ex situ endangered species rescue populations, are on the rise. The most common method
for assessing the “conservation health” of such populations is to determine or
estimate the census size. However, while it is known that the census size of a
population does not always correlate with its genetic diversity, methods for
modeling how different factors can drive variation in the relationship of
census size to genetic diversity in plant populations are needed. Here we use
the computer program NEWGARDEN to investigate how the relationship of stand
size versus genetic diversity (measured as both the percent of the founding
alleles retained and FIT) can be extremely variable depending on
founder number, founder density, and gene dispersal distances. Populations of
endangered species that appear to have the same conservation health in terms of
similar population numbers may differ greatly in their conservation health as
indicated by the genetic diversity they retain. NEWGARDEN can be used to
explore how different founding and intra- or interspecific life history characteristics
can affect genetic diversity relative to census size. If proper historical data
exist, NEWGARDEN can also be used to estimate the percent of founding genetic
diversity remaining in a given stand.