Conservation, Evolutionary, and Ecological Genetics Flashcards
Effective Population (Ne)
number of breeding animals in a theoretical population that would embody the entirety of the genetic diversity of the actual population
Ne = 1 is an example of?
a perfectly inbred population
Relationship between Ne and Genetic Diversity
lower Ne = less diversity
Relationship between Ne and Interrelatedness
lower Ne = higher average relatedness
Small Population Problems
- Inbreeding (dec fertility and offspring viability, more chance of recessive disorders)
- Population Bottlenecks
Population Bottlenecks and Ne
you lose genetic diversity in smaller populations, so if it rebounds, actual population goes up but effective population remains small
Genetics Tools and Conservation
-look at wild and captive populations
-formulate mating strategies to maximize genetic diversity
-sex in ovo embryos to manage sex skewed populations
-identifies species differences in phenotypically similar populations
Non-Invasive DNA Analysis
do not need to capture and handle individual animals
look at feces, hair, feathers, saliva, shed skin, etc
Convergent Evolution
trait shared by two separate species that developed independently as an adaptive response to similar environments or ecological niches (ex: fins/flippers)
Evolutionary Genetics
isolate DNA from ancient specimens (fossils, mummies, etc) to reconstruct evolutionary relationships or extinct and endangered animals
How do researchers date phylogenetic trees?
sequence the genomes and count the mutations that occur between them to estimate the amount of time passed
Is there usually one domestication event?
no - occuring all over (per ancient DNA sequencing)
5 Tenets of Evolutionary Genetics
Genetic Drift
changes in an allele frequency WITHIN a population
Gene Flow
changes/movements in alleles BETWEEN populations
Does increased genetic diversity increase or decrease the effective population (Ne) size?
increases Ne
Can evolution be fast?
yes (think elephants and tusks)
Ecological Genetics
focus on variations in natural populations that affect fitness, how it changes over time and/or between locations
Local Adaptation
locally adapted populations will have higher fitness at the native site versus any other population introduced to that site
Deer and Prairie Mice Tail Length is an example of what kind of genetics?
ecological
Can ecological niches lead to speciation?
yes (example: arctic and gray fox, salamanders)
Hybrids
result of mating between two animals or different breeds, varieties, species, or genera; may or may not be reproductively viable (ex: mules vs wolfdogs)
Gene Flow and Speciation
if gene flow can keep up, constrain speciation and maintain variation
