Lecture 15 - Conservation Genetics Flashcards
What are the six fields that conservation biology integrates?
- ecology
- behavior ecology
- physiology
- molecular biology
- genetics
- evolution
What are the 2 fields that make up conservation genetics?
- genetics
- evolution
Why has the interest in conservation biology grown?
concerns over loss of biodiversity
We are losing _______ at all levels
diversity
What are 2 reasons to preserve biodiversity?
- for its own sake
2. for humans own sake
What are 5 ecosystem services?
- pollination
- nutrient cycling
- purification of air/water
- detoxification/decomposition of wastes
- moderation of weather extremes
What are 2 uses of genetics in aid conservation?
- diagnose populations/species at genetic risk
2. prioritize populations/species worth of protection
What are 2 reasons that cause a small pop. to be at genetic risk?
- inbreeding depression
2. low genetic variation
What is inbreeding depression?
- breeding with close relative
- increases chance that parents will share same deleterious recessive alleles
In inbreeding depression what happens to the deleterious recessives?
exposed as homozygotes in offspring
What can low genetic variation result in?
-reduced ability to adapt to environmental changes
EX: alterations in climate
What are examples of a species harboring genetic variation to deal with never experienced challenges?
- melanic moths
- pesticide tolerance
Which species are particularly vulnerable to environmental challenges?
species with low genetic variation
What does low genetic var. and small pop. cause?
extinction vortex
What is a primary example of an extinction vortex?
prairie chickens
What is effective population size?
- size of ideal pop
- lose genetic variation due to genetic drift at same rate as actual pop.
What are 5 qualities of an ideal population/
- random mating
- no fluctuations in pop. size over ime
- no overlapping generations
- equal family sizes
- equal sex ratios
What does deviations from these ideal conditions generally cause?
effective pop size to be lower than census size
What are 2 general rules of conservation biologists?
- preserve things that are unique/unusual
2. do not put resources towards hybrids
What is an extinction vortex?
result of interaction between low genetic variation + small pop size (EX: prairie chicken)
What is Ne?
- Effective population size
- size of an ideal population that would lose genetic variation due to genetic drift at same rate as the actual population
What are ideal conditions for effective population size?
- random mating
- no flucuations in pop size over time
- no overlapping generations
- equal family sizes
- equal sex ratios
What are the 5 things that happen cyclically in a small population?
- small population
- inbreeding/genetic drift
- loss of genetic variability
- lower fitness and population adaptability
- lower reproduction, higher mortality
