Population structure, gene flow and dispersal are some of the most commonly estimated population parameters in population genetics, evolutionary biology and conservation genetics. The primary aim of thesis is to test the precision and accuracy of genetic estimates of population structure, gene flow and dispersal. The controlled replicated Drosophila melanogaster experiments of known effective population size (Ne = 14.3) and dispersal rate (m = 0.0025 - 0.04) all adhered to Wright??s demographic island model. Three statistical approaches were empirically tested: 1) the conversion of population structure to gene flow using FST, RST, SHUA and PhiST ; 2) the private alleles method to estimate gene flow; 3) a Bayesian assignment method to estimate dispersal (BAYESASS 1.2). Even in the best-case scenario, almost all current methods except SHUA significantly underestimate population structure, and consequently overestimate gene flow and dispersal when applied to real populations. It was crucial to ensure that the manipulated rate of gene flow was correctly defined. This led to three supporting investigations of hybrid performance, inversion polymorphisms and effective population size. The hybrid performance investigation demonstrated that the manipulated rate of gene flow had not been unexpectedly inflated by hybrid vigour or reduced by breakdown. These experiments also demonstrated that close inbreeding is not a necessary precondition for hybrid vigour or breakdown, which is important for conservation strategies involving induced dispersal. The investigation of inversion polymorphisms ensured that the manipulated rate of gene flow was not affected by selection on inverted regions. The effective population size investigation used a temporal estimation method to confirm that the Ne was accurately predicted by an N:Ne ratio of 0.286. Additionally this experiment showed that the single-sample estimation methods implemented by ONeSAMP or LDNE resulted in downwardly biased estimates of Ne in structured populations. In conclusion these results call into question the confidence that biologists may have in some of the most widely used molecular tools in conservation biology.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/257982 |
| Date | January 2009 |
| Creators | Holleley, Clare Ellen, Biological, Earth & Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science, UNSW |
| Publisher | Publisher:University of New South Wales. Biological, Earth & Environmental Sciences |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | http://unsworks.unsw.edu.au/copyright, http://unsworks.unsw.edu.au/copyright |
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