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Diminishing return of investment in genetic diversity

Bach, Lars LU ; Pertoldi, Cino ; Vucetich, John A. ; Loeschcke, Volker and Lundberg, Per LU (2012) In Evolutionary Ecology Research 14(7). p.793-801
Abstract
Motive: Priorities in conservation management are often difficult to determine because we lack comparable biodiversity metrics. So that actions can be cost-effective, conservation decision-making and management needs such metrics. Question: What suitable metrics can compare efforts and investments in biodiversity conservation? How can established measures of genetic diversity be combined with the economic return-of-investment paradigm? Method: Use the return-of-investment approach, which has previously been restricted to issues of species diversity. Extend it to include genetic diversity. Use Taylor's power law to relate mean abundance, rates of genetic deterioration, and principles of return-of-investment. Key assumptions: We can specify... (More)
Motive: Priorities in conservation management are often difficult to determine because we lack comparable biodiversity metrics. So that actions can be cost-effective, conservation decision-making and management needs such metrics. Question: What suitable metrics can compare efforts and investments in biodiversity conservation? How can established measures of genetic diversity be combined with the economic return-of-investment paradigm? Method: Use the return-of-investment approach, which has previously been restricted to issues of species diversity. Extend it to include genetic diversity. Use Taylor's power law to relate mean abundance, rates of genetic deterioration, and principles of return-of-investment. Key assumptions: We can specify the relationship between cost of conservation and population size. Time-series data are available for each population. We can approximate the effective population size (N-e) of a fluctuating population as the harmonic mean population size. Conclusion: As the financial investment in conservation increases, the estimated marginal increase in genetic diversity diminishes. One can rank actions that increase mean population size according to their associated marginal increases in genetic diversity, thus evaluating which improvements offer the most value for money. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
adaptive potential, biodiversity, conservation, diminishing returns, genetic diversity, return of investment
in
Evolutionary Ecology Research
volume
14
issue
7
pages
793 - 801
publisher
Evolutionary Ecology Ltd
external identifiers
  • wos:000322374000002
  • scopus:84874924932
ISSN
1522-0613
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
cebb1aef-1a7a-486d-8500-60fe831dd449 (old id 4053477)
alternative location
http://www.evolutionary-ecology.com/issues/v14/n07/ddar2756.pdf
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 13:46:18
date last changed
2022-01-27 20:59:30
@article{cebb1aef-1a7a-486d-8500-60fe831dd449,
  abstract     = {{Motive: Priorities in conservation management are often difficult to determine because we lack comparable biodiversity metrics. So that actions can be cost-effective, conservation decision-making and management needs such metrics. Question: What suitable metrics can compare efforts and investments in biodiversity conservation? How can established measures of genetic diversity be combined with the economic return-of-investment paradigm? Method: Use the return-of-investment approach, which has previously been restricted to issues of species diversity. Extend it to include genetic diversity. Use Taylor's power law to relate mean abundance, rates of genetic deterioration, and principles of return-of-investment. Key assumptions: We can specify the relationship between cost of conservation and population size. Time-series data are available for each population. We can approximate the effective population size (N-e) of a fluctuating population as the harmonic mean population size. Conclusion: As the financial investment in conservation increases, the estimated marginal increase in genetic diversity diminishes. One can rank actions that increase mean population size according to their associated marginal increases in genetic diversity, thus evaluating which improvements offer the most value for money.}},
  author       = {{Bach, Lars and Pertoldi, Cino and Vucetich, John A. and Loeschcke, Volker and Lundberg, Per}},
  issn         = {{1522-0613}},
  keywords     = {{adaptive potential; biodiversity; conservation; diminishing returns; genetic diversity; return of investment}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{7}},
  pages        = {{793--801}},
  publisher    = {{Evolutionary Ecology Ltd}},
  series       = {{Evolutionary Ecology Research}},
  title        = {{Diminishing return of investment in genetic diversity}},
  url          = {{http://www.evolutionary-ecology.com/issues/v14/n07/ddar2756.pdf}},
  volume       = {{14}},
  year         = {{2012}},
}