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Long-term effective population size dynamics of an intensively monitored vertebrate population

Mueller, A. K. ; Chakarov, N. LU ; Krüger, O. and Hoffman, J. I. (2016) In Heredity 117(4). p.290-299
Abstract

Long-term genetic data from intensively monitored natural populations are important for understanding how effective population sizes (N e) can vary over time. We therefore genotyped 1622 common buzzard (Buteo buteo) chicks sampled over 12 consecutive years (2002-2013 inclusive) at 15 microsatellite loci. This data set allowed us to both compare single-sample with temporal approaches and explore temporal patterns in the effective number of parents that produced each cohort in relation to the observed population dynamics. We found reasonable consistency between linkage disequilibrium-based single-sample and temporal estimators, particularly during the latter half of the study, but no clear relationship between annual N e estimates () and... (More)

Long-term genetic data from intensively monitored natural populations are important for understanding how effective population sizes (N e) can vary over time. We therefore genotyped 1622 common buzzard (Buteo buteo) chicks sampled over 12 consecutive years (2002-2013 inclusive) at 15 microsatellite loci. This data set allowed us to both compare single-sample with temporal approaches and explore temporal patterns in the effective number of parents that produced each cohort in relation to the observed population dynamics. We found reasonable consistency between linkage disequilibrium-based single-sample and temporal estimators, particularly during the latter half of the study, but no clear relationship between annual N e estimates () and census sizes. We also documented a 14-fold increase in between 2008 and 2011, a period during which the census size doubled, probably reflecting a combination of higher adult survival and immigration from further afield. Our study thus reveals appreciable temporal heterogeneity in the effective population size of a natural vertebrate population, confirms the need for long-term studies and cautions against drawing conclusions from a single sample.

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author
; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Heredity
volume
117
issue
4
pages
10 pages
publisher
Macmillan
external identifiers
  • pmid:27553455
  • wos:000383707900012
  • scopus:84983464503
ISSN
0018-067X
DOI
10.1038/hdy.2016.67
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
034190d3-2eaa-4a9e-8993-4f300e6993c4
date added to LUP
2016-10-17 08:53:25
date last changed
2024-01-04 14:30:15
@article{034190d3-2eaa-4a9e-8993-4f300e6993c4,
  abstract     = {{<p>Long-term genetic data from intensively monitored natural populations are important for understanding how effective population sizes (N e) can vary over time. We therefore genotyped 1622 common buzzard (Buteo buteo) chicks sampled over 12 consecutive years (2002-2013 inclusive) at 15 microsatellite loci. This data set allowed us to both compare single-sample with temporal approaches and explore temporal patterns in the effective number of parents that produced each cohort in relation to the observed population dynamics. We found reasonable consistency between linkage disequilibrium-based single-sample and temporal estimators, particularly during the latter half of the study, but no clear relationship between annual N e estimates () and census sizes. We also documented a 14-fold increase in between 2008 and 2011, a period during which the census size doubled, probably reflecting a combination of higher adult survival and immigration from further afield. Our study thus reveals appreciable temporal heterogeneity in the effective population size of a natural vertebrate population, confirms the need for long-term studies and cautions against drawing conclusions from a single sample.</p>}},
  author       = {{Mueller, A. K. and Chakarov, N. and Krüger, O. and Hoffman, J. I.}},
  issn         = {{0018-067X}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{10}},
  number       = {{4}},
  pages        = {{290--299}},
  publisher    = {{Macmillan}},
  series       = {{Heredity}},
  title        = {{Long-term effective population size dynamics of an intensively monitored vertebrate population}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/hdy.2016.67}},
  doi          = {{10.1038/hdy.2016.67}},
  volume       = {{117}},
  year         = {{2016}},
}