Genetics of Insect Populations in Fragmented Landscapes - A Comparison of Species and Habitats

Abstract

Genetic stochasticity is considered an influencing factor in population survival (e.g. Shaffer 1981), hence population genetic theory and analysis are increasingly included in conservation biology (e.g. Hedrick & Miller 1992, Lande & Shannon 1996). Population genetic analyses in conservation biology have two major aims: (i) to demonstrate that genetic variability or single genetic variants are linked to fitness parameters such as viability, fecundity, and mating components (e.g. Richman et al. 1988), and (ii) to analyse the processes that cause the observed pattern of genetic variability. From a more practical point of view, analyses of population genetics may provide data that can be included in simulation models for the estimation of population viability and for the persistence of genetic variability in metapopulations under different environmental scenarios (Poethke et al. in press).KeywordsGene FlowDispersal AbilityConservation BiologyInsect PopulationFragmented LandscapeThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.