Population Genetics and Effective Population Size of the Critically Endangered Nihoa Millerbird (Acrocephalus Familiaris Kingi)

Abstract

ABSTRACT. Many species endemic to isolated islands are of conservation interest because of concerns over the potentially devastating effects of environmental stochasticity and the pending threat of anthropogenic influences and invasive species. The effective size (Ne) of these species is a key parameter in their conservation because it predicts the detrimental effects of inbreeding or genetic drift and can be used to inform management plans. We used microsatellite allele frequencies (4 loci) and mtDNA (control region; cytochrome b) sequences to assess the genetic diversity and the effective number of breeders (Nb) in the Nihoa Millerbird (Acrocephalus familiaris kingi), a critically endangered passerine endemic to the northwest Hawaiian island of Nihoa. Using samples collected in 2007 and 2009, our results reveal extremely low levels of genetic diversity at both microsatellites and mtDNA, and both approximate Bayesian computation (ABC) and sibship methods indicate that the effective number of breeders (Nb...