Population structure of the Aland Islands, Finland.

Abstract

The total description of population structure, as so well discussed by Harrison and Boyce,44 requires the integration of biological, social, and demographic data set in an ecological framework. This, by itself, is understood to be an unobtainable and unapproachable goal. Moreover, we recognize that a major aim of population research is to describe and understand the complex evolution of the population structure as well as to describe it at a single point in time. Unfortunately, process as such can never be inferred from structure and thus longitudinal perspectives are obligate. The time span underlying a processual problem varies according to the focus of the research, itself partially limited by human factors and the kinds of data which can be obtained (historical, archeological, demographic, biological, etc.). The study of population structure therefore involves both studies with a short time span, such as analyses of pathological or normal biological development or recent sociohistoric changes, and a long-term perspective on the macroevolutionary history antecedent to the contemporary biological and social structure.KeywordsGene FlowPopulation StructureFounder PopulationMain IslandKinship CoefficientThese 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.