Open AccessEffective number of breeders from sibship reconstruction: empirical evaluations using hatchery steelhead
Author(s) -
Ackerman Michael W.,
Hand Brian K.,
Waples Ryan K.,
Luikart Gordon,
Waples Robin S.,
Steele Craig A.,
Garner Brittany A.,
McCane Jesse,
Campbell Matthew R.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
evolutionary applications
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.776
H-Index - 68
ISSN - 1752-4571
DOI - 10.1111/eva.12433
Subject(s) - biology , pedigree chart , estimator , effective population size , population , statistics , evolutionary biology , genetics , genetic variation , demography , mathematics , sociology , gene
Effective population size ( N e ) is among the most important metrics in evolutionary biology. In natural populations, it is often difficult to collect adequate demographic data to calculate N e directly. Consequently, genetic methods to estimate N e have been developed. Two N e estimators based on sibship reconstruction using multilocus genotype data have been developed in recent years: sibship assignment and parentage analysis without parents. In this study, we evaluated the accuracy of sibship reconstruction using a large empirical dataset from five hatchery steelhead populations with known pedigrees and using 95 single nucleotide polymorphism ( SNP ) markers. We challenged the software COLONY with 2,599,961 known relationships and demonstrated that reconstruction of full‐sib and unrelated pairs was greater than 95% and 99% accurate, respectively. However, reconstruction of half‐sib pairs was poor (<5% accurate). Despite poor half‐sib reconstruction, both estimators provided accurate estimates of the effective number of breeders ( N b ) when sample sizes were near or greater than the true N b and when assuming a monogamous mating system. We further demonstrated that both methods provide roughly equivalent estimates of N b . Our results indicate that sibship reconstruction and current SNP panels provide promise for estimating N b in steelhead populations in the region.