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The effects of cyclic dynamics and mating system on the effective size of an island mouflon population
Author(s) -
KAEUFFER RENAUD,
COLTMAN DAVID W.,
CHAPUIS JEANLOUIS,
RÉALE DENIS,
PONTIER DOMINIQUE
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
molecular ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.619
H-Index - 225
eISSN - 1365-294X
pISSN - 0962-1083
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-294x.2007.03501.x
Subject(s) - biology , effective population size , mating system , polygyny , population , population size , mating , sex ratio , ecology , ovis , archipelago , small population size , zoology , demography , genetic variation , evolutionary biology , sociology , habitat
The Haute Island mouflon ( Ovis aries ) population is isolated on one small (6.5 km 2 ) island of the remote Kerguelen archipelago. Given a promiscuous mating system, a cyclic demography and a strong female‐biased sex ratio after population crashes, we expected a low effective population size ( N e ). We estimated N e using demographic and temporal genetic approaches based on genetic information at 25 microsatellite loci from 62 and 58 mouflons sampled in 1988 and 2003, respectively. Genetic N e estimates were higher than expected, varying between 104 and 250 depending on the methods used. Both demographic and genetic approaches show the Haute Island N e is buffered against population crashes. The unexpectedly high N e likely results from the cyclic winter crashes that allow young males to reproduce, limiting the variance of male reproductive success. Based on individual‐based simulations, we suggest that despite a strongly female‐biased sex ratio, the effects of the mating system on the effective population size more closely resemble random mating or weak polygyny.