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Overcoming the issue of small sample sizes in fragmentation genetics
Author(s) -
STRUEBIG MATTHEW J.,
LE COMBER STEVEN C.,
ROSSITER STEPHEN J.
Publication year - 2012
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.2012.05610.x
Subject(s) - biology , sample size determination , fragmentation (computing) , species richness , evolutionary biology , habitat fragmentation , sampling (signal processing) , sample (material) , conservation genetics , population genetics , jump , population , allele , statistics , genetics , ecology , habitat , computer science , demography , mathematics , microsatellite , physics , filter (signal processing) , quantum mechanics , sociology , gene , computer vision , thermodynamics
Nazareno & Jump (2012) highlight potential issues with using small sample sizes in population genetic studies. By reanalysing allelic richness data from our recent publication on habitat fragmentation (Struebig et al. 2011), they assert that the observed relationship has been driven by three sites with the lowest number of individuals sampled. While sample size issues have been raised before in the genetic literature, Nazareno & Jump’s (2012) comment serves as a useful reminder to us all. Nevertheless, we disagree that our findings were significantly biased by sampling limitations. Here, we demonstrate by jackknifing that, contrary to the claims of Nazareno & Jump (2012), our correlations of allelic richness and fragment area are not driven solely by sites with low sample sizes. We maintain that small sample sizes can be accounted for in fragmentation studies and that sampling limitations should not detract from undertaking conservation genetic research.