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Estimation of effective population size and detection of a recent population decline coinciding with habitat fragmentation in a ground beetle
Author(s) -
Keller I.,
Excoffier L.,
Largiadèr C. R.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
journal of evolutionary biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.289
H-Index - 128
eISSN - 1420-9101
pISSN - 1010-061X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1420-9101.2004.00794.x
Subject(s) - biology , effective population size , population , habitat fragmentation , population size , fragmentation (computing) , ground beetle , endangered species , habitat , ecology , mark and recapture , small population size , population decline , zoology , demography , genetic variation , genetics , gene , sociology
We assess the impact of habitat fragmentation on the effective size ( N e ) of local populations of the flightless ground beetle Carabus violaceus in a small (<25 ha) and a large (>80 ha) forest fragment separated by a highway. N e was estimated based on the temporal variation of allele frequencies at 13 microsatellite loci using two different methods. In the smaller fragment, N e estimates ranged between 59 and a few hundred, whereas values between 190 and positive infinity were estimated for the larger fragment. In both samples, we detected a signal of population decline, which was stronger in the small fragment. The estimated time of onset of this N e reduction was consistent with the hypothesis that recent road constructions have divided a continuous population into several isolated subpopulations. In the small fragment, N e of the local population may be so small that its long‐term persistence is endangered.