pop size & genetic differentiation
Up to Week 6: Null models in landscape geneticspop size & genetic differentiation
Posted by Niko Balkenhol at March 16. 2009Hi Rolf,
You might already point it out, but effective population size can also influence neutral genetic differentiation, not just neutral genetic diversity. (In fact: Are you explaining the difference between diversity and structure, or is someone else?) I feel that’s often overlooked in current studies…we mostly focus on the landscape in-between samples, but location-specific factors can also influence gene flow (e.g., density-dependent dispersal, reproduction and survival). Thus, if we have populations of varying sizes/densities, we might expect certain genetic structures, even if gene flow is not influence by space or the matrix. (And this might actually tie in niceley with the net-work approaches discussed by Melanie in lecture 9.)
Looks great otherwise!