One of most challenging problems fragmented populations face is reduced fitness due to breeding with close relatives (inbreeding depression). The authors of this paper, Modeling Problems in Conservation Genetics Using Captive Drosophila Populations: Rapid Genetic Adaptation to Captivity, modeled the fitness effect of introducing a single immigrant to a series of partially inbred populations. The authors found that the immigrant populations demonstrated significantly greater relative reproductive fitness compared to the isolated populations. These results suggest that the introduction of a single individual can have a large impact on the fitness of an endangered population.
Relative Reproductive Fitness of the Isolated Populations (RC) & the Immigrant Populations (IRC)
Elaine Miller – Potluck 4/7/2020
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