Special Issue - “Effective population sizes in ecology and evolution”
(Eds.: Martin Husemann, Frank E. Zachos, Robert J. Paxton, Jan C. Habel)
Abstract:
Effective population size (Ne) (i.e. Drift/variance-Ne, Inbreeding-Ne, Breeding-Ne) is a
key parameter for evolutionary and conservation biologists. For the evolutionary
biologist, Ne comprises an estimate of the vulnerability of a population to stochastic
processes and therefore gives insights into the impact of drift and inbreeding on the gene
pool. For the conservation biologist, Ne can provide important information on the present
and future viability of a population. Despite the importance of this parameter, robust
estimates are still difficult to obtain. Current genetic estimation methods rely on
genotypes from populations sampled at single or multiple points in time. Large
uncertainties are associated with most estimators and no consensus has been reached
regarding a gold standard in terms of markers, methods and sampling strategy. The
advent of genomic methods and new modeling approaches allow for a more precise
estimation of Ne and historic demography. Yet, new models such as the pairwise
sequentially Markovian Coalescent (PSMC), or multiple sequentially Markovian
Coalescent (MSMC) so far have been mostly used for human data and studies employing
these methods in non-model organisms have yet to be carried out. Further, more refined
algorithms that allow the calculation of robust estimates from genomic data are largely
missing. The census population size, in turn, is estimated using classic ecological
methods, such as mark-recapture or transects, but the quality of estimates depends on
sampling effort. More refined ecological methods to estimate Ne have also been
developed, yet require large amounts of demographic data from a population, which are
often hard to obtain. Integrating population size estimates from genetic data and
ecological data allows inferences on the population structure and mating strategy of a
species and therefore can help to better understand demographic trends over time.
In this special issue we aim to address questions relevant not only to molecular ecologists
and conservation geneticists, but also to animal and plant breeders, researchers interested
in human population genomics and evolutionary biologists interested in speciation.
Contributions will summarize the current state of the art, provide case studies covering a
large range of biological systems using cutting-edge methodology, theoretically and
empirically evaluate the available methods and provide an outlook on potential future
approaches using genomic markers. We will specifically welcome contributions that
employ genome-wide SNP data and whole-genome sequences to estimate Ne in nonmodel systems. Further, we will encourage studies presenting new methods to analyze
genome-wide data to estimate Ne and other demographic parameters to provide a
comprehensive overview of the current state of the art of the field, and also to drive the
field further ahead.
Guest Editors:
Dr. Martin Husemann
Martin Husemann studied Biology in Osnabrück Germany and
got his B.Sc. and M.Sc. working on the phylogeography and
evolution of band-winged grasshoppers before he moved to
Baylor University (Texas) for a PhD on evolutionary forces
driving the diversification of East African cichlids. After a short
post-doc at the Technical University Munich in 2013-2014 on
population dynamics and diversification in East African birds,
he started as an assistant professor at the Martin-Luther
University Halle-Wittenberg in Germany in early 2014. Martin
is interested in the evolutionary forces driving population
divergence and speciation and uses phylogeographic,
phylogenetic and population genetic approaches in a variety of
organisms.
Dr. Frank E. Zachos
Frank E. Zachos studied biology and philosophy in Kiel and
Jena, Germany, and received a PhD from Kiel University in
2005 on genetic variability and fluctuating asymmetry in roe
deer. He continued as a postdoc researcher in Kiel and in 2009
became an assistant professor (“Privatdozent”) for zoology and
evolutionary biology. In 2010 he was a Marie-Curie fellow at
the Mammal Research Institute in Bialowieza, Poland, and
since 2011 he has been head of the Mammal Collection at the
Natural History Museum in Vienna, Austria. He is the editor of
Mammalian Biology and three book series on mammals and
biodiversity. His main research areas are: population/conservation genetics;
phylogeography and Quaternary history of mammals and birds; species concepts and
their consequences.
Prof. Robert Paxton
A graduate of Sussex University with a PhD on sex ratios in
solitary wasps (1985), Robert developed interests in bees and
sociality at Cardiff University (1985-1993) before undertaking
postdocs at the Department of Genetics of Uppsala University
(1993-1996) and the University of Tübingen (1996-2003). In 2003
he took a faculty position at Queen’s University Belfast then, in
2010, he moved back to Germany, to the University of Halle, to
take up a chair in zoology. His main research areas are: social
evolution, host-parasite relations in bees, pollination and
conservation genetics.
Dr. Jan Christian Habel
Jan Christian Habel studied environmental sciences at Leuphana
University Lüneburg, Germany, and performed his PhD in
population genetics and biogeography at Trier University,
Germany. He is now assistant professor in the Terrestrial Ecology
research group at the Technical University Munich, Germany. He
is working in the fields of molecular ecology, biogeography and
conservation biology