Inbreeding load and purging: implications for the short-term survival and the conservation management of small populations.

Abstract excerpt

Using computer simulations, we evaluate the effects of genetic purging of inbreeding load in small populations, assuming genetic models of deleterious mutations which account for the typical amount of load empirically observed. Our results show that genetic purging efficiently removes the inbreeding load of both lethal and non-lethal mutations, reducing the amount of inbreeding depression relative to that...

Topics

• Breeding
• Computer Simulation
• Conservation of Natural Resources
• Genetic Variation
• Genetics, Population
• Inbreeding
• Models, Genetic
• Mutation
• Population Density