Conservation genetics of long-lived mammal populations: Applications of individual-based models

Genetic methods can be used to decrease genetic risks of extinction or to estimate ecological and behavioral parameters important to conservation. The latter application of genetics is particularly relevant to long-lived mammal populations, where long-term data maybe absent. However, genetic methods alone may be insufficient to estimate the parameters of interest. I investigated the utility of combining detailed modeling approaches with genetic data for the conservation of long-lived mammals.; Defining management units and listing species endangerment are both important aspects of species conservation. In Chapters II and IV, I show how individual-based simulations can be applied to these aspects of conserving long-lived mammals. In Chapter II, individual-based models were used to investigate whether degree of genetic differentiation can be used to identify management units in Eastern Pacific gray whales. Results showed this to be the case. In Chapter IV, we developed a simulation-based method to estimate the annual effective population size using limited genetic data. Results showed that this method correctly estimates the effective number of males in a test genetic dataset for polygynous bats.; Since generational effective size in long-lived mammals controls the maintenance of genetic variability, its estimation is important to conservation geneticists. In chapter III, I used long-term data to estimate effective population size of a savannah baboon population and showed that only half the adults contribute genetically. My results also suggest that in order to maximize maintenance of high levels of genetic variation for species with baboon-like life histories, managers should strive to decrease variance in male reproductive success. This will also decrease selection against deleterious mutations with detrimental consequences for populations in the long-term. Since long-term data on long-lived mammal populations are rare, I investigated the possibility of scaling between annual and generational estimates of effective population size in these species in Chapter V. Using detailed individual-based male mating models with and without survival trade-offs, I showed that scaling is difficult in the absence of detailed data. However, results indicate that individual-based simulations can be used to estimate a range of possible generational effective sizes.