Assessing evolutionary processes over time in a conservation breeding program: A combined approach using molecular data, simulations and pedigree analysis

Abstract

…We have quantified the effects of selection, drift and gene flow in 503 individuals across five generations from the Tasmanian devil insurance population. To determine whether different processes were acting in different settings, we separately analysed animals housed under individual-based management, versus those that were released to an island site. We found that a greater proportion of alleles were lost over time in the smaller island population than in captivity and propose that genetic drift is the most likely process influencing this result….