POPULATION-GENETICS AND CONSERVATION IN NEW-ZEALAND - A HIERARCHICAL SYNTHESIS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE 1990S

The importance of understanding population genetics in planning effect ive management of small populations has been repeatedly emphasized. In breeding, loss of variation through drift, genetic differentiation amo ng populations and identification of taxa have received particular att ention. In this paper, I discuss the relative importance of these issu es in a hierarchical framework, and suggest some means of resolving th e debate surrounding them. Small island populations of plants and anim als around New Zealand present special opportunities for examining the bottleneck effects of both recent and prolonged inbreeding. In additi on to island distributions, the age and isolation of New Zealand and i ts associated fauna and flora have permitted an impressive radiation i n some groups. Perpetual representation of this phylogenetic biodivers ity is clearly an important goal of conservation, but the systematics of many groups is poorly known. Comparative molecular methods now allo w us to quantify this diversity from the level of the individual, thro ugh population and species, to the highest taxonomic divisions. The ev aluation of this historical differentiation is important not only for decisions relating to breeding programs (i.e. maximising fitness of of fspring by avoiding mating of closely related animals and those from d ifferent geographic subspecies): the objective recognition of biodiver sity at the genetical level is also significant to our understanding o f phylogenetic priority, and provides a common yardstick for various n ational conservation strategies.