POPULATION-GENETICS IN SOUTHERN AFRICA - WHAT ARE THE QUESTIONS

The study of population genetics in southern Africa is a young, but im portant discipline because of its relevance to systematics and the con servation of biotic diversity. The fundamental goals of population gen etics are to measure the amounts of genetic variability within and amo ng subpopulations and to understand the mechanisms producing the varia bility. Although there are powerful statistical approaches and molecul ar methods to achieve these goals, there is a tendency among molecular biologists in South Africa to pursue the development of new laborator y techniques, rather than to formulate and rigorously test 'bold' hypo theses with methods that permit the analysis of large sample sizes. Th ere are three important directions for research in southern Africa: (1 ) the measurement of population genetic structure, (2) the study of th e influence of historical biogeographical events on present-day popula tions, and (3) the use of more realistic models to understand the gene tics of natural populations.