L. Nunney et Ka. Campbell, ASSESSING MINIMUM VIABLE POPULATION-SIZE - DEMOGRAPHY MEETS POPULATION-GENETICS, Trends in ecology & evolution, 8(7), 1993, pp. 234-239
The discussion of a population's minimum viable size provides a focus
for the study of ecological and genetic factors that influence the per
sistence of a threatened population. There are many causes of extincti
on and the fate of a specific population cannot generally be predicted
. This uncertainty has been dealt with in two ways: through stochastic
demographic models to determine how to minimize extinction probabilit
ies; and through population genetic theory to determine how best to ma
intain genetic variation, in the belief that the ability to evolve hel
ps buffer a population against the unknown. Recent work suggests that
these two very different approaches lead to very similar conclusions,
at least under panmictic conditions. However, defining the ideal spati
al distribution for an endangered species remains an important challen
ge.