A Practical Guide For Genetic Management Of Fragmented Animal And Plant Populations Preface

The biological diversity of the planet is being rapidly depleted due to the direct and indirect consequences of human activity. As the size of wild animal and plant populations decreases and fragmentation increases, inbreeding reduces fitness and loss of genetic diversity reduces their ability to adapt to changes in the environment. Many small isolated populations are going extinct unnecessarily. In many cases, such populations can be genetically rescued by gene flow from another population within the species, but this is very rarely done. This book provides a practical guide to the genetic management of fragmented animal and plant populations.