Academic literature on the topic 'Population genetic connectivity'

Abstract Population genetics studies genetic variation involving gene and allele frequencies in spatial and temporal space. Genetic information can be used in conservation management through identification of phylogenetic tree reconstructions, genetic distance, genetic structure, and haplotype connectivity to maintain population existence. The samples used were primary genetic data of Siganus canaliculatus taken from Indonesian waters and secondary data accessed from the BOLD SYSTEM database from several locations, namely Indonesia, China, and Bangladesh. This research was conducted to determine the kinship of Siganus canaliculatus in Indonesia, China, and Bangladesh through genetic analysis. The results of genetic distance analysis showed that the baronang fish samples from China and Bangladesh had a close relationship with a value of 0.0534 while samples from Indonesia and Bangladesh had the farthest relationship with a value of 0.8212. Reconstruction of the phylogeny tree at maximum likelihood can show convergence within the same clade. The results of the reconstruction of the phylogeny tree showed that the species from Ambon, Bali, and Lombok came from the same clade while samples from Bangladesh had different clades with the furthest distance. The results of structural analysis and genetic diversity showed that samples from Bangladesh, China, and Indonesia had different DNA characteristics. This is correlated with the form of network integration in haplotype connectivity analysis.

Studying demographic and genetic connectivity can help assess marine metapopulation structure. Rays and skates have no larval phase; hence, population connectivity can only result from active movement of individuals. Using thornback ray (Raja clavata) in European waters as a case study, demographic and genetic connectivity were studied for 11 putative populations with unequal population abundances and two hypotheses of dispersal rates. Genetic simulation results highlighted three large metapopulations: in the Mediterranean, around the Azores, and on the Northeast Atlantic shelf. Demographic results highlighted a finer population structure indicating that several pairs of putative populations might be demographically linked. Results were highly sensitive to dispersal assumptions and relative population abundances, which provided insights into the potential magnitude of genetic and demographic connectivity differences. Accounting for demographic connectivity appears to be crucial for managing and conserving rays and skates, while genetic connectivity provides a longer-term perspective and less subtle spatial structures. Moreover, accounting for heterogeneity in population abundances is a key factor for determining or interpreting metapopulation connectivity.

Demographic bottlenecks that occur when populations fluctuate in size erode genetic diversity, but that diversity can be recovered through immigration. Connectivity among populations and habitat patches in the landscape enhances immigration and should in turn facilitate recovery of genetic diversity after a sudden reduction in population size. For the conservation of genetic diversity, it may therefore be particularly important to maintain connectivity in the face of factors that increase demographic instability, such as climate change. However, a direct link between connectivity and recovery of genetic diversity after a demographic bottleneck has not been clearly demonstrated in an empirical system. Here, we show that connectivity of habitat patches in the landscape contributes to the maintenance of genetic diversity after a demographic bottleneck. We were able to monitor genetic diversity in a network of populations of the alpine butterfly, Parnassius smintheus, before, during, and after a severe reduction in population size that lasted two generations. We found that allelic diversity in the network declined after the demographic bottleneck but that less allelic diversity was lost from populations occupying habitat patches with higher connectivity. Furthermore, the effect of connectivity on allelic diversity was important during the demographic recovery phase. Our results demonstrate directly the ability of connectivity to mediate the rescue of genetic diversity in a natural system.

Both landscape structure and population size fluctuations influence population genetics. While independent effects of these factors on genetic patterns and processes are well studied, a key challenge is to understand their interaction, as populations are simultaneously exposed to habitat fragmentation and climatic changes that increase variability in population size. In a population network of an alpine butterfly, abundance declined 60–100% in 2003 because of low over-winter survival. Across the network, mean microsatellite genetic diversity did not change. However, patch connectivity and local severity of the collapse interacted to determine allelic richness change within populations, indicating that patch connectivity can mediate genetic response to a demographic collapse. The collapse strongly affected spatial genetic structure, leading to a breakdown of isolation-by-distance and loss of landscape genetic pattern. Our study reveals important interactions between landscape structure and temporal demographic variability on the genetic diversity and genetic differentiation of populations. Projected future changes to both landscape and climate may lead to loss of genetic variability from the studied populations, and selection acting on adaptive variation will likely occur within the context of an increasing influence of genetic drift.

Abstract Accounting for connectivity is essential in marine spatial planning and the proper design and management of marine protected areas, given that their effectiveness depends on the patterns of dispersal and colonization between protected and non-protected areas. The genetic structure of populations is commonly used to infer connectivity among distant populations. Here, we explore how population genetic structure is affected by pre- and settlement limitations with a spatially explicit coupled metapopulation-gene flow model that simulates the effect of demographic fluctuations on the allele frequencies of a set of populations. We show that in closed populations, regardless of population growth rate, the maintenance of genetic diversity at saturating initial population density increases with species life expectancy as a result of density-dependent recruitment control. Correlatively, at low initial population density, the time at which a population begins to lose its genetic diversity is driven larval and post-settlement mortality (comprised in the recruitment success parameter)—the larger the recruitment success, the stronger the genetic drift. Different spatial structures of connectivity established for soft bottom benthic invertebrates in the Gulf of Lions (NW Mediterranean, France) lead to very different results in the spatial patterns of genetic structuration of the metapopulation, with high genetic drift in sites where the local retention rate was larger than 2%. The effect of recruitment failure and the loss of key source populations on heterozygosity confirm that transient demographic fluctuations help maintain genetic diversity in a metapopulation. This study highlights the role of intraspecific settlement limitations due to lack of space when the effective number of breeders approaches saturating capacity, causing a strong reduction in effective reproduction. The present model allows to: (i) disentangle the relative contribution of local demography and environmental connectivity in shaping seascape genetics, and (ii) perform in silico evaluations of different scenarios for marine spatial planning.

Landscape genetics provides a framework for pinpointing environmental features that determine the important exchange of migrants among populations. These studies usually test the significance of environmental variables on gene flow, yet ignore one fundamental driver of genetic variation in small populations, effective population size, N e . We combined both approaches in evaluating genetic connectivity of a threatened ungulate, woodland caribou. We used least-cost paths to calculate matrices of resistance distance for landscape variables (preferred habitat, anthropogenic features and predation risk) and population-pairwise harmonic means of N e , and correlated them with genetic distances, F ST and D c . Results showed that spatial configuration of preferred habitat and N e were the two best predictors of genetic relationships. Additionally, controlling for the effect of N e increased the strength of correlations of environmental variables with genetic distance, highlighting the significant underlying effect of N e in modulating genetic drift and perceived spatial connectivity. We therefore have provided empirical support to emphasize preventing increased habitat loss and promoting population growth to ensure metapopulation viability.

The Mugger Crocodile (Crocodylus palustris) is a threatened reptile inhabiting the Indian Sub-continent and Western Asia. Despite its “Vulnerable” conservation status, data about population genetic structure and connectivity are unavailable. This study makes a preliminary assessment of the genetic diversity, population structure and habitat connectivity ofC. palustrisin Iran. Ten tissue samples collected along the Sarbaz-Bahukalat basins were analysed and a set of 12 microsatellites was genotyped. Genetic diversity indices were estimated and population substructuring was assessed through Bayesian clustering analysis. Potential connectivity was verified through Remote Sensing water indexes, further implemented in a circuit analysis. Low genetic diversity was observed (mean observed heterozygosity = 0.35; mean expected heterozygosity = 0.43) and no population structure was found (K = 1). Water index and circuit analysis suggested possible connection among sites. This study highlights the potential vulnerability of crocodile populations and the importance of habitat connectivity for their persistence in the arid regions of Iran.

Roanoke bass (Ambloplites cavifrons) persist in five river basins in the eastern US, where they are threatened by invasive species, habitat loss and degradation, and hydrologic fragmentation. We conducted the first conservation genetic study of A. cavifrons, analyzing variation at 19 nuclear microsatellite DNA loci and the cytochrome b mitochondrial DNA gene to estimate population structure and demography, genetic relationships among populations, and the role of landscape features in regulating genetic diversity and differentiation. Most streams harbored genetically distinguishable populations, with high connectivity among reaches within streams but no contemporary dispersal among streams. In contrast, mitochondrial divergence within and among basins was weak, suggesting historically higher range-wide connectivity. Most populations exhibited small effective population sizes and evidence of past population bottlenecks. Genetic diversity correlated positively with patch size but negatively with watershed urban and agricultural development, suggesting that habitat loss, degradation, and fragmentation have acted in concert to reduce population viability. Mitigating these impacts may require a combination of tactics, including restoring habitat, limiting the spread of invasive competitors, and reestablishing historical connectivity.

Ecological restoration can promote biodiversity conservation in anthropogenically fragmented habitats, but effectiveness of these management efforts need to be statistically validated to determine ’success.’ One such approach is to gauge the extent of recolonization as a measure of landscape permeability and, in turn, population connectivity. In this context, we estimated dispersal and population connectivity in prairie vole (Microtus ochrogaster; N = 231) and meadow vole (M. pennsylvanicus; N = 83) within five tall-grass prairie restoration sites embedded within the agricultural matrix of midwestern North America. We predicted that vole dispersal would be constrained by the extent of agricultural land surrounding restored habitat patches, spatially isolating vole populations and resulting in significant genetic structure. We first employed genetic assignment tests based on 15 microsatellite DNA loci to validate field-derived species-designations, then tested reclassified samples with multivariate and Bayesian clustering to assay for spatial and temporal genetic structure. Population connectivity was further evaluated by calculating pairwise FST, then potential demographic effects explored by computing migration rates, effective population size (Ne), and average relatedness (r). Genetic species assignments reclassified 25% of initial field identifications (N = 11 M. ochrogaster; N = 67 M. pennsylvanicus). In M. ochrogaster population connectivity was high across the study area, reflected in little to no spatial or temporal genetic structure. In M. pennsylvanicus genetic structure was detected, but relatedness estimates identified it as kin-clustering instead, underscoring social behavior among populations rather than spatial isolation as the cause. Estimates of Ne and r were stable across years, reflecting high dispersal and demographic resilience. Combined, these metrics suggest the agricultural matrix is highly permeable for voles and does not impede dispersal. High connectivity observed confirms that the restored landscape is productive and permeable for specific management targets such as voles and also demonstrates population genetic assays as a tool to statistically evaluate effectiveness of conservation initiatives.

Contemporary oceanic conditions and local dispersal of propagules influence the genetic diversity and connectivity among seagrass populations. The degree of connectivity between populations of Zostera muelleri in south-eastern Australia is unknown. In this study we examined genetic connectivity among 25 sites containing Z. muelleri using nine polymorphic microsatellite DNA loci. We hypothesised minimal sharing of genetic material between distant populations and a degree of connectivity between local populations. Genotypic diversity was high, with 64% of populations having unique multilocus genotypes (MLGs), indicating the importance of sexual reproduction. Two sites shared MLGs, which may be due to the dispersal and recruitment of vegetative propagules. Genetic differentiation was observed between most sites. With the exception of two outlying sites, two genetic population clusters were identified across the studied populations. Regionally, the populations have high clonal diversity, are strongly differentiated and generally exist in isolation from one another. However, non-significant within-estuary differentiation was observed for three estuaries, indicating a degree of connectivity. The results of this research improve our understanding of the connectivity of Z. muelleri populations in the region, an important process for managing this ecosystem engineer.

A panel of 48 single nucleotide polymorphism markers (SNPs) was developed for use in a population genetic analysis of the Eastern Oyster Crassostrea virginica sampled from the lower Chesapeake Bay. The SNPs were developed from published and unpublished sequencing data and developed to be used on a Fluidigm Biomark. A selection of 95 SNPs were chosen initially for development and the best 48 were selected for downstream applications. This project was a collaboration with the non-profit Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) to examine their oyster reef restoration project in the Lafayette River, Virginia. The CBF wanted to test a hydrodynamic connectivity model designed to predict where oyster larvae produced in the Lafayette River would settle within the river. To test the model, oysters from Tangier Island, VA and the Haskin NEH hatchery strain were planted in the Lafayette River at locations corresponding to locations within the model with the expectation that the oysters would spawn the following summer. Baseline geographic oyster samples were taken from the nearby rivers; the Lafayette, Elizabeth and James Rivers before deployment of the planted test oysters. Newly recruited oyster spat were sampled from the Lafayette River in the summer following deployment of the planted test oysters. The baseline samples and spat were genotyped and compared to each other with the panel of 48 SNPs. Assignment tests were performed to identify the source population(s) for the spat. There was no population structure defined by FST values among oysters sampled from the lower Chesapeake Bay. The Haskin NEH oysters were genetically different from the other oysters in the study; however, the Tangier Island oysters were not different from the oysters in the lower Chesapeake Bay. The low FST values among the oysters from the lower Chesapeake Bay suggest that the connectivity of the reefs is high. The hydrodynamics of the region mix drifting larvae produced by oysters across the region as seen in the genotypic profile of the spat recovered in the Lafayette River. Heterozygote deficiencies suggestive of a Wahlund effect were observed; however, high rates of migration likely work to counterbalance stable population substructure. Alternatively, the heterozygote deficiencies could represent hidden variation not accessible by the methods used in this thesis. Some population structure exists with increasing geographic distance consistent with a pattern of isolation by distance among the populations sampled for this project. Assignment tests did not identify any spat as a product of the NEH oysters and assignment of spat to Tangier Island origin is inconclusive. The genetic data obtained were not able to provide unequivocal support for the predictions of oyster spat distributions by the connectivity model, although, the data do support the overall circulation patterns in the region predicted by the model.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of California, San Diego, 2009.
Title from first page of PDF file (viewed February 6, 2009). Available via ProQuest Digital Dissertations. Includes bibliographical references (p. 27-31).

This dissertation examines aspects of the relationship between connectivity and the development of genetic structure in subdivided coral reef populations using both simulation and algebraic methods. The first chapter develops an object-oriented, individual based method of simulating the dynamics of genes in subdivided populations. The model is then used to investigate how changes to different components of population structure (e.g., connectivity, birth rate, population size) influence genetic structure through the use of autocorrelation analysis. The autocorrelograms also demonstrate how relationships between populations change at different spatial and temporal scales. The second chapter uses discrete multivariate distributions to model the relationship between connectivity, selection and resource use in subdivided populations. The equations provide a stochastic basis for multiple-niche polymorphism through differential resource use, and the role of scale in changing selective weightings is also considered. The third chapter uses matrix equations to study the expected development of genetic structure among Caribbean coral reefs. The results show an expected break between eastern and western portions of the Caribbean, as well as additional nested structure within the Bahamas, the central Caribbean (Jamaica and the reefs of the Nicaraguan Rise) and the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef. The matrix equations provide an efficient means of modeling the development of genetic structure in subdivided populations through time. The fourth chapter uses matrix equations to examine the expected development of genetic structure among Southeast Asian coral reefs. Projecting genetic structure reveals an expected unidirectional connection from the South China Sea into the Coral Triangle region via the Sulu Sea. Larvae appear to be restricted from moving back into the South China Sea by a cyclonic gyre in the Sulu Sea. Additional structure is also evident, including distinct clusters within the Philippines, in the vicinity of the Makassar Strait, in the Flores Sea, and near Halmahera and the Banda Sea. The ability to evaluate the expected development of genetic structure over time in subdivided populations offers a number of potential benefits, including the ability to ascertain the expected direction of gene flow, to delineate natural regions of exchange through clustering, or to identify critical areas for conservation or for managing the spread of invasive material via elasticity analysis.

Mestrado em Ecologia Aplicada
Species persist over time, due to exchange of individuals between subpopulations. In the marine environment, most benthic organisms have complex life cycles including pelagic larvae that are transported by ocean currents promoting species dispersal. Larval dispersal connects geographically distant populations and determines population structure. The knowledge about this biologic process provides relevant information for conservation of marine populations. This study investigates the genetic structure and connectivity of deep-sea mussel populations between fragmented habitats in the NE Atlantic and Mediterranean. The mitochondrial Cytochrome Oxidase I (mtCOI) gene was used to analyze site-specific genetic diversity and the population structure of two mussel species, Idas modiolaeformis and “Idas” simpsoni. Populations of each species are not geographically isolated. The presence of one dominant haplotype for each species suggests shared ancestral polymorphisms between Mediterranean and NE Atlantic populations. The overall high genetic differentiation observed in I. modiolaeformis indicates that the metapopulation is structured. Distant populations, located in Atlantic and E Mediterranean, revealed low genetic distances, suggesting gene flow between the two regions. Genetic and geographical distances support an island model of I. modiolaeformis population structure. A major drawback of this study is concerned with the discrepant number of individuals among populations. Further research will be needed, using more specimens and other gene markers, to investigate connectivity patterns at different spatial scales.
As espécies persistem ao longo do tempo devido à troca de indivíduos entre subpopulações. No ambiente marinho, a maioria dos organismos bentónicos têm ciclos de vida complexos, envolvendo larvas pelágicas que são transportadas por correntes oceânicas contribuindo para dispersão das espécies. A dispersão larvar estabelece conectividade entre populações geograficamente separadas e afeta a estrutura da população. O conhecimento deste processo biológico promove informações importantes para a conservação de populações marinhas. Este estudo investiga a estrutura genética e conectividade de populações de mexilhão de profundidade entre habitats fragmentados no NE Atlântico e Mediterrânico. O gene mitocondrial, Citocromo Oxidase I (mtCOI), foi utilizado para analisar diversidade genética por local e a estrutura populacional de duas espécies de mexilhão, Idas modiolaeformis e "Idas" simpsoni. As populações de cada uma das espécies não se encontram geograficamente isoladas. A presença de um haplótipo dominante para cada espécie sugere a partilha de polimorfismos ancestrais entre populações do Mediterrâneo e do NE Atlântico. As populações de I. modiolaeformis demonstraram uma elevada diferenciação genética, indicando estruturação da metapopulação. Populações distantes umas das outras, localizadas no Atlântico e E Mediterrâneo, revelaram baixas distâncias genéticas, sugerindo fluxo genético entre as duas regiões. Distâncias genéticas e geográficas suportam o modelo de ilha como o modelo para a estrutura populacional de I. modiolaeformis. Uma grande desvantagem deste estudo está relacionada com o número discrepante de indivíduos entre populações. Para investigar os padrões de conectividade em diferentes escalas espaciais serão necessários mais estudos, utilizando mais espécimes e outros marcadores genéticos.

Once so abundant as to be called the ‘common’ angelshark, Squatina squatina has been extirpated from nearly the entirety of its historical range, from the eastern North Atlantic, to the Mediterranean Sea [International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List: Critically Endangered]. The angelshark now only occurs in any abundance in the waters surrounding the Canary Islands. I present the first genetic assessment of the angelshark’s population dynamics and diversity from three locations within the Canary Islands archipelago: Gran Canaria, Tenerife, and Lanzarote. Using a suite of individual mitochondrial genome regions [Control region (CR), NADH dehydrogenase subunit 2 (ND2), NADH dehydrogenase subunit 4 (ND4), and Cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (COI)], the complete mitogenome, and nuclear markers [microsatellites and Internal Transcribed Spacer 2 (ITS2)] this work aimed to i) assess the genetic diversity of the angelshark in comparison to other endangered or historically overfished elasmobranchs, ii) examine the relative nucleotide variability across different marker sets, and iii) assess fine-scale multi-locus population structure within the Canary Islands, as well as broad-scale population genetic structure of angelsharks throughout its historic Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean range. Results revealed exceptionally low genetic diversity across all individual mitochondrial regions sequenced (CR, π % = 0.0046 ± 0.016; ND2, π % = 0; ND4, π % = 0; COI, π % = 0), yielding some of the lowest values reported to date in any elasmobranch. Mitogenome analysis followed this low diversity trend with only 11 single nucleotide polymorphisms seen across all Canary Island individuals in a genome of 16,689 bp (π % = 0.0257 ± 0.0166). Furthermore, screening of 35 microsatellite markers across 34 individuals revealed all but two loci to be monomorphic and nuclear ITS2 showed negligible diversity. Lanzarote showed significant population differentiation from both Gran Canaria (ΦST = 0.073, p = 0.004, FST = 0.113, p = 0.00) and Tenerife (ΦST = 0.029, p = 0.001, FST = 0.065, p = 0.001) at the CR. Haplotype analysis of whole mitogenomes also demonstrated Lanzarote individuals forming a separate lineage from angelsharks at the other two islands. Broad- scale structure across the angelshark’s historical range was detected between the Canary Islands and Mediterranean (ΦST = 0.792, p = 0.000, FST = 0.785, p = 0.000), indicating a regional break between populations. The exceptionally low levels of genetic diversity in angelsharks in the Canary Islands, as well as indications of population isolation from the rest of the angelshark’s historical range, suggest an immediate need for strong conservation measures to ensure the protection and continued persistence of this highly vulnerable and ecologically unique species.

Mestrado em Ecologia Aplicada
Habitat fragmentation and the consequently the loss of connectivity between populations can reduce the individuals interchange and gene flow, increasing the chances of inbreeding, and the increase the risk of local extinction. Landscape genetics is providing more and better tools to identify genetic barriers.. To our knowledge, no comparison of methods in terms of consistency has been made with observed data and species with low dispersal ability. The aim of this study is to examine the consistency of the results of five methods to detect barriers to gene flow in a Mediterranean pine vole population Microtus duodecimcostatus: F-statistics estimations, Non-Bayesian clustering, Bayesian clustering, Boundary detection and Simple/Partial Mantel tests. All methods were consistent in detecting the stream as a non-genetic barrier. However, no consistency in results among the methods were found regarding the role of the highway as a genetic barrier. Fst, Bayesian clustering assignment test and Partial Mantel test identifyed the highway as a filter to individual interchange. The Mantel tests were the most sensitive method. Boundary detection method (Monmonier’s Algorithm) and Non-Bayesian approaches did not detect any genetic differentiation of the pine vole due to the highway. Based on our findings we recommend that the genetic barrier detection in low dispersal ability populations should be analyzed with multiple methods such as Mantel tests, Bayesian clustering approaches because they show more sensibility in those scenarios and with boundary detection methods by having the aim of detect drastic changes in a variable of interest between the closest individuals. Although simulation studies highlight the weaknesses and the strengths of each method and the factors that promote some results, tests with real data are needed to increase the effectiveness of genetic barrier detection.
A fragmentação do habitat e a consequente perda da conectividade entre populações pode reduzir o intercâmbio de indivíduos e consequentemente o fluxo genético, aumentando as hipóteses de ocorrer consanguinidade e consequentemente aumentar o risco de extinção local. A disciplina da genética da paisagem fornece cada vez mais e melhores ferramentas para detectar barreiras genéticas. No entanto, não se conhecem até à data, comparações de métodos em termos de consistência de resultados com dados observados e espécies com reduzida capacidade de dispersão. O objectivo deste estudo é avaliar a consistência dos resultados de cinco métodos de análise do papel da auto-estrada e de um rio como barreira ao fluxo genético numa população de rato-cego-mediterrânico Microtus duodecimcostatus: estimativas do Festatistico, método de aglomeração não-Bayesianos, métodos de aglomeração Bayesianos, método de detecção de fronteiras (algoritmo Monmonier) e o teste Mantel simples e parcial. Todos os métodos testados foram consistentes em considerar o rio como uma não barreira genética ao rato-cego-mediterrânico. No entanto, não houve consistência nos resultados quanto ao papel da autoestrada como barreira genética. As estimativas do F-estatistico, os métodos de aglomeração Bayesianos e o teste de Mantel parcial que mostram que a autoestrada pode estar a funcionar como um filtro ao movimento dos indivíduos entre os dois lados da estrutura. Os métodos de deteção de fronteiras (algoritmo Monmonier) e de aglomeração não-Bayesiano não detectaram diferenciação genética nas populações de rato-cego-mediterrâneo devido à estrada. Com base nos nossos resultados nós recomendamos a aplicação dos testes de Mantel, os métodos de aglomeração Bayesianos e dos métodos de detecção de fronteiras para esclarecer o papel dos atributos da paisagem como barreiras genéticas uma vez que, todos foram capazes de detectar barreiras mas não obtiveram resultados similares. Apesar dos estudos com base em simulações apontarem as vantagens e desvantagens de cada método e os fatores que associados aos resultados, é necessário que se façam testes com base em dados reais para que sejam mais eficazes na detecção de barreiras genéticas.

The distribution and abundance of many coral reef organisms are affected by their predator’s distribution and abundance. Loss of predators may cause a shift in species compositions that will cascade down to other ecological processes on the reef. One example of a shift like this is the growing sea urchin populations inhabiting the coral reefs of East Africa. Areas with high fishing pressure often have large populations of sea urchins. The large populations of sea urchins have a negative impact on the reef ecology both by their grazing and bio-erosion as well as on fish growth and the recovery of fish populations. Previous population genetic studies conducted on Diadema setsosum, using mtDNA and allozymes, found genetic structuring between populations on a large geographical and evolutionary scale. The aim of this study was to examine the genetic population structure of the sea urchin Diadema setosum, at four sites around Zanzibar. We used the amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) technique, a fast and effective method with high resolution. The long term objective is to understand the migration pattern and colonization of D. setosum to facilitate possible management actions. We found a significant genetic structuring of D. setosum hence the populations can not be considered panmictic. The reason behind this structure does not seem to be based on the geography nor size. One possible explanation might be that the structure lies on a larger geographical scale than we have studied, further studies around the Western Indian Ocean may reveal this. Another explanation may be that the structuring is due to differences in spawning time between the different phenotypes and an analysis of gonad maturations may give information about this. To find the reasons behind the observed genetic structure is of great importance for management of the sea urchins and therefore the management of whole reef ecosystems.

Discerning the extent and patterns of genetic connectivity and understanding population demographic processes is essential for framing proper management and conservation measures for species of concern. Although genetic connectivity may be influenced by numerous biotic and abiotic factors, habitat utilization and dispersal potential are often key factors driving connectivity, especially in marine fishes. While dispersal potential is of key importance with respect to shaping connectivity, other extrinsic (e.g., oceanographic processes) and intrinsic (e.g., reproductive behavior) factors may also influence connectivity; however, the relative influence of such factors is immensely variable across species and life-stages. This dissertation explores genetic connectivity and demographic history in marine fishes with diverse dispersal potentials to determine which processes, in addition to the known dispersal potential of the species, may be shaping connectivity. Genetic connectivity and demographic history is assessed for four marine fishes: two shark species with juxtaposing dispersal potentials, the highly migratory tiger shark (Galeocerdo cuvier) and the reef associated Caribbean reef shark (Carcharhinus perezi), which possess high and low dispersal potentials, respectively, and two teleost species, the pelagic roundscale spearfish (Tetrapturus georgii) and the Nassau grouper (Epinephelus striatus), which possess high and low adult dispersal potentials, respectively. This work demonstrates that dispersal potential does, in fact, play a key role in delineating genetic structure for these species; however, other factors, such as contemporary oceanographic currents (e.g., upwelling and temperature), habitat availability (e.g., coral cover), and historical events, such as cyclical glacial cycles, also influence genetic connectivity across variable spatial scales, thereby creating complex patterns of genetic population structure, requiring composite management strategies to ensure the persistence of these species.

Does the dispersal of planktonic larvae promote strong connections between marine populations? Here we describe some of the most commonly used population- and individual-based genetic methods that have enhanced our understanding of larval dispersal and marine connectivity. Both approaches have strengths and weaknesses. Choosing between them depends on whether researchers want to know about average effective rates of connectivity over long timescales (over hundreds to thousands of generations) or recent patterns of connectivity on shorter timescales (one to two generations). The use of both approaches has improved our understanding of larval dispersal distances, the relationship between realized dispersal (from genetics) and dispersal potential (from planktonic larval duration), and the crucial distinction between genetic and demographic connectivity. Although rarely used together, combining population- and individual-based inferences from genetic data will likely further enrich our understanding of the scope and scale of larval dispersal in marine systems.

This chapter covers the latest studies addressing neurobiological and genetic/heritable factors that may contribute to body dysmorphic disorder (BDD). BDD affects approximately 2% of the population and involves perceived defects of appearance along with obsessive preoccupation and repetitive, compulsive-like behaviors. Studies of visual processing suggest that disturbances in visual perception and visuospatial information processing, characterized by heightened attention to detail and impairment in holistic and global assessment, contribute to the condition. Also reviewed are studies of brain circuitry in BDD, which implicate white matter and structural connectivity abnormalities as playing possible roles in the pathophysiology of BDD. Finally, this chapter reviews the evidence that the susceptibility for BDD may be partly heritable and that there may be shared genetic factors among the obsessive-compulsive and related disorders (of which BDD is a member) as a group.

The importance of larval dispersal in the deep ocean is generally acknowledged in studies of genetic connectivity, conservation, and population ecology, but our understanding of the underlying reproductive, developmental, and oceanographic processes remains rudimentary. Recent efforts at modeling deep-sea dispersal have generally taken the form of sensitivity analyses, because biological parameters for the models are lacking. In this review, what is known about the evolution of biological parameters that may influence dispersal times, depth distributions, and trajectories, including modes of development, vertical ontogenetic migration, are examined, as well as the ecological release from predators enabling slower developmental rates and longer dispersal times. Phylogenetic constraints are important in many groups, yet there are modifications in larval form, developmental mode, egg flotation, parental investment, and reproductive timing that appear to be unique to the deep sea and that influence dispersal. For instance, larval duration in certain taxa is longer in the deep-water species than in many shallow-water relatives.

Nationalism: Past as Prologue began as a single volume being compiled by Ad Akande, a scholar from South Africa, who proposed it to me as co-author about two years ago. The original idea was to examine how the damaging roots of nationalism have been corroding political systems around the world, and creating dangerous obstacles for necessary international cooperation. Since I (Bruce E. Johansen) has written profusely about climate change (global warming, a.k.a. infrared forcing), I suggested a concerted effort in that direction. This is a worldwide existential threat that affects every living thing on Earth. It often compounds upon itself, so delays in reducing emissions of fossil fuels are shortening the amount of time remaining to eliminate the use of fossil fuels to preserve a livable planet. Nationalism often impedes solutions to this problem (among many others), as nations place their singular needs above the common good. Our initial proposal got around, and abstracts on many subjects arrived. Within a few weeks, we had enough good material for a 100,000-word book. The book then fattened to two moderate volumes and then to four two very hefty tomes. We tried several different titles as good submissions swelled. We also discovered that our best contributors were experts in their fields, which ranged the world. We settled on three stand-alone books:” 1/ nationalism and racial justice. Our first volume grew as the growth of Black Lives Matter following the brutal killing of George Floyd ignited protests over police brutality and other issues during 2020, following the police assassination of Floyd in Minneapolis. It is estimated that more people took part in protests of police brutality during the summer of 2020 than any other series of marches in United States history. This includes upheavals during the 1960s over racial issues and against the war in Southeast Asia (notably Vietnam). We choose a volume on racism because it is one of nationalism’s main motive forces. This volume provides a worldwide array of work on nationalism’s growth in various countries, usually by authors residing in them, or in the United States with ethnic ties to the nation being examined, often recent immigrants to the United States from them. Our roster of contributors comprises a small United Nations of insightful, well-written research and commentary from Indonesia, New Zealand, Australia, China, India, South Africa, France, Portugal, Estonia, Hungary, Russia, Poland, Kazakhstan, Georgia, and the United States. Volume 2 (this one) describes and analyzes nationalism, by country, around the world, except for the United States; and 3/material directly related to President Donald Trump, and the United States. The first volume is under consideration at the Texas A & M University Press. The other two are under contract to Nova Science Publishers (which includes social sciences). These three volumes may be used individually or as a set. Environmental material is taken up in appropriate places in each of the three books. * * * * * What became the United States of America has been strongly nationalist since the English of present-day Massachusetts and Jamestown first hit North America’s eastern shores. The country propelled itself across North America with the self-serving ideology of “manifest destiny” for four centuries before Donald Trump came along. Anyone who believes that a Trumpian affection for deportation of “illegals” is a new thing ought to take a look at immigration and deportation statistics in Adam Goodman’s The Deportation Machine: America’s Long History of Deporting Immigrants (Princeton University Press, 2020). Between 1920 and 2018, the United States deported 56.3 million people, compared with 51.7 million who were granted legal immigration status during the same dates. Nearly nine of ten deportees were Mexican (Nolan, 2020, 83). This kind of nationalism, has become an assassin of democracy as well as an impediment to solving global problems. Paul Krugman wrote in the New York Times (2019:A-25): that “In their 2018 book, How Democracies Die, the political scientists Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt documented how this process has played out in many countries, from Vladimir Putin’s Russia, to Recep Erdogan’s Turkey, to Viktor Orban’s Hungary. Add to these India’s Narendra Modi, China’s Xi Jinping, and the United States’ Donald Trump, among others. Bit by bit, the guardrails of democracy have been torn down, as institutions meant to serve the public became tools of ruling parties and self-serving ideologies, weaponized to punish and intimidate opposition parties’ opponents. On paper, these countries are still democracies; in practice, they have become one-party regimes….And it’s happening here [the United States] as we speak. If you are not worried about the future of American democracy, you aren’t paying attention” (Krugmam, 2019, A-25). We are reminded continuously that the late Carl Sagan, one of our most insightful scientific public intellectuals, had an interesting theory about highly developed civilizations. Given the number of stars and planets that must exist in the vast reaches of the universe, he said, there must be other highly developed and organized forms of life. Distance may keep us from making physical contact, but Sagan said that another reason we may never be on speaking terms with another intelligent race is (judging from our own example) could be their penchant for destroying themselves in relatively short order after reaching technological complexity. This book’s chapters, introduction, and conclusion examine the worldwide rise of partisan nationalism and the damage it has wrought on the worldwide pursuit of solutions for issues requiring worldwide scope, such scientific co-operation public health and others, mixing analysis of both. We use both historical description and analysis. This analysis concludes with a description of why we must avoid the isolating nature of nationalism that isolates people and encourages separation if we are to deal with issues of world-wide concern, and to maintain a sustainable, survivable Earth, placing the dominant political movement of our time against the Earth’s existential crises. Our contributors, all experts in their fields, each have assumed responsibility for a country, or two if they are related. This work entwines themes of worldwide concern with the political growth of nationalism because leaders with such a worldview are disinclined to co-operate internationally at a time when nations must find ways to solve common problems, such as the climate crisis. Inability to cooperate at this stage may doom everyone, eventually, to an overheated, stormy future plagued by droughts and deluges portending shortages of food and other essential commodities, meanwhile destroying large coastal urban areas because of rising sea levels. Future historians may look back at our time and wonder why as well as how our world succumbed to isolating nationalism at a time when time was so short for cooperative intervention which is crucial for survival of a sustainable earth. Pride in language and culture is salubrious to individuals’ sense of history and identity. Excess nationalism that prevents international co-operation on harmful worldwide maladies is quite another. As Pope Francis has pointed out: For all of our connectivity due to expansion of social media, ability to communicate can breed contempt as well as mutual trust. “For all our hyper-connectivity,” said Francis, “We witnessed a fragmentation that made it more difficult to resolve problems that affect us all” (Horowitz, 2020, A-12). The pope’s encyclical, titled “Brothers All,” also said: “The forces of myopic, extremist, resentful, and aggressive nationalism are on the rise.” The pope’s document also advocates support for migrants, as well as resistance to nationalist and tribal populism. Francis broadened his critique to the role of market capitalism, as well as nationalism has failed the peoples of the world when they need co-operation and solidarity in the face of the world-wide corona virus pandemic. Humankind needs to unite into “a new sense of the human family [Fratelli Tutti, “Brothers All”], that rejects war at all costs” (Pope, 2020, 6-A). Our journey takes us first to Russia, with the able eye and honed expertise of Richard D. Anderson, Jr. who teaches as UCLA and publishes on the subject of his chapter: “Putin, Russian identity, and Russia’s conduct at home and abroad.” Readers should find Dr. Anderson’s analysis fascinating because Vladimir Putin, the singular leader of Russian foreign and domestic policy these days (and perhaps for the rest of his life, given how malleable Russia’s Constitution has become) may be a short man physically, but has high ambitions. One of these involves restoring the old Russian (and Soviet) empire, which would involve re-subjugating a number of nations that broke off as the old order dissolved about 30 years ago. President (shall we say czar?) Putin also has international ambitions, notably by destabilizing the United States, where election meddling has become a specialty. The sight of Putin and U.S. president Donald Trump, two very rich men (Putin $70-$200 billion; Trump $2.5 billion), nuzzling in friendship would probably set Thomas Jefferson and Vladimir Lenin spinning in their graves. The road of history can take some unanticipated twists and turns. Consider Poland, from which we have an expert native analysis in chapter 2, Bartosz Hlebowicz, who is a Polish anthropologist and journalist. His piece is titled “Lawless and Unjust: How to Quickly Make Your Own Country a Puppet State Run by a Group of Hoodlums – the Hopeless Case of Poland (2015–2020).” When I visited Poland to teach and lecture twice between 2006 and 2008, most people seemed to be walking on air induced by freedom to conduct their own affairs to an unusual degree for a state usually squeezed between nationalists in Germany and Russia. What did the Poles then do in a couple of decades? Read Hlebowicz’ chapter and decide. It certainly isn’t soft-bellied liberalism. In Chapter 3, with Bruce E. Johansen, we visit China’s western provinces, the lands of Tibet as well as the Uighurs and other Muslims in the Xinjiang region, who would most assuredly resent being characterized as being possessed by the Chinese of the Han to the east. As a student of Native American history, I had never before thought of the Tibetans and Uighurs as Native peoples struggling against the Independence-minded peoples of a land that is called an adjunct of China on most of our maps. The random act of sitting next to a young woman on an Air India flight out of Hyderabad, bound for New Delhi taught me that the Tibetans had something to share with the Lakota, the Iroquois, and hundreds of other Native American states and nations in North America. Active resistance to Chinese rule lasted into the mid-nineteenth century, and continues today in a subversive manner, even in song, as I learned in 2018 when I acted as a foreign adjudicator on a Ph.D. dissertation by a Tibetan student at the University of Madras (in what is now in a city called Chennai), in southwestern India on resistance in song during Tibet’s recent history. Tibet is one of very few places on Earth where a young dissident can get shot to death for singing a song that troubles China’s Quest for Lebensraum. The situation in Xinjiang region, where close to a million Muslims have been interned in “reeducation” camps surrounded with brick walls and barbed wire. They sing, too. Come with us and hear the music. Back to Europe now, in Chapter 4, to Portugal and Spain, we find a break in the general pattern of nationalism. Portugal has been more progressive governmentally than most. Spain varies from a liberal majority to military coups, a pattern which has been exported to Latin America. A situation such as this can make use of the term “populism” problematic, because general usage in our time usually ties the word into a right-wing connotative straightjacket. “Populism” can be used to describe progressive (left-wing) insurgencies as well. José Pinto, who is native to Portugal and also researches and writes in Spanish as well as English, in “Populism in Portugal and Spain: a Real Neighbourhood?” provides insight into these historical paradoxes. Hungary shares some historical inclinations with Poland (above). Both emerged from Soviet dominance in an air of developing freedom and multicultural diversity after the Berlin Wall fell and the Soviet Union collapsed. Then, gradually at first, right wing-forces began to tighten up, stripping structures supporting popular freedom, from the courts, mass media, and other institutions. In Chapter 5, Bernard Tamas, in “From Youth Movement to Right-Liberal Wing Authoritarianism: The Rise of Fidesz and the Decline of Hungarian Democracy” puts the renewed growth of political and social repression into a context of worldwide nationalism. Tamas, an associate professor of political science at Valdosta State University, has been a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University and a Fulbright scholar at the Central European University in Budapest, Hungary. His books include From Dissident to Party Politics: The Struggle for Democracy in Post-Communist Hungary (2007). Bear in mind that not everyone shares Orbán’s vision of what will make this nation great, again. On graffiti-covered walls in Budapest, Runes (traditional Hungarian script) has been found that read “Orbán is a motherfucker” (Mikanowski, 2019, 58). Also in Europe, in Chapter 6, Professor Ronan Le Coadic, of the University of Rennes, Rennes, France, in “Is There a Revival of French Nationalism?” Stating this title in the form of a question is quite appropriate because France’s nationalistic shift has built and ebbed several times during the last few decades. For a time after 2000, it came close to assuming the role of a substantial minority, only to ebb after that. In 2017, the candidate of the National Front reached the second round of the French presidential election. This was the second time this nationalist party reached the second round of the presidential election in the history of the Fifth Republic. In 2002, however, Jean-Marie Le Pen had only obtained 17.79% of the votes, while fifteen years later his daughter, Marine Le Pen, almost doubled her father's record, reaching 33.90% of the votes cast. Moreover, in the 2019 European elections, re-named Rassemblement National obtained the largest number of votes of all French political formations and can therefore boast of being "the leading party in France.” The brutality of oppressive nationalism may be expressed in personal relationships, such as child abuse. While Indonesia and Aotearoa [the Maoris’ name for New Zealand] hold very different ranks in the United Nations Human Development Programme assessments, where Indonesia is classified as a medium development country and Aotearoa New Zealand as a very high development country. In Chapter 7, “Domestic Violence Against Women in Indonesia and Aotearoa New Zealand: Making Sense of Differences and Similarities” co-authors, in Chapter 8, Mandy Morgan and Dr. Elli N. Hayati, from New Zealand and Indonesia respectively, found that despite their socio-economic differences, one in three women in each country experience physical or sexual intimate partner violence over their lifetime. In this chapter ther authors aim to deepen understandings of domestic violence through discussion of the socio-economic and demographic characteristics of theit countries to address domestic violence alongside studies of women’s attitudes to gender norms and experiences of intimate partner violence. One of the most surprising and upsetting scholarly journeys that a North American student may take involves Adolf Hitler’s comments on oppression of American Indians and Blacks as he imagined the construction of the Nazi state, a genesis of nationalism that is all but unknown in the United States of America, traced in this volume (Chapter 8) by co-editor Johansen. Beginning in Mein Kampf, during the 1920s, Hitler explicitly used the westward expansion of the United States across North America as a model and justification for Nazi conquest and anticipated colonization by Germans of what the Nazis called the “wild East” – the Slavic nations of Poland, the Baltic states, Ukraine, and Russia, most of which were under control of the Soviet Union. The Volga River (in Russia) was styled by Hitler as the Germans’ Mississippi, and covered wagons were readied for the German “manifest destiny” of imprisoning, eradicating, and replacing peoples the Nazis deemed inferior, all with direct references to events in North America during the previous century. At the same time, with no sense of contradiction, the Nazis partook of a long-standing German romanticism of Native Americans. One of Goebbels’ less propitious schemes was to confer honorary Aryan status on Native American tribes, in the hope that they would rise up against their oppressors. U.S. racial attitudes were “evidence [to the Nazis] that America was evolving in the right direction, despite its specious rhetoric about equality.” Ming Xie, originally from Beijing, in the People’s Republic of China, in Chapter 9, “News Coverage and Public Perceptions of the Social Credit System in China,” writes that The State Council of China in 2014 announced “that a nationwide social credit system would be established” in China. “Under this system, individuals, private companies, social organizations, and governmental agencies are assigned a score which will be calculated based on their trustworthiness and daily actions such as transaction history, professional conduct, obedience to law, corruption, tax evasion, and academic plagiarism.” The “nationalism” in this case is that of the state over the individual. China has 1.4 billion people; this system takes their measure for the purpose of state control. Once fully operational, control will be more subtle. People who are subject to it, through modern technology (most often smart phones) will prompt many people to self-censor. Orwell, modernized, might write: “Your smart phone is watching you.” Ming Xie holds two Ph.Ds, one in Public Administration from University of Nebraska at Omaha and another in Cultural Anthropology from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing, where she also worked for more than 10 years at a national think tank in the same institution. While there she summarized news from non-Chinese sources for senior members of the Chinese Communist Party. Ming is presently an assistant professor at the Department of Political Science and Criminal Justice, West Texas A&M University. In Chapter 10, analyzing native peoples and nationhood, Barbara Alice Mann, Professor of Honours at the University of Toledo, in “Divide, et Impera: The Self-Genocide Game” details ways in which European-American invaders deprive the conquered of their sense of nationhood as part of a subjugation system that amounts to genocide, rubbing out their languages and cultures -- and ultimately forcing the native peoples to assimilate on their own, for survival in a culture that is foreign to them. Mann is one of Native American Studies’ most acute critics of conquests’ contradictions, and an author who retrieves Native history with a powerful sense of voice and purpose, having authored roughly a dozen books and numerous book chapters, among many other works, who has traveled around the world lecturing and publishing on many subjects. Nalanda Roy and S. Mae Pedron in Chapter 11, “Understanding the Face of Humanity: The Rohingya Genocide.” describe one of the largest forced migrations in the history of the human race, the removal of 700,000 to 800,000 Muslims from Buddhist Myanmar to Bangladesh, which itself is already one of the most crowded and impoverished nations on Earth. With about 150 million people packed into an area the size of Nebraska and Iowa (population less than a tenth that of Bangladesh, a country that is losing land steadily to rising sea levels and erosion of the Ganges river delta. The Rohingyas’ refugee camp has been squeezed onto a gigantic, eroding, muddy slope that contains nearly no vegetation. However, Bangladesh is majority Muslim, so while the Rohingya may starve, they won’t be shot to death by marauding armies. Both authors of this exquisite (and excruciating) account teach at Georgia Southern University in Savannah, Georgia, Roy as an associate professor of International Studies and Asian politics, and Pedron as a graduate student; Roy originally hails from very eastern India, close to both Myanmar and Bangladesh, so he has special insight into the context of one of the most brutal genocides of our time, or any other. This is our case describing the problems that nationalism has and will pose for the sustainability of the Earth as our little blue-and-green orb becomes more crowded over time. The old ways, in which national arguments often end in devastating wars, are obsolete, given that the Earth and all the people, plants, and other animals that it sustains are faced with the existential threat of a climate crisis that within two centuries, more or less, will flood large parts of coastal cities, and endanger many species of plants and animals. To survive, we must listen to the Earth, and observe her travails, because they are increasingly our own.

ZusammenfassungRothirsche, in der Jägersprache als Rotwild bezeichnet, können starke Emotionen hervorrufen und große Konflikte verursachen. Das Management von Rotwild sollte evidenzbasiert sein, sich also an wissenschaftlich gewonnenen Erkenntnissen orientieren. In diesem Kapitel fasse ich zusammen, wie solch ein evidenzbasiertes Rotwildmanagement grundsätzlich gestaltet sein sollte und welche Evidenzen es für verschiedene Aspekte des Rotwildmanagements gibt. Hierbei spielt die Jagd zwar eine wichtige Rolle, ist aber nur eine der möglichen Maßnahmen, mit denen Managementziele erreicht werden können. Ebenso ist die numerische Steuerung von Populationsgrößen bzw. -dichten in der Regel nur ein Zwischenziel im Management.Ein evidenzbasiertes Rotwildmanagement sollte adaptiv aufgebaut sein und somit immer eine Erfolgskontrolle beinhalten, durch die sowohl die Umsetzung als auch die Wirkung von Managementmaßnahmen stetig überprüft und verbessert werden können. Solch eine Erfolgskontrolle basiert auf einem Langzeit-Monitoring, das mindestens die Faktoren Populationsentwicklung, Wildzustand und Wildeinfluss beinhalten sollte.Die Verbreitung von Rotwild sowie der Austausch zwischen einzelnen Vorkommen werden in Deutschland stark von gesetzlichen Vorgaben und der Landschaftszerschneidung durch Siedlungen und Straßen bestimmt. Durch die räumliche Isolation und den damit einhergehenden geringen Genfluss zeigen einige Rotwildvorkommen bereits stark reduzierte genetische Diversität, sehr kleine genetisch-effektive Populationsgrößen und hohe Inzuchtwerte. Vor diesem Hintergrund sollte die Vernetzung der Rotwildvorkommen verbessert werden, was einerseits durch die Abschaffung rotwildfreier Gebiete erreicht werden könnte, andererseits durch Wiedervernetzungsmaßnahmen, z. B. durch Wildkorridore und Querungshilfen über Verkehrsinfrastrukturen.Rothirsche passen ihr Raum-Zeit-Verhalten und ihre Habitatwahl an eine „Landschaft der Angst“ an, die vom wahrgenommenen Mortalitätsrisiko, dem Nahrungsangebot und der Habitatstruktur abhängt. Auch Störungen durch menschliche Aktivitäten spielen hierbei eine wichtige Rolle. Wissenschaftliche Studien belegen, dass sich Rotwild durch eine Steuerung dieser Faktoren in Raum und Zeit lenken lässt, wodurch Konflikte reduziert werden können. In der Praxis kann hierfür eine Zonierung für das Flächenmanagement sowie eine Kombination aus lokaler Schwerpunkt- und großflächiger Intervallbejagung angewandt werden, über die Rotwild von bestimmten Flächen ferngehalten und auf andere Flächen gelenkt werden kann.Einige der bestehenden Abschussvorgaben für Rotwild erscheinen biologisch nicht plausibel, und es ist nicht sicher nachgewiesen, ob sie die gewünschten Effekte haben. Die Abschussplanung bzw. die dafür nötige Zuwachsberechnung erfolgt meist anhand von unbekannten Parametern zu Reproduktionsraten, Populationsstrukturen und Mortalitäten. Die hierdurch entstehenden Unsicherheiten bei der Vorhersage zukünftiger Bestandesentwicklungen sollten durch zusätzliche, populationsspezifische Forschung gemindert werden. Um Rotwildbestände über die Jagd zu reduzieren, müssen vor allem Alttiere erlegt werden, was aus Gründen des Tierschutzes den vorherigen Abschuss der geführten Kälber erfordert.Basierend auf diesen Evidenzen mache ich grundsätzliche Vorschläge für das Rotwildmanagement, schlage Schritte vor, um weitere Evidenzen zu schaffen, und identifiziere weitergehenden Forschungsbedarf.AbstractRed deer can cause strong emotions and also severe damage. Red deer management should be evidence-based and hence use scientifically derived information. In this chapter, I summarize what an evidence-based red deer management should generally look like and what evidences actually exist for different aspects of red deer management. Hunting plays an important part in this, but is just one possible action to reach management goals. Similarly, the numeric control of population abundances or densities is usually just an intermediate goal in wildlife management.An evidence-based red deer management should be adaptive and hence requires a control of success, so that implementation and effect of management actions can constantly be evaluated and improved. Such a control of success is based on a long-term monitoring that considers at least the three factors population development, animal performance, and herbivore impacts.The distribution of red deer in Germany and the exchange among populations are severely impacted by legal regulations and by landscape fragmentation due to settlements and roads. The spatial isolation and associated low levels of gene flow have already led to low genetic diversity, low genetic-effective population sizes and high inbreeding values in some populations. This calls for an improvement of connectivity among red deer populations, which could be accomplished by giving up areas where red deer are not allowed to exist, and by defragmentation measures, such as wildlife corridors and crossing structures over transportation infrastructures.Red deer adjust their space-time-behavior and habitat selection to the landscape of fear, which is shaped by the perceived mortality risk, food availability and habitat structure. Disturbances by humans also play a major role in this. Scientific research shows that red deer can be steered in space and time through these factors and that such a steering can reduce conflicts. From a practical standpoint, such steering can be accomplished by a zoning concept that combines area management, locally intensive hunting and broad-scale hunting in intervals, so that red deer are kept away from certain areas while being steered into other areas.Some of the existing harvesting guidelines appear biologically implausible and their effectiveness has not sufficiently been demonstrated. Harvest planning is often based on unknown values for reproduction rates, population structures and mortalities. This leads to high uncertainties when predicting the future development of populations, calling for population-specific research to reduce these uncertainties. To reduce red deer abundances, especially adult females need to be harvested. Due to animal welfare laws, this is usually accompanied by an increased harvest of calves.Based on these evidences, I provide general guidelines for red deer management, suggest further steps for generating additional evidences, and identify remaining research needs.

We discuss the roles of gene flow, genetic drift, and selection in determining the distribution of genetic variation in complex, real-world landscapes. A metapopulation is a group of populations that experience some degree of gene flow among them. Metapopulation structure can have complex effects on patterns of genetic variation within and among populations. For species that do not naturally occur in discrete habitat patches, a landscape genetics framework is more appropriate. Landscape genetics combines population genetics, landscape ecology, and spatial statistics to understand how environmental heterogeneity affects gene flow and genetic variation. Habitat loss and fragmentation have severed connectivity among populations of many formerly continuous species, isolating populations that then lose genetic variation due to reduced gene flow. Genetic rescue, the supplementation of small inbred populations with immigrants from larger more genetically diverse populations, can be used to increase genetic diversity and reduce extinction probabilities of populations isolated by habitat fragmentation.

Crustacea display diverse life histories and occur in all marine habitats. This makes them particularly useful when thinking about how we can predict geographical distribution from life history and ecology. As would be expected from such diversity, crustaceans exhibit various population connectivity patterns, from panmictic, well-connected populations to small and isolated populations. Here we ask first what can be learned from exploring crustacean phylogeography and connectivity around well-understood vicariance events with known ages. We find that vicariance events are generally useful in calibrating molecular rates of evolution, but that there is substantial variation between taxa. This variation can be linked, on the one hand, to habitat differences (which determine when gene flow between populations actually ceased) and, on the other hand, to population size differences (which determine how fast genetic differences accumulate). In a few instances, populations must have diverged much earlier or later than the hypothesized vicariance event, providing evidence of earlier or later dispersal or more ancient separation. Second, we ask when comparative studies of multiple taxa show consistent results, predictable from their similar life history, and when not. For example, species that disperse little, such as brooding peracarids, have smaller, more isolated populations than species with planktonic larvae, such as decapods. Less consistent are the patterns across biogeographic breaks. While gene flow is clearly limited across such breaks in some species, other species do not seem to perceive them. This to-date-unexplained variation challenges our understanding of marine phylogeography.

<i>Abstract.</i>—Habitat fragmentation, land use practices, and flow impediments modify the natural course of rivers, disrupting connectivity and subsequently affecting dispersal and gene flow in aquatic organisms. Many of the relationships between the physical river network and the genetic structure of populations are not well understood. Riverscape genetics is a developing field that uses population genetic metrics to assess genetic structure within the context of the environmental variables that drive functional connectivity in a river network. Here, we applied an effective distance network approach to characterize the effects of hydrology in shaping neutral genetic population structure of fall-run Chinook Salmon <i>Oncorhynchus tshawytscha </i>within a small, coastal Oregon catchment. We evaluated whether gene flow was limited by (1) site-specific features occurring within spawning habitat, using a dissimilarity matrix, and (2) the cumulative effect of the environment accrued while traveling en route between reaches. We found that Chinook Salmon that spawned at higher elevations (site specific effects) after traversing steeper gradients (en-route effects) were more genetically distinct from individuals that traversed gradual gradients and spawned at lower elevations. This effect (isolation by resistance) was distinguishable from isolation by distance, which was not detected among spawning groups. Our study enhanced interpretation of habitat heterogeneity in constraining gene flow and spatial genetic structure among reaches within a small, coastal catchment. Given that smaller catchments may hold life history 36 variation that is important to long-term population persistence, there is need to understand these relationships that maintain genetic diversity.

<em>Abstract</em>.—We examined patterns of dispersal and colonization after Cordilleran glaciations, population connectivity, levels of genetic diversity, and potential impacts of anthropogenic changes to Coastal Cutthroat Trout <em>Oncorhynchus clarkii clarkii</em>. Populations were mostly small with restricted dispersals but exchanged one to two migrants per generation on average. Genetic differences among local populations of Coastal Cutthroat Trout accounted for approximately three-fourths of the total genetic variation among groups, with differences among different geographical groups accounting for the rest. Because of this, hierarchical geographical population structure was difficult to detect except at small geographical scales that reflected local dispersal and gene flow or at broad geographical scales that reflected divergence associated with long-term isolation during Cordilleran glacial advances. Evolutionary processes such as gene flow and genetic drift reflected in isolation by distance occurred at distances up to 600–700 km but mostly lesser distances, whereas divergence associated with Pleistocene glaciation occurred at 1,900 km or greater. Glacial refugia existed south of the Salish Sea along the Washington, Oregon, and California coasts; in the Haida Gwaii or Alexander Archipelago; and possibly near the central coast of British Columbia near Bella Coola. Throughout the range, hybridization with Rainbow Trout <em>O. mykiss </em>or steelhead (anadromous Rainbow Trout) appears to occur naturally at low levels, but releases of hatchery-produced <em>O. mykiss </em>can lead to higher levels of hybridization and rarely hybrid swarms. Degraded habitat may contribute to hybridization, but most anthropogenic habitat alterations reduce habitat quantity and quality and disrupt opportunities for dispersal, contributing to declines in abundance, population connectivity, and genetic diversity.

The distribution of the endangered species Dioon edule is in populations scattered throughout the Sierra Madre Oriental in San Luis Potosí, Mexico. Its habitat is tropical dry forests at lower elevations and oak forests at higher elevations, mainly disturbed by anthropic activities. We determined and analyzed nine populations’ demographic structure and explored the genetic diversity of five using SSR markers. The population density averaged 2050 individuals ha-1 and have an aggregated distribution pattern. Differences in the plants’ size among localities are due to site quality, based on their adaptation capacity and response to climate and soil traits. Most populations have the highest mortality in the early stages of life, with a low mortality rate for those who survive this bottleneck. Two populations have a relatively constant mortality rate, attributed to disturbance of the habitat. The populations show low genetic diversity and an excess of homozygotes. Their similarity is probably related to the formation of natural corridors favoring connectivity between populations. The deterioration and fragmentation of the habitat have severe effects on the populations’ viability, like reducing gene flow, which has led to inbreeding and genetic drift.

<em>Abstract</em>.— At the first international Muskellunge symposium held in 1984, participants recognized that management agencies needed policies for sustainable management of native Muskellunge <em>Esox masquinongy</em> stocks. Identified research needs included documenting how genetic diversity was distributed within and among natural populations and evaluating effects of management actions on diversity. Here, we summarize research over the past three decades that has addressed these needs and provided additional genetic information useful to managers. We then suggest future research directions to fill information gaps and benefit from advances in genetic marker technology and methods of statistical inference. Genetic data support the existence of distinct regional lineages associated with the upper Mississippi River, Great Lakes, and Ohio River drainages, which all likely derived from Mississippian glacial refugia. Each lineage exhibits substructure, with numerous genetically distinct subgroups influenced to varying degrees by geological history, geographic proximity, habitat connectivity, and human activities. When traits such as growth, maximum size, survival and food consumption have been compared among strains stocked into common environments, researchers have often found differences attributable to genetic causes. Genetic evaluations of ancestry in relation to stocking have revealed a wide range of outcomes from substantial strain mixing and interbreeding to no apparent contribution to resident populations. Genetic principles and data have led to stocking guidelines for conserving within- and among-population genetic variation and avoiding artificial selection in broodstock practices. Future research should include a rangewide assessment of population genetic structure, including assessments of how stocking has affected the spatial structure of wild populations. Genetic data should be used to evaluate retention of genetic diversity in hatchery broodstocks and assess fitness effects of stocked fish on wild populations. Applications of genomic techniques can better inform managers of the genetic basis for differences in performance or adaptive traits and the potential negative consequences of imprudent management practices.

Populations may respond to environmental changes through phenotypic plasticity, adaptation, migration, or suffer demographic declines if they are unable to respond. Climate change is already causing shifts in species ranges, changes in phenotypes, and altered life history traits and interspecific interactions. The capacity for a population to adapt to new conditions is a function of the amount of genetic and phenotypic variation for traits under selection, fecundity, and the rate of environmental change per generation. Several genomic approaches are available for predicting the extent of maladaptation of populations resulting from climate change based on the mismatch between genotypes and new climates. The conservation of populations that are threatened by rapid climate change may in some cases require management tools including assisted gene flow to facilitate adaptation, and greater connectivity of habitats to facilitate range shifts and migration (i.e., gene flow).

<em>Abstract.</em>—The causes of spatial and temporal variation in Pacific salmon abundance are poorly understood. An additional challenge in the Arctic-Yukon-Kuskokwim (AYK) region is the expansive and remote nature of salmon habitat. In this paper, the authors discuss a hierarchical framework that may prove helpful in identifying key variables regulating Pacific salmon abundance. The hierarchical framework considers processes that act at multiple scales of space and time, identifies generalizations across scales, and considers interactions among variables operating at different scales. This framework is used to address three overarching questions for the AYK region: 1) What are the important units of focus for conservation and management? 2) What are the factors that control abundance and connectivity of these units? 3) How can these two questions be integrated to better understand and manage Pacific salmon? Genetic and ecotypic units are organized hierarchically in space and time. Genetic units of AYK salmon have been identified at a local level among tributaries in the Yukon and Kuskokwim drainages, the Norton Sound, and at a regional level where all species share similar genetic discontinuities. Ecotypic units are habitat-organismal trait associations characteristic of Pacific salmon, but are not well documented for AYK stocks. The processes controlling abundance and connectivity among these units also occur at multiple hierarchical levels with respect to life history, space, and time. Identifying the scale at which processes or interaction among processes have the largest relative impact on salmon recruitment will be critical to effectively managing Pacific salmon. Four feasible lines of study proposed for gathering informative data from the expansive and remote AYK region include: (1) a spatial comparison between habitat and spawning populations, (2) a comparison of mortality as related to life history diversity, (3) compilation of existing migration data to explain patterns in migration timing, and (4) coordination of genetic data to test hypotheses regarding population structure. Use of existing long-term data and coordination of ongoing research efforts should be of high importance for AYK biologists and managers.

There are three major conceptualizations of Intellectual Disability (ID): as a lower end of the Gaussian distribution of intelligence in the population, a bio-medical condition secondary to adverse influences on the developing brain (neurodevelopmental disorder), and as a socio-cultural construct focusing on impairments in adaptive functioning and the need for extra supports. Modern definitions incorporate all these aspects. There are hundreds of causes of ID, both genetic and environmental, that act either singly or in combination. These are classified based on the timing (pre-, peri-, and postnatal) and the type of cause. Genetic factors include chromosomal disorders, microdeletions, single gene disorders and newly discovered mechanisms such as copy number variations. Environmental factors may operate in prenatal, perinatal, or postnatal periods of development. Pathophysiological pathways leading to ID involve disruption of neurodevelopment and neuronal functioning, such as neural proliferation, migration, connectivity, synaptic development, intra- and inter-cellular signalling pathways, and metabolism. Identifying the aetiology has major clinical implications.

Abstract Genetic algorithms show particular promise for automated assembly planning. As a result, several recent research reports present genetic-algorithm-based mechanical-product assembly planners. However, genetic-algorithm-based assembly planners require an initial assembly-sequence population, and search efficiency greatly depends upon input-population quality. State-of-the-art genetic-algorithm-based assembly planners use one of two techniques for generating an initial assembly-sequence population: use a user-supplied assembly-sequence set or use a randomly generated assembly-sequence set. Generating a user-supplied initial population requires a substantial amount of manpower. Using a randomly generated initial population reduces search efficiency. As a result, we propose an algorithm for automatically generating an initial assembly-sequence population. Our algorithm calculates component assembly complexity and uses both component assembly complexity and component connectivity to automatically generate a valid assembly-sequence population. Using automatically generated initial populations, we achieve search efficiencies comparable to search efficiencies achieved when using user-supplied initial assembly-sequence populations, while eliminating manpower required to generate user-supplied assembly sequences.

Abstract The Assembly Sequence Planning (ASP) problem is a complicated task that is still performed manually in most advanced industries. It consists of finding the best or optimal sequence to assemble a certain product, given its CAD design. Although it seems simple at first, its complexity drastically increases with increasing numbers of product parts, so that complexity is very high for most actual industrial products. Many ASP planners have been developed by researchers to automate this problem, but most of these are not practical and general enough to deal with actual industrial products. One of the main disadvantages is that these planners perform an extensive search of all possible sequences in order to choose the optimal solution. Another rather important disadvantage is that most generated sequences are linear, i.e. one part is assembled at a time, or have very simplistic plan generation. Sebaaly and Fujimoto (1996) introduced a novel approach to overcome the first disadvantage by applying genetic algorithms. A best-so-far solution is reached without searching the complete set of possible candidates, and the search is performed on a sequence population basis rather than on parts basis. However, this method is restricted to generating linear sequences only. This paper addresses improving that approach to generate more general solutions, by introducing an assembly fuzzy graph representation that can represent both linear and non-linear sequences. The sequences search space is thus extended to include all feasible combinations of linear and non-linear assembly operations. From the set of assembly rules and constraints of a certain product, a set of assembly stages is defined, such that every assembly operation is assigned to a certain stage according to its position in the set of constraints. A fuzzy relation is then defined as a grade of connectivity between product parts. Based on this relation, a fuzzy graph connecting the product parts is generated. This graph can represent both linear and non-linear sequences. After that, the algorithm of Sebaaly and Fujimoto (1996) is improved to deal with the new search space. The new modified algorithm is applied to a practical example from industry where the applicability and capability of the new algorithm are confirmed.

Current conditions related to food security lead to study alternative forms of food production in cities such as vertical urban farming in high dense urban environments. This paper discusses the development of the Innovate UK award-winning project consisting of a dynamic system model that generates a large dataset of artificial environments linked to a multi-objective optimization model of urban massing for one square kilometer of development along the coastline of Singapore. The scope of the model is to reach the highest level of self-sufficiency in relation to food consumption. The model operates, as a dynamic system constituted of different subsystems including transport, water, agriculture and energy. These systems dynamically interact among each other and with their environment, which is considered the primary source of energy and the main provider of hydrological resources. A large dataset of artificial environments is created employing a Dynamic System Modelling Software; this includes different scenarios of environmental stress such as sea level rise, population growth or changes on the demand side. Such dataset of artificial environments serves as an input for the multi-objective optimization model that employs genetic algorithms to produce a large data set of urban massing including the distribution of a range of food production technologies in relation to pre-established conditions for vertical urban agriculture and compatibility with other urban programs. Connectivity, solar radiation and visual cones are the fitness criteria against which the model has been tested. This paper assesses whether artificial environments further away from the pareto front produce populations of urban design solutions that respond to extreme environmental conditions and environmental shocks.