Question

Wildlife corridors are sometimes constructed to promote migration between fragmented populations. What does the equation: FST ~ 1/(4Nem + 1) tell us about the potential effect of those corridors on population genetic structure of the populations? Why might the corridors be beneficial to the populations who use them, for both short and long-term persistence?

Answer 1

What does the equation: FST ~ 1/(4Nem + 1) tell us about the potential effect of those corridors on population genetic structure of the populations?

FST or Fixation index tell us about the differences in a population due to their genetic structure.

When Fsh is approximately equal to one then it means that two populations have no genetic diversity.

These wildlife corridors are made to bring different fragmented populations of a species together so that they can come out of inbreeding depression which they might have developed in the duration of isolation.

This also increases genetic drift among the populations thereby intorducing new alleles.

Why might the corridors be beneficial to the populations who use them, for both short and long-term persistence?

Wildlife corridors are build to join two or more wildlife areas that have the similar wildlife habitat. There are two types of animals that can be founf in these wildlife corridors:

1. Passage users: That use this corridor for a short time just to reach or go somewhere.

2. Corridor dwellers: They stay in these corridors.

Short term persistence: By helping populations re-colonise and get together in their most adaptable habitat, so that they can reproduce and survive with ease.

Long term persistence: Wildlife corridors helps to stabilise the population by helping them bring useful new alleles via genetic drift and providing them adaptable environment.