Conservation of Forest Biodiversity: how sample size affects the estimation of genetic parameters

• Main Authors: Leonardo S. da Costa, Nathana S. Corneleo, Valdir M. Stefenon
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Academia Brasileira de Ciências 2015-06-01
• Series: Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências
• Subjects: estratégia de amostragem; desenho de estudo; riqueza alélica; coeficiente de endogamia
• Online Access: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0001-37652015000201095&lng=en&tlng=en

Efficient designs are crucial for population genetic studies on forest species. In this study we employed individual based simulations aiming to evaluate what fraction of a population should be sampled to obtain confident estimations of allelic richness and of inbreeding coefficient in population genetic surveys. The simulations suggest that at least 10% of the total population has to be sampled to ensure reliable estimations of allelic richness and inbreeding coefficient. This approach will allow the confidence of the genetic parameters estimations of a larger number of populations, based on a minimal sample within each one.