Conservation of genetic uniqueness of populations may increase extinction likelihood of endangered species: The case of Australian mammals

Abstract

Background: As increasingly fragmented and isolated populations of threatened species become subjected to climate change, invasive species and other stressors, there is an urgent need to consider adaptive potential when making conservation decisions rather than focussing on past processes. In many cases, populations identified as unique and currently managed separately suffer increased risk of extinction through demographic and genetic processes. Other populations currently not at risk are likely to be on a trajectory where declines in population size and fitness soon appear inevitable. Results: Using datasets from natural Australian mammal populations, we show that drift processes are likel..