Category Archives: population genetics

Isolating isolation by distance

Posted on 4 Sep, 2012 by Jeremy Yoder

Update, 29 Jan 2015: This post has been edited to remove a video clip from the movie “Chinatown,” which was jarring and really just unnecessary, as pointed out in the comments. At its most basic level, population genetics is about … Continue reading →

Posted in methods, population genetics | Tagged , , , , | 12 Comments

Calculating pair-wise, unbiased Fst with R:

Posted on 14 May, 2012 by Mark Christie

Calculating Weir and Cockerham’s FST is very useful because it is unbiased with respect to sample size (Weir and Cockerham 1984).  Without adjusting allele frequency estimates with respect to sample sizes, estimates of FST can be upwardly biased (see Waples … Continue reading →

Posted in methods, population genetics, software | 16 Comments

Videocast for the Wheat et al paper

Posted on 31 Aug, 2011 by Tim Vines

We published a fascinating paper on the genetics of life history adaptation in a butterfly metapopulations back in May, and the authors very kindly put together a Q&A videocast about their work. This is available on our Wiley Online Library … Continue reading →

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Interpreting Population Genetics Formulae

Posted on 18 May, 2011 by Nicholas Crawford

Whether it’s simple equations like heritability (e.g., *R = h2S* or the ‘breeders equation’) or more complicated equations like Nei and Chesser’s (1983) unbiased estimator of *HS*, population genetics papers are filled with math. Early in my career I found … Continue reading →

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The ecological fallout: how radioactivity affects wildlife

Posted on 16 Mar, 2011 by Travis Glenn

The current news about radioactivity being released from a nuclear power plant in Japan is sad and worrisome. We are first concerned about the health and safety of individuals who have volunteered to stay at the power plant; they are … Continue reading →

Posted in population genetics | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

Should I use FST, G'ST or D?

Posted on 2 Mar, 2011 by Nolan Kane

I have heard many researchers extolling one estimator over another, saying papers using any other approach should be rejected without review. Yet, although numerous recent papers assess various population genetic parameters and their validity in analyzing population structure, gene flow, … Continue reading →

Posted in methods, population genetics | Tagged , , | 23 Comments