This work aims to define and reassess the role of population genetics in conservation biology and seeks to identify the progress made in the field during the last decade. It deals with conservation genetics from several currently researched points of view, such as: ecological and demographic measures of rarity or population persistence; loss of genetic variation; inbreeding; reduced migration rates and increased selective pressures under stress; and the role of social behaviour and metapopulation structure. The use of molecular variation as the basis of naming or selecting target taxa and...

It follows naturally from the widely accepted Darwinian dictum that failures of populations or of species to adapt and to evolve under changing environments will result in their extinction. Population geneti- cists have proclaimed a centerstage role in developing conservation biology theory and applications. However, we must critically reexamine what we know and how we can make rational contributions. We ask: Is genetic variation really important for the persistence of species? Has any species become extinct because it ran out of genetic variation or because of inbreeding depression? Are...