No Need to Isolate Genetics
Does the loss of genetic variability in small populations contribute to their extinction? SoulA© comments on this question in his Perspective, referring to new data from a long-term study of the declining population of the Illinois prairie chicken (Westemeier et al .) on p. [1695][1] of this issue. Results from this study indicate that inbreeding depression does in fact exacerbate the likelihood of extinction. [1]: http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/short/282/5394/1695