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Genetics and Genomics

University of Wisconsin Milwaukee

Theses and Dissertations

Population Genetics

Publication Year

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Giant Kelp Genetic Monitoring Before And After Disturbance Reveals Stable Genetic Diveristy In Southern California, William Hayward Klingbeil Aug 2020

Giant Kelp Genetic Monitoring Before And After Disturbance Reveals Stable Genetic Diveristy In Southern California, William Hayward Klingbeil

Theses and Dissertations

Given the impacts of climate change and other anthropogenic stressors on marine systems, there is a need to accurately predict how species respond to changing environments and disturbance regimes. The use of genetic tools to monitor temporal trends in populations gives ecologists the ability to estimate changes in genetic diversity and effective population size that may be undetectable by traditional census methods. Although multiple studies have used temporal genetic analysis, they usually involve commercially important species, and rarely sample before and after disturbance. In this study, we use newly collected samples, coupled with previously characterized microsatellite data to assess the …


Effects Of Drift, Selection And Gene Flow On Immune Genes In Prairie Grouse, Zachary Bateson May 2016

Effects Of Drift, Selection And Gene Flow On Immune Genes In Prairie Grouse, Zachary Bateson

Theses and Dissertations

Fragmentation of natural habitats is related to population decline in many species. The resulting small and isolated populations are expected to lose genetic variation at a rapid rate, which reduces the ability to adapt to environmental change. One concern is that small populations are more susceptible to emerging pathogens due to the loss of variation at immune genes. My dissertation examined the relative effects of gene flow, genetic drift and selection on immune genes in prairie-chickens (Tympanuchus cupido), a species that has undergone drastic population declines across their range. In the first chapter, I examined how artificial gene flow through …