HRANITZ, J.M.*; MELICHERCIK, M.J.; BAIRD, T.A.; Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania; Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania; University of Central Oklahoma, Edmond: The Effective Population Size of a Colony of Collared Lizards: Another Look After Three Generations

Previous investigation, using demographic and temporal (genetic) methods, indicate a small effective population size (Ne) and low dispersal rates for a colony of collared lizards (Crotaphytus collaris) in central Oklahoma. Because these results are based on one generation of data, the Ne estimates may be an overestimate of the actual Ne. We re-examined the Ne estimates using allele frequency changes (allozymes) over three generations in a temporal estimate of Ne. We observed a loss of rare alleles in the samples and a decline in single-locus heterozygosity between the first and third generations sampled. In the first-generation sample, all loci were in Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium (HWE). By the third-generation sample, two loci showed significant deviation from HWE. The temporal Ne estimate based on these allele frequencies was substantially lower than those previously calculated for both the temporal and demographic methods. This suggests that our previous Ne estimates using a shorter generation time may have overestimated the Ne of this colony of lizards.