Overview
The application of powerful molecular techniques to the study of naturally occurring genetic variation has greatly facilitated the understanding of a variety of problems in behavioral ecology and population biology. The correct interpretation of these data requires an understanding of both the internal mutational processes within nuclear and organelle genomes, and the external processes of selection and the drift that affect the standing level of genetic variation. This book concisely describes the underlying sources of genomic variation, how they can be detected and analyzed (with an emphasis on modern techniques like PCR and DNA fingerprinting), and how to interpret observed variation while taking into account the various contributing factors. Examples of applications of molecular genetics in behavioral ecology and population genetics are drawn from current literature. Molecular Genetic Ecology: In Focus introduces a rapidly emerging discipline in a way that is both accessible to students and informative to researchers in a variety of fields including population biology, genetics, evolution, and molecular biology.