Review: The need for a genetic analysis of conservation populations has been appreciated for many years in both theory and practice (e.g. zoo breeding registers). What has changed recently is the move towards a better understanding of the place that theory occupies in our studies and how this can be translated into better conservation. However urgent we realise matters are, finance will always be limited and it becomes incumbent upon us to select the most effective options - hence the need to explore fully the genetic picture put in front of us.

This text aims to provide a detailed overview for the conservationist or university student who wishes to study in more detail the role that genetic analysis can play. To accomplish this, the text is divided into three. The first part acts as an introduction to genetics. Although some knowledge of biological science is expected this is still an introductory text so the first four chapters explore the basics of the topic. The first chapter starts with the fundamental questions as to why we should conserve, and what. It also places the role of genetics in conservation so that we are left in no doubt of its importance. Chapter two considers the value of phenotypic variation which is one of the central points - variation is crucial for viable populations and that is, by definition, the one thing most likely to be missing in restricted conservation populations. Chapters three and four discuss the main areas of genetic variation and how they can be assessed and used in conservation. Part two moves us into the body of the work by looking at genetics in more detail. As such these 8 chapters prepare us for the final section which seeks to apply this knowledge. Thus early chapters here look at mating sequences and losses in genetic material due to restricted populations. Since both of these conditions will apply to conservation populations it makes sense to start here. Chapter seven moves on to another key question - how big should the conservation population be? It's the notion of viable population size but applied through the lens of genetics which suggests, if recent research is anything to go by, that we need to be far more careful about the populations we pick and the sizes they demand. Now that we can actually measure variation, questions like these become crucial. Much of this work assumes that natural selection does not operate. It keeps the model simple but fails to help in real situations. Therefore, chapter 8 introduces us to some of the likely variations. Chapter 9 moves this idea logically forward arguing that the outcome of natural selection is variation both between and within populations, both of which need to be taken into account. The picture is further complicated by the inclusion of multiple nuclei (chapter 10). All this work needs to be put into some form of statistical framework. Finally, there's the notion of mutation. Up to this point, certain elements have been kept constant to allow the reader to better appreciate the key points. Here, we introduce the idea of mutation and what it means to conservation populations. Part three puts this theory into practice. If the aim is to have a viable representative population then it requires considerable manipulation. Just how much is now becoming clearer as we can assess our work at a number of levels. We start with one problem - inbreeding and the problems it can create. Chapter 14 examines the population size mentioned in part two but from the conservation, not genetic, perspective. Again, sub-populations are good to study but fragmented populations can cause a range of difficulties in terms of viability and fitness. It's left for chapter 16 to actually ask what one might have considered to be a central point earlier in the text - at what scale do we take conservation? If, as has been argued up to now, we need viable genetic populations then it follows that we should be more careful about our choice (a point numerous recent research papers have agreed with). One way out of population pressure is by breeding and chapters 17 and 18 tackle this issue form the genetic angle. So far, we have assumed that the population is in trouble but not any specific cause. Chapter 19 introduces and increasingly common one, the invasive species. This can cause a range of problems and not just in loss of wildlife but also a re-distribution of relative sizes and locations. A final chapter shows how genetic analysis can aid identification (useful in, say, smuggling cases).

This is a great introduction. It is definitely a text where some previous knowledge is important but there are still good points that can be gleaned by the more casual reader. As such this is a good text for educators but its main focus will be conservation courses where its logical layout and mixture of theory and application should find ready readers.