Conservation genetics of amphibians.

Amphibians are good models for investigating the genetics of wild animal populations because they are: (1) widely distributed in most ecosystems; (2) easy to sample in breeding assemblages; (3) often philopatric to breeding sites, generating high levels of population genetic structure; (4) amenable to controlled crossings in the laboratory; and (5) of major conservation concern. Neutral genetic markers, mostly microsatellites, have been used successfully in studies of amphibian effective population sizes and structures, and in assessing the consequences of hybridisation. Phylogeography has provided important insights into population histories and the fates of introductions. Quantitative genetic methods have demonstrated adaptive variation in life history traits of importance to fitness and therefore to population viability.