SALMONNb: a program for computing cohort-specific effective population sizes (Nb) in Pacific salmon and other semelparous species using the temporal method

Authors

Robin Waples, NOAAFollow
Michele Masuda, Alaska Fisheries Science CenterFollow
Jerome Pella, Alaska Fisheries Science Center

Date of this Version

2007

Citation

Molecular Ecology Notes (2007) 7 , 21–24; doi: 10.1111/j.1471-8286.2006.01567.x

Abstract

We describe a new method and a computer program _SALMONNb to calculate the effective number of breeders (N_b) per year in semelparous species with variable age at maturity. The existing temporal method for the ‘salmon’ life history produces an estimate of the harmonic mean N_b in the two sampled years. _SALMONNb reads genotypic data in standard formats and computes yearly N_b values by combining information from pairwise comparisons of samples taken in 3 or more years. Simulations show that the new method produces unbiased estimates of yearly N_b, and precision is inversely proportional to true effective size.