Table 3 Characteristics of the different methods used to compute effective population size N e
Method | Genealogy required | Parameters measured | Indicator used to compute N e | Time period or number of generations taken into account | Theoretical sample size for a reference population of size n |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
N es | no | change in allele frequency / heterozygosity loss | number of reproducers | generation n | - |
N ev | yes | change in allele frequency / heterozygosity loss | variance/covariance of progeny sizes | generation n-1 | - |
N eFt | yes | heterozygosity loss | inbreeding | period or number of generations to be fixed | n |
N eCt | yes | heterozygosity loss | coancestry | period or number of generations to be fixed | n x (n-1) |
N eFi | yes | heterozygosity loss | inbreeding | all known generations | n |
N eCi | yes | heterozygosity loss | coancestry | all known generations | n x (n-1) |