The effective size of the German wolf population from molecular and life history data

The effective population size is a critical parameter in evolutionary biology and conservation of populations, yet it can be notoriously difficult to estimate. Many methods are available to estimate Ne with molecular methods, but these methods can be very sensitive to underlying assumptions. In order to detect biases in commonly used molecular methods, we present two types of independent datasets with which the effective population size of the German wolf population can be estimated. The first is a life history dataset that provides per individual the life span, the life-time reproductive effort and life-time reproductive success. The second dataset represents wolf genotypes in Germany across three time periodes, representing three age cohorts.