INTRASPECIFIC GENETIC DIVERSITY - MONITORING AND CONSERVATION

Genetic differentiation of a species, estimated on average according to the aggregate of allozyme loci, corresponds to a selectively neutral process. Such evolution is traditionally regarded as Markov's chain, in which the genetic dynamics of a population cannot be predicted for more than one generation. According to the concept of population systems, however, intraspecific differentiation can be interpreted as a process with memory, which retains information about the genetic structure of the ancestral population This memory is maintained due to the organizing effect of gene immigration whose intensity is the higher, the lower the effective size of the local population. The ratio between intra- and interpopulation components of gene diversity is maintained at a stable (optimal) level. Consequently, it can be regarded as the basic ''reference point'' in genetic monitoring; of subdivided populations that have evolved under anthropogenic pressure. Such influences, altering established systemic links, distort the balance between differentiation and integration of the species gene pool and lead to adverse effects. Depending on the predominance of the inter- or intrapopulation component of gene diversity, these influences may be equivalent to outbreeding with an increased segregational load or to inbreeding, respectively. In the first case, the genetic process is adaptive, and, provided the negative influence is terminated in due time, it is possible to restore the genetic structure and normalize reproduction of gene pools in populations. In the second case, the genetic process is inadaptive and leads to degradation of populations. If one knows principles of the systemic organization of a species, it is possible to develop an approach to solving the problem of conservation of biological diversity by organizing nonexhaustive wildlife management.