ArticleNature ecology & evolution2023
Inbreeding depression explains killer whale population dynamics.
Article in Nature ecology & evolution, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 74 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
74 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Runs of Homozygosity Predict Inbreeding Depression Across Taxa: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Molecular ecology · 2026Pooled it
- Advancing Marine Mammal Conservation Through Omics Tools and Integration of Indigenous Ecological Knowledge.Molecular ecology · 2026Review
- Genomic erosion in the assessment of species' extinction risk and recovery potential.The Journal of heredity · 2026Article
- Article
- Population Decline, Inbreeding and Hybridization Shape the Genetic Vulnerability of a Critically Endangered Seabird.Molecular ecology · 2026Article
- Homozygosity Accumulated Through Genetic Drift and Inbreeding Underpins High Mutation Load in an Endangered Beluga Whale Population.Molecular ecology · 2026Article
- Integration of structural variation enhances the resolution of population structure and helps delineate conservation units.Annals of botany · 2026Article
- Long-term small effective population size, inbreeding, and a recessive lethal haplotype drive premature death in the endangered Devils Hole pupfish (bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Genetic Diversity and Population Structure of the Black-Footed Cat: Insights intobioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Whole Genome Analyses of the Endangered Northern Abalone (Evolutionary applications · 2026Article
- Chromosome-level genome and population resequencing reveal genetic diversity, demographic history, and climate risk in the East Asian relict treePlant diversity · 2026Article
- Assessing the Genetic Health and Conservation Value of an Introduced Urban Population of a Critically Endangered Parrot.Evolutionary applications · 2026Article
- Genomic signatures of migratory preference and historical whaling in eastern South Pacific humpback whales.Communications biology · 2026Article
- High Gene Flow With Patterns of Asymmetric Connectivity and Adaptive Divergence in the New Zealand Southern Rock Lobster,Evolutionary applications · 2026Article
- Genomic erosion across avian lineages in the context of their evolutionary history.Molecular biology and evolution · 2026Article
- Genomic insights into recurrent demographic collapses and recovery dynamics in Tibetan antelopes (Pantholops hodgsoni).Science China. Life sciences · 2026Article
- Conservation genomics highlights the urgency of protecting Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins (Sousa chinensis) in Chinese waters.Science China. Life sciences · 2026Article
- Predicting extinction risk of gibbons from genomes of extinct Yunnan lar gibbon.Genome biology · 2026Article
- Perspective: The Future of the Southern Resident Killer Whales Depends on Interactions With Other Killer Whale Populations.Ecology and evolution · 2026Article
- Article
14 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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15 authors.
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No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Understanding the factors that cause endangered populations to either grow or decline is crucial for preserving biodiversity. Conservation efforts often address extrinsic threats, such as environmental degradation and overexploitation, that can limit the recovery of endangered populations. Genetic factors such as inbreeding depression can also affect population dynamics but these effects are rarely measured in the wild and thus often neglected in conservation efforts. Here we show that inbreeding depression strongly influences the population dynamics of an endangered killer whale population, despite genomic signatures of purging of deleterious alleles via natural selection. We find that the 'Southern Residents', which are currently endangered despite nearly 50 years of conservation efforts, exhibit strong inbreeding depression for survival. Our population models suggest that this inbreeding depression limits population growth and predict further decline if the population remains genetically isolated and typical environmental conditions continue. The Southern Residents also had more inferred homozygous deleterious alleles than three other, growing, populations, further suggesting that inbreeding depression affects population fitness. These results demonstrate that inbreeding depression can substantially limit the recovery of endangered populations. Conservation actions focused only on extrinsic threats may therefore fail to account for key intrinsic genetic factors that also limit population growth.
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