Review by L. Lim (Countrywide Ecological Service. P.O. Box 158, Cremorne. New South Wales. Australia 2090) in Pacific Conservation Biology, 2001, Vol 7 (3): 217 - 218.

WITH regards to threatened species, section 5A (a) reads:

"Whether ... a viable local population of the species is likely to be placed at risk of extinction,"

This is part of a new section, popularly known as the ‘8-part test" that was inserted into the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (NSW) by the assent of the Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 (NSW).

What is a "viable local population"? In an age when the law has almost inevitably lagged behind the science this might be the lone case that is the exception — the science of Conservation Genetics.

At last, a stand-alone text on Conservation Genetics! Up till now we have had to contend with snippets of genetics in Conservation Biology textbooks or examples of conservation genetics in General Genetics textbooks — not any more.

But before I proceed with the review of this very important book, I must declare my conflict of interest in reviewing it. The senior author is Dr Richard Frankham, the Professor of Biology with Dr David Briscoe, an Associate Professor at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia. This is where I undertook my post. graduate training in ecology and it is where I am currently still an honorary research associate. Dr Jon Ballou is from the National Zoo which is part of the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DC. He is also an Adjunct Professor at the University of Maryland. I initially came across Jon as the studbook keeper for the endangered Golden Lion Tamarin (Leontopithecus rosalia; Primates: Family Callitrichidae), when I was focusing my attention on managing small captive populations at Sydney’s Taronga Park and the Western Plains Zoo for the Zoological Parks Board of New South Wales. My aforementioned bias aside, I can confidently say that these authors come well versed in all aspects of their subject. This is the indisputable strength of the book.

From the onset the authors make it clear that this text is aimed at a wide readership, including ecological consultants and also government scientists who have to routinely opine on the viability of populations. Conservation genetics, they argue, is indeed a relatively young discipline. In my opinion, they have succeeded admirably in presenting the complex, rich and diverse material to the reader. They have achieved this by the use of effective and excellent graphics and with creative formatting. It is refreshing that this book is not about charismatic megafauna. It is evenhanded in the examples it uses, whether they are plants, vertebrates or invertebrates. They have deliberately sought them out for their relevance and appropriateness and they make no distinction on which continent and in which hemisphere they occur. I found the regular precis of the content in the margin of the text to assist the reader to stay in focus with the substantive matters of each subject enormously helpful.

The book has 20 Chapters and some 600 pages organized in three Sections. The first two preamble chapters put into context what is conservation genetics, its increasing role in species status evaluation, for example, in the IUCN and its importance in biodiversity conservation, in particular its role in providing us with an understanding of the processes of inbreeding and extinction. They guide the reader away early from the distraction of some misconceptions and apparent inconsistencies in the general theory, for example, species that have evolved on islands and endangered species which are naturally rare. These are put into their proper context so that the reader can focus on the real genetic issues confronting threatened species and populations.

In Section I, the following eight Chapters are a revision (to some, a crash course) in quantitative genetics — that is, what you need to know before you can discuss conservation genetics, extinction, inbreeding and management of small population size sensibly.

Section II, goes into details of the various genetic consequences of small populations, inbreeding and the effects of population size reduction and detecting the manifestation of these consequences. Chapter 14 specifically deals with the fallacy of small surviving populations and what are genetically viable populations.

In Section III, putting theory into practice, the authors bring to the book their awesome collective experience: from Dr Frankham, his years of quantitative genetics research; from Dr Briscoe, his taxonomic research on a wide range of taxa; and in Dr Ballou his long-term experience with managing endangered populations. The last section of the final chapter also includes the application of PVA and an ominous message on the adequacy of our reserve system as part of a closing chapter.

The precursor of this book has been used for the teaching of the senior Conservation Genetics Course at Macquarie University for some years. It has thus been "field tested" for relevance, accuracy and clarity. There are a series of self-test questions and problems at the end of each chapter and the answers are provided at the back of the book.

In addition, it contains an up-to-date reference list, a comprehensive index and a useful glossary of terms.

Other than students of conservation genetics, this book is very highly recommended reading for all the wildlife managers and researchers and in particular, ecological consultants and government scientists who have to take into consideration aspects of conservation genetics in their daily advice or assessment work.

At a recent meeting with a wildlife authority, I asked whether there was an introgression problem in the park population of a particular species. There was a blank look from the senior graduate administrator as well as from all the scientists in his delegation. It horrified me to realize that they had not considered this critical issue and had no idea at all what I was referring to.

It would be reasonable to conclude from the above that this important book should be compulsory reading for some. It might be appropriate to rename the book: "What you really need to know about Conservation Genetics but were too afraid to ask"!

I found reading the book quite demanding because of its scope and depth but it is well edited and written so it is delightfully easy to read. I will be buying this book to sit beside my copy of Falconer, D. S. and Mackay, T. (1996) Introduction to Quantitative Genetics classic text published by Longmans, London - now in its 4th Edition with a new co-author.