Estimation of Contemporary and Recent Effective Population Size from Genomic Data

Effective population size ( N _e ) is a crucial parameter in the fields of evolutionary biology, conservation biology of endangered species, and selective breeding of domestic animals and crops, as it quantifies the magnitude of genetic drift and inbreeding occurring in a population. Because genetic drift is responsible for the loss of genetic variation and adaptive potential of populations, and inbreeding is known to cause the deterioration of fitness (i.e., inbreeding depression), N _e is considered one of the key indicators for assessing the genetic status, adaptive potential, and extinction risks of populations. Different methods have been developed to estimate this parameter, with recent advances made possible using genomic markers generated through genotyping and sequencing projects. This review aims to provide an overview of the methods currently employed to estimate contemporary and recent N _e from genomic data and to exemplify these methods by analyzing some simulated and empirical datasets.