Calculation of the effective population size and estimating of total population size using mitochondrial DNA sequencing in Hamedan, Qazvin and Zanjan provinces

Although wolves have the ability to live in different habitat types, in recent years their population has been drastically reduced in most parts of the country and in some areas has become extinct. Conservation programs are essential to ensure the viability of the remaining wolf populations. Wildlife management programs are depended on estimation of population size. With the development of molecular ecology in recent years and considering the ineffectiveness of traditional methods to estimate population size, population genetics methods have been developed to estimate population size more accurately than traditional methods. The mitochondrial genome is a strong indicator in predicting changes of population size of wild animals and calculating the effective population size (Ne) of female animals. Using mtDNA markers, we calculated the female effective population size in Hamedan, Qazvin, and Zanjan provinces. According to sex ratio (1:1) and ratio of effective population size to the census population size (Ne/N), the total population size was calculated between 90 to 360 wolves in these provinces. Our results suggest that estimating the effective population size by molecular markers is a useful tool for management of small and isolated populations.