Microsatellite markers were used to investigate the genetic structure among invasive L. decolor populations from Australia and a single international population from Kansas, USA to determine patterns of dispersal. Six variable microsatellites displayed an average of 2.5–4.2 alleles per locus per population. Observed (HO) heterozygosity ranged from 0.12–0.65 per locus within populations; but, in 13 of 36 tests, HO was less than expected. Despite low levels of allelic diversity, genetic structure estimated as θ was significant for all pairwise comparisons between populations (θ=0.05–0.23). Due to suspected null alleles at four loci, ENA (excluding null alleles) corrected FST estimates were calculated overall and for pairwise population comparisons. The ENA-corrected FST values (0.02–0.10) revealed significant overall genetic structure, but none of the pairwise values were significantly different from zero. A Mantel test of isolation by distance indicated no relationship between genetic structure and geographic distance among all populations (r2=0.12, P=0.18) and for Australian populations only (r2=0.19, P=0.44), suggesting that IBD does not describe the pattern of gene flow among populations. This study supports a hypothesis of long distance dispersal by L. decolor at moderate to potentially high levels.

Genetic diversity in four populations of the Eurasian badger Meles meles from Denmark was estimated by allozyme electrophoresis. Low genetic variability was found within populations as compared to the variability found in badger populations from other countries, whereas significant genetic differentiation was found between populations. The low genetic variability and the differentiation between populations is explained by the fragmentation of the Danish landscape, which reduces the effective population size of local populations and the gene flow between them. Low genetic variability found for Danish badgers also supports the hypothesis of a rapid recolonization following the last glaciation.

Electrophoretic variation was determined at eight enzyme loci in Anopheles arabiensis from four villages in Mwea Irrigation Scheme, Kenya. Seven loci had polymorphic alíeles of which at least two were common. Pooled allele frequencies at the Pgm, β-Had and Odh loci were in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, while those at the Ao, Idh, Adh, Est-1 and 6-Pgd loci showed significant deviations. The frequency of heterozygotes at the Adh, Est-1 and 6-Pgd loci was less than expected, while at the Ao locus, there was an excess. A 2 × 4 contingency χ2-test for each of the loci not in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium indicated an association between the respective gene frequencies and the villages. The suggested explanation for these observations is that each village constitutes a distinct population, and that the pooled data introduced the Wahlund effect. Allele frequencies at individual loci per village population are most likely at Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. Larger samples per village need to be examined to facilitate a goodness of fit χ2-test between observed and expected frequencies.