The identification of genetically distinct populations is a common goal of conservation genetic studies because they can represent demographically independent units—the logical entities for management (Frankham et al. 2010). Furthermore, such studies can also highlight genetic novelties that may be significant for local adaptation, either presently or in the future (Frankham et al. 2010). With these goals in mind, Colombelli-Négrel et al. (2020) recently published data and population genetic analyses of the Australian little penguin, Eudyptula minor (hereafter Eudyptula novaehollandiae; see Grosser et al. 2015). They analyzed individuals from 8 breeding colonies from central-southern Australia (the state of South Australia), represented by a final dataset of 75 individuals and 754 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers. Colombelli-Négrel et al. (2020) tested for population genetic structuring among these colonies and made a comparison to previous investigations of this question based on mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and microsatellite datasets (Burridge et al. 2015). Colombelli-Négrel et al. (2020) advocate the existence of 3 or up to 4 genetic clusters within their study region and suggest that Burridge et al. (2015) falsely inferred only 2 genetic clusters. Here I seek to highlight several aspects of Colombelli-Négrel et al. (2020) that appear erroneous, along with instances of misinterpretation of related work published by different authors. Eudyptula novaehollandiae represents a challenge for typical conservation genetics approaches that rely on an equilibrium between genetic differentiation and contemporary gene flow (Whitlock and McCauley 1999).

中文翻译：

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南澳大利亚小企鹅（Eudyptula minor）群落之间微妙的遗传聚类：对 Colombelli-Négrel 等人的回复。(2020)。

鉴定遗传上不同的种群是保护遗传研究的共同目标，因为它们可以代表人口独立的单位——管理的逻辑实体（Frankham et al. 2010）。此外，此类研究还可以突出可能对当前或将来的本地适应具有重要意义的遗传新奇（Frankham 等，2010）。考虑到这些目标，Colombelli-Négrel 等人。(2020) 最近公布的澳大利亚小企鹅Eudyptula minor（以下简称Eudyptula novaehollandiae）的数据和种群遗传分析; 参见 Grosser 等人。2015）。他们分析了来自澳大利亚中南部（南澳大利亚州）的 8 个繁殖群的个体，由 75 个个体和 754 个单核苷酸多态性 (SNP) 标记的最终数据集表示。Colombelli-Négrel 等。(2020) 测试了这些菌落之间的种群遗传结构，并与之前基于线粒体 DNA (mtDNA) 和微卫星数据集（Burridge 等人，2015 年）对这个问题的调查进行了比较。Colombelli-Négrel 等。(2020) 主张在他们的研究区域内存在 3 个或最多 4 个遗传簇，并建议 Burridge 等人。(2015) 仅错误地推断了 2 个遗传簇。在这里，我试图强调 Colombelli-Négrel 等人的几个方面。(2020) 出现错误，Eudyptula novaehollandiae代表了对依赖遗传分化和当代基因流之间平衡的典型保护遗传学方法的挑战（Whitlock 和 McCauley 1999）。