The Idiot's Guide to Effective Population Size

ABSTRACT This is a reference manual for the elegant, yet hideously complex concept of effective population size ( N e ), inspired by a classic, self‐published manual of automotive repair ‘for the compleat idiot’. The Guide is timely, given the recent Kunming‐Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, where 196 Parties committed to tracking genetic diversity—and estimating N e —for all species. N e is a human construct, but a useful one that allows us to capture diverse aspects of an organism's biology in a single number. The Guide collates in one location factual information about effective population size, with a focus on topics of practical relevance to scientists and managers studying real populations; it…