I need help.......

[Bruce Walsh]

Pat:

Let's try this for starters.  Suppose the species of interest has a very
low Fst (for the general reader, Fst= fraction of genetic variation do to
between-, as opposed to within-, population differences), so that
essentially all of the variation is between individuals, rather than between
metapopulations.  This implies that the population is really just a single
strongly-connected population, so that historical gene flow has been strong. 
This negates your concerns 1-4,  as levels of releases simply mimic the
natural population-wide exchange that has occurred historically.  For such
species what are your concerns?

The nice feature about the low Fst species that this is easy (and
cost-effective) to check.  A rule allowing releases into areas where the Fst
values between source and release points are very close to zero seems
reasonable and a first step that perhaps both sides can agree on.

Peace

Bruce