Molecular Ecology

Abstract Molecular ecology is a broad area of research that embraces topics as varied as population genetics, conservation genetics, molecular evolution, behavioural ecology and biogeography. Although somewhat varied, the areas of research within molecular ecology are united by the fact that they all use molecular genetic data to help us understand the ecology and evolution of organisms in the wild. This article provides an introductory overview of molecular ecology, and includes discussions of molecular markers, population genetics and phylogeography. It also contains examples that show how this discipline is relevant to several areas of applied science, including wildlife forensics and the management of invasive species.