PMx: Software package for demographic and genetic analysis and management of pedigreed populations

Abstract

1.The concepts and algorithms for demographic and genetic analysis of pedigreed populations have been evolving rapidly in recent years. 2.The PMx software brings together into one integrated package a number of tools for pedigree analysis, including methods for dealing with missing, uncertain and probabilistic data not previously available in distributed software. 3.PMx provides tools for optimal demographic and genetic management of populations of wildlife species, rare domestic breeds, and other populations for which the primary goal is to conserve genetic diversity, and it is being implemented as the primary pedigree management tool for the breeding programmes of zoo associations around the world. 4.PMx can be used to characterize the demography and genetics of any captive or wild population for which pedigree and life-history data are available. © 2011 The Authors. Methods in Ecology and Evolution © 2011 British Ecological Society.