I use 15 specimens from 3 different islands separated by the sea using 17 microsatellite loci. If I can not use the data to assess the genetic diversity, then what can I discuss from data?
You can not do population genetics with such a small sampling size but you can definitely say if there is any mixture among the islands or if each island constitutes a separate genetic cluster. It would be great if you could add data from the closest continent or a major island.
15 specimens can be sufficient if the population on each island is small (i.e. if the 15 genotypes will represent the majority of the genetic diversity on the island). Were the samples taken from all over each island or just one locality on each? If the species is not very mobile and you have only sampled from one location, then you might be missing genetic diversity from each island. Kahraman is also correct in saying, some genetic information from a potential source population (mainland or nearest big island) for the islands would be extremely useful.
Hai Kahraman,
Thank you for the suggestion. My data were taken from Indonesian Sundaland; Sumatera, Java and Kalimantan. These islands are major island, in each island I used 2 - 7 localities.
Hai Dragos,
My specimens is a common species in Sumatera, Java and kalimantan, and I used nuclear SSRs.
Hai John,
The specimens were taken from several localities in each island, 2 - 7 localities.
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