Research overview: source-sink genetic dynamics in fragmented puma populations

Across the western United States, puma populations range from large and connected to small and isolated, and genetics reveals how habitat configuration creates source and sink dynamics. This overview surveys research showing how naturally structured populations differ from those fragmented by roads and development, how gene flow buffers small populations, and where isolation erodes diversity. It reviews how landscape-genetic methods identify barriers and prioritize connectivity. The synthesis frames pumas as a model for studying fragmentation genetics in a wide-ranging carnivore, explaining why maintaining gene flow across human-altered landscapes is central to their long-term viability and why even abundant-seeming populations can harbor isolated, genetically vulnerable fragments at their edges.