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neighbouring populations, provided that the harvesting of P. ferruginea is totally
forbidden.

Our data from ISSRs also suggest that in the SAS the populations from the
Zembra and Sicilian islands may fit the definition of "source-sink populations" (sensu
Pulliam 1988), with the small populations from Pantelleria, Marettimo and Favignana
derived from the Zembra island by the effect of the main marine currents. Thus,
recovery of these populations could be linked to an effective pian to protect the
population ofZembra.

The presence of different possible conservation units reflects the absence of
effective gene flow among some populations. Such populations are at high risk of
extinction because the immigration rates are close to zero, hindering the rate of
population recovery, and often their population sizes are low to very low. Consequently,
specific protection measures should be applied to these populations. The success of such
measures clearly depends primarily on the reinforcement ofthe ban on further removal
of P. ferruginea individuals.

Acknowledgement This research was financially supported by the European
Community INTERREG III (2000-2004), the Centro di Eccellenza ofthe University of
Sassari (2000-2004), the Provincia di Olbia-Tempio (2010), and the Regione Autonoma
della Sardegna- PO Sardegna FSE 2007-2013- L.R. 7/2007 ' Promozione della ricerca
scientifica e dell'innovazione tecnologica in Sardegna'. Part ofthe genetic analysis was
carried out using the resources of the Computational Biology Service Unit at Comell
University. We wish to gratefully thank Dr. Fabio Scarpa for his help in checking the
MS.

30

Gìan Luca Dedola: ANALISI DELLA VARIABILITÀ GENETICA DI PATELLA FéRRUGINEA, PATEL-LA UL l'SSIPONENSIS (MOLLUSCA: GASTROPODA) E PINNA
NOBILIS (MOLLUSCA: BIVALVIA): lLCONTRJBUTO DEl DATI MOLECOLARI ALLA CONSERVAZIONE DI SPECIE MINACCIATE - Tesi di douorato in Scienze
della natura e delle sue risorse • indiri7.zo BK>logi.a Ambientale, Università degli Studi di Sassarl