Title: minimum viable population
Long Title: IUPAC Gold Book - minimum viable population
DOI: 10.1351/goldbook.14859
Status: current

Definition
Smallest population size of a species allowing survival in the wild.

Notes
1) More specifically, MVP is the smallest possible size at which a biological population can exist without facing extinction from natural disasters or demographic or environmental changes, or genetic drift.
2) MVP is used in the fields of biology, ecology, and conservation biology/ecology.

Related Term
- population: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/14932

Source
- PAC, 2009, 81, 829. 'Glossary of terms used in ecotoxicology (IUPAC Recommendations 2009)' on page 916 (https://doi.org/10.1351/PAC-REC-08-07-09)

Other Outputs
- html: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/14859/html
- json: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/14859/json
- xml: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/14859/xml

Citation: Citation: 'minimum viable population' in IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 5th ed. International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry; 2025. Online version 5.0.0, 2025. 10.1351/goldbook.14859
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Disclaimer: The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) is continuously reviewing and, where needed, updating terms in the Compendium of Chemical Terminology (the IUPAC Gold Book). Users of these terms are encouraged to include the version of a term with its use and to check regularly for updates to term definitions that you are using.
Accessed: 2026-04-21T13:12:19+00:00