Abstract

We present an exact forward-in-time algorithm that can efficiently simulate the evolution of a finite population under the Wright–Fisher model. We used simulations based on this algorithm to verify the accuracy of the ancestral recombination graph approximation by comparing it to the exact Wright–Fisher scenario. We find that the recombination graph is generally a very good approximation for models with complete outcrossing, whereas, for models with self-fertilization, the approximation becomes slightly inexact for some combinations of selfing and recombination parameters.