BayeScan aims at identifying candidate loci under natural selection from genetic data, using differences in allele frequencies between populations. BayeScan is based on the multinomial-Dirichlet model. One of the simplest possible scenarios covered consists of an island model in which subpopulation allele frequencies are correlated through a common migrant gene pool from which they differ in varying degrees. The difference in allele frequency between this common gene pool and each subpopulation is measured by a subpopulation specific FST coefficient. Therefore, this formulation can consider realistic ecological scenarios where the effective size and the immigration rate may differ among subpopulations.