The Genetics and Conservation of Spring Run-timing in Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus Tshawytscha) PDF Download

Author: Tasha Thompson
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781658415699
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
Human-driven environmental changes have altered and reduced phenotypic variation across diverse taxa, but the long-term consequences and the need for conservation action are unclear. This dissertation presents an investigation of the widespread and dramatic decline of the spring-run adult migration phenotype in wild Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), caused by dam construction and other anthropogenic activities. First, the Prologue reviews the findings of Prince et al. (2017), which identified the genetic and evolutionary basis of the spring-run phenotype. Next, Chapter 1 explores the mechanism and consequences of the decline and loss of the spring-run phenotype, finding that 1) changes in spring-run phenotype frequency are explained by changes in allele frequency at a single locus, and 2) loss of the spring-run phenotype can be rapidly followed by loss of spring-run alleles (and thus the ability to recover the phenotype). In Chapter 2, a combination of single-locus and genome-wide data is used to explore the utility of a genetic marker for run-type in addressing conservation and management questions in a population of conservation concern (the Chehalis Basin, WA), serving as an example of the ways in which the findings of Chapter 1 can be applied to immediate management questions. Finally, the Epilogue briefly describes the context of this dissertation and its relationship to broader conservation issues.