Author : Jocelyn Lin
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 245 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (821 download)
Book Synopsis Microevolution, Local Adaptation, and Demography in Wild Populations of Pacific Salmon by : Jocelyn Lin
Download or read book Microevolution, Local Adaptation, and Demography in Wild Populations of Pacific Salmon written by Jocelyn Lin and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page 245 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There is increasing scientific interest in empirically linking evolution to ecology, particularly in wild populations. Although evolutionary change is often thought to proceed slowly, the microevolutionary forces of selection, gene flow, genetic drift and inbreeding can have pronounced effects on genetic variation even on short time scales. These genetic changes may then influence local adaptation and demography. The overarching aim of this dissertation was to estimate levels of gene flow and selection in wild populations, and to assess how microevolutionary change might affect local adaptation and population dynamics within these populations. Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) are an ideal model organism for studying natural patterns of microevolution and local adaptation. First there is high phenotypic variation within the species, and spawning fish can be sampled comprehensively by capturing adults when they return to freshwater from the ocean. Second, salmon form reproductively isolated spawning populations due to natal homing, but these populations can be genetically and demographically connected via straying. Third, salmon are of ecological and commercial interest, making our findings relevant to population management. This dissertation investigated ecology and evolution in salmon as follows. In Chapter 1, we examined patterns of genetic and phenotypic differentiation between adjacent populations of beach and stream spawning ecotypes of sockeye salmon, and assessed potential levels of gene flow between ecotypes. The objective of Chapter 2 was to determine whether small populations of Chinook and chum salmon occurring in the Wood River system are reproductively isolated, self-sustaining populations, population sinks that produce returning adults but receive immigration, or strays from other systems that do not produce returning adults. In Chapter 3 we re-constructed pedigrees for two wild populations of sockeye salmon to estimate natural selection and heritability for several phenotypic traits. For Chapter 4, we used empirical results from the first three chapters to develop a stochastic, individual-based model that we used to study effects of gene flow and selection on local adaptation and population dynamics in interconnected salmon populations. Taken together, these studies showed how gene flow and selection affect local adaptation and demography in wild salmon populations.