Hiding in Plain Sight: A Case for Cryptic Metapopulations in Brook Trout (Salvelinus fontinalis).

ABSTRACT: A fundamental issue in the management and conservation of biodiversity is how to define a population. Spatially contiguous fish occupying a stream network have often been considered to represent a single, homogenous population. However, they may also represent multiple discrete populations, a single population with genetic isolation-by-distance, or a metapopulation. We used microsatellite DNA and a large-scale mark-recapture study to assess population structure in a spatially contiguous sample of Brook Trout (Salvelinus fontinalis), a species of conservation concern. We found evidence for limited genetic exchange across small spatial scales and in the absence of barriers to physical movement. Mark-recapture and stationary passive integrated transponder antenna records demonstrated that fis

SUBMITTER: Kazyak DC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4701135 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature