Genomic signatures and correlates of widespread population declines in salmon.

ABSTRACT: Global losses of biodiversity are occurring at an unprecedented rate, but causes are often unidentified. Genomic data provide an opportunity to isolate drivers of change and even predict future vulnerabilities. Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) populations have declined range-wide, but factors responsible are poorly understood. Here, we reconstruct changes in effective population size (N_e) in recent decades for 172 range-wide populations using a linkage-based method. Across the North Atlantic, N_e has significantly declined in >60% of populations and declines are consistently temperature-associated. We identify significant polygenic associations with decline, involving genomic regions related to metabolic, developmental, and physiological processes. These regions exhibit c

SUBMITTER: Lehnert SJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6611788 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature