Date of Award
2010
Publication Type
Master Thesis
Degree Name
M.Sc.
Department
Earth and Environmental Sciences
Keywords
Health and environmental sciences, Biological sciences
Supervisor
Daniel Heath
Rights
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Abstract
Resident rainbow trout in Babine Lake, British Columbia are the focus of regionally important recreational and First Nations food fisheries. This study investigates the roles of dispersal and random genetic drift on lake-wide population genetic structure and non-random distribution of adults. Using thirteen microsatellite loci, I found strong divergence between tributary populations and parr and fry life-stages within tributaries. I found that juvenile dispersal did not greatly affect the divergence between parr and fry groups, but that random genetic drift due to low effective population size was the likely cause of divergence between parr and fry. Adult distribution in the lake was non-random and may have been driven by habitat partitioning. This study demonstrates that high genetic divergence between life-stages, random genetic drift, and non-random distribution of fish are critical factors that should be considered when evaluating evolutionary processes and considering management options.
Recommended Citation
Koehler, Rachel Anne, "Adult distribution and the effects of dispersal and genetic drift on population genetic structure of resident rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) in Babine Lake, British Columbia." (2010). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 7986.
https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/etd/7986