Evidence for Low Levels of Genetic Variation among Zostera marina Populations from the Atlantic West Coast
Zoster a marina (eelgrass), can be found in the North Atlantic on the coast of Europe and the North Arctic, as well as the Pacific. On the Atlantic west coast this species grows as far south as North Carolina and into northern Canada. The cold waters of these regions support the habitat needed for t...
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ftmontclairstuni:oai:digitalcommons.montclair.edu:etd-2251 2023-07-23T04:17:56+02:00 Evidence for Low Levels of Genetic Variation among Zostera marina Populations from the Atlantic West Coast Rosenzweig, Eric 2008-01-01T08:00:00Z application/pdf https://digitalcommons.montclair.edu/etd/1249 https://digitalcommons.montclair.edu/context/etd/article/2251/viewcontent/Rosenzweig_Thesis_2008_Redacted.pdf unknown Montclair State University Digital Commons https://digitalcommons.montclair.edu/etd/1249 https://digitalcommons.montclair.edu/context/etd/article/2251/viewcontent/Rosenzweig_Thesis_2008_Redacted.pdf Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects Biology text 2008 ftmontclairstuni 2023-07-03T21:57:19Z Zoster a marina (eelgrass), can be found in the North Atlantic on the coast of Europe and the North Arctic, as well as the Pacific. On the Atlantic west coast this species grows as far south as North Carolina and into northern Canada. The cold waters of these regions support the habitat needed for the species. Eelgrass is vital to coastal communities. It serves as a food source for many organisms, hatching ground for fish species, absorbent of water pollutants, and soil stabilizer. Over the last 30 years, the once robust populations of Atlantic west coast eelgrass have withered into sparse patchy regions due to the effects of pollution, disease, brown tide, increasing water temperatures, and increasing water turbidity. We have analyzed the genetic population structure of Atlantic west coast Zostera marina, using microsatellite DNA polymorphisms. We have found that genetic variation is much lower in the American populations studied than in comparable European populations. This result suggests severe future problems for the American populations if gene flow is limited and inbreeding depression occurs. There is strong evidence of bottlenecking events in Long Island populations, along with weaker evidence for such events in Chesapeake Bay. Northern Maine had the highest effective population size coupled with lowest mean number of alleles. Within the nine populations studied there seems to be little apparent gene flow among the west Atlantic populations. Text Arctic North Atlantic Montclair State University Digital Commons Arctic Canada Pacific Long Island |
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Biology Rosenzweig, Eric Evidence for Low Levels of Genetic Variation among Zostera marina Populations from the Atlantic West Coast |
topic_facet |
Biology |
description |
Zoster a marina (eelgrass), can be found in the North Atlantic on the coast of Europe and the North Arctic, as well as the Pacific. On the Atlantic west coast this species grows as far south as North Carolina and into northern Canada. The cold waters of these regions support the habitat needed for the species. Eelgrass is vital to coastal communities. It serves as a food source for many organisms, hatching ground for fish species, absorbent of water pollutants, and soil stabilizer. Over the last 30 years, the once robust populations of Atlantic west coast eelgrass have withered into sparse patchy regions due to the effects of pollution, disease, brown tide, increasing water temperatures, and increasing water turbidity. We have analyzed the genetic population structure of Atlantic west coast Zostera marina, using microsatellite DNA polymorphisms. We have found that genetic variation is much lower in the American populations studied than in comparable European populations. This result suggests severe future problems for the American populations if gene flow is limited and inbreeding depression occurs. There is strong evidence of bottlenecking events in Long Island populations, along with weaker evidence for such events in Chesapeake Bay. Northern Maine had the highest effective population size coupled with lowest mean number of alleles. Within the nine populations studied there seems to be little apparent gene flow among the west Atlantic populations. |
format |
Text |
author |
Rosenzweig, Eric |
author_facet |
Rosenzweig, Eric |
author_sort |
Rosenzweig, Eric |
title |
Evidence for Low Levels of Genetic Variation among Zostera marina Populations from the Atlantic West Coast |
title_short |
Evidence for Low Levels of Genetic Variation among Zostera marina Populations from the Atlantic West Coast |
title_full |
Evidence for Low Levels of Genetic Variation among Zostera marina Populations from the Atlantic West Coast |
title_fullStr |
Evidence for Low Levels of Genetic Variation among Zostera marina Populations from the Atlantic West Coast |
title_full_unstemmed |
Evidence for Low Levels of Genetic Variation among Zostera marina Populations from the Atlantic West Coast |
title_sort |
evidence for low levels of genetic variation among zostera marina populations from the atlantic west coast |
publisher |
Montclair State University Digital Commons |
publishDate |
2008 |
url |
https://digitalcommons.montclair.edu/etd/1249 https://digitalcommons.montclair.edu/context/etd/article/2251/viewcontent/Rosenzweig_Thesis_2008_Redacted.pdf |
geographic |
Arctic Canada Pacific Long Island |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Canada Pacific Long Island |
genre |
Arctic North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
Arctic North Atlantic |
op_source |
Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects |
op_relation |
https://digitalcommons.montclair.edu/etd/1249 https://digitalcommons.montclair.edu/context/etd/article/2251/viewcontent/Rosenzweig_Thesis_2008_Redacted.pdf |
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1772180041753427968 |