| Summary: | Thesis (M.S.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2010 Bootstrap analyses of hatch data collected during two independent experiments revealed that hybridization between pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) breeding populations separated at either a large geographic scale or a fine temporal scale can influence development time. Restricted maximum likelihood estimators also revealed that sire, dam, cross, and parental interaction can influence genetic variance associated with development time at either scale. Few studies have investigated the extent of local adaptation that results from fine-scale ecological variation, the genetic underpinnings of that adaptation, or the potential impacts outbreeding at that level may have on fitness. We tested whether or not local adaptation contributed to genetic divergence among subpopulations of pink salmon that overlap temporally within the same spawning habitat (early-run fish and late-run fish within Auke Creek, near Juneau, Alaska) by determining whether or not outbreeding influenced development time (a fitness-related trait) in first-generation hybrids. We examined genetic divergence among populations isolated at a much broader scale (Pillar Creek on Kodiak Island, Alaska, and Auke Creek, 1,000 km great circle distance) as a more extreme reference to local adaptation. Results provide evidence that development time is locally adapted and expressed primarily in a locus-by-locus manner.
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