Genetic monitoring informs conservation status and trend of Arctic grayling at the southern edge of their distribution

• Main Authors: Kovach, Ryan P., Whiteley, Andrew R., Jaeger, Matthew E., Painter, Sally, Lodmell, Angela, Leary, Robb F.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: NRC Research Press (a division of Canadian Science Publishing) 2020
• Subjects: Arctic; Arctic grayling; Thymallus arcticus
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1807/102463; http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/abs/10.1139/cjfas-2020-0196

The number of effective breeders (Nb) has been touted as a means to monitor freshwater fishes, but the realized application of Nb has been limited. Using genetic monitoring data for two Arctic grayling (Thymallus arcticus) populations of conservation concern, we describe temporal trends in genetic variation and Nb, determine how sampling and variance in reproductive success influence estimates of Nb, and quantify the relationship among Nb, effective population size (Ne), and adult abundance (Nc). Temporal trends in allelic richness (AR) and Nb tracked known or suspected population trajectories. Nb increased in one population where there has been extensive conservation action, and both Nb and AR tracked a decline in the other population where harsh winter conditions have resulted in overwinter mortality events. After accounting for population demography, Ne estimates for each population were 190.7 and 308.8. Overall, this study demonstrates that temporal genetic data effectively resolve demographic and evolutionary status and trend in Arctic grayling, provides insight into the demographic factors that influence genetic variation, and emphasizes the value of temporal genetic data for conservation and management. The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author.