Population size, habitat fragmentation, and the nature of adaptive variation in a stream fish

• Published in: Proceedings of the Royal Society. B, Biological sciences Vol. 281; no. 1790; p. 20140370
• Main Authors: Fraser, Dylan J., Debes, Paul V., Bernatchez, Louis, Hutchings, Jeffrey A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England The Royal Society 07.09.2014
• Subjects: Adaptation, Biological; Adaptive Variation; Animals; Biological Evolution; Ecosystem; Fish; Genetic Drift; Genetic Variation; Genetics, Population; Habitat Fragmentation; Newfoundland and Labrador; Polymorphism, Genetic; Population Density; Population Size; Rivers; Trout - genetics; Newfoundland and Labrador; genetic variation; adaptive variation; population size; fish; habitat fragmentation

Whether and how habitat fragmentation and population size jointly affect adaptive genetic variation and adaptive population differentiation are largely unexplored. Owing to pronounced genetic drift, small, fragmented populations are thought to exhibit reduced adaptive genetic variation relative to l...