Genetics of century‐old fish scales reveal population patterns of decline
Abstract Conservation scientists rarely have the information required to understand changes in abundance over more than a few decades, even for important species like Pacific salmon. Such lack of historical information can underestimate the magnitude of decline for depressed populations. We applied...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Wiley
2019-11-01
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| Series: | Conservation Letters |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1111/conl.12669 |
| _version_ | 1818059751089504256 |
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| author | Michael H.H. Price Brendan M. Connors John R. Candy Brenda McIntosh Terry D. Beacham Jonathan W. Moore John D. Reynolds |
| author_facet | Michael H.H. Price Brendan M. Connors John R. Candy Brenda McIntosh Terry D. Beacham Jonathan W. Moore John D. Reynolds |
| author_sort | Michael H.H. Price |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Conservation scientists rarely have the information required to understand changes in abundance over more than a few decades, even for important species like Pacific salmon. Such lack of historical information can underestimate the magnitude of decline for depressed populations. We applied genetic tools to a unique collection of 100‐year‐old salmon scales to reveal declines of 56%–99% in wild sockeye populations across Canada's second largest salmon watershed, the Skeena River. These analyses reveal century‐long declines that are much greater than those based on modern era abundance data, which suggested that only 7 of 13 populations declined over the last five decades. Populations of larger‐bodied fish have declined the most in abundance, likely because of size‐selective commercial fisheries. Our findings illustrate how a deep historical perspective can expand our understanding of past abundances to a time before species incurred significant losses from fishing, and help inform conservation for diminished populations. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-10T13:21:30Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-1d0a1c615a2f4dbdaf4bef740c269be9 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1755-263X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-10T13:21:30Z |
| publishDate | 2019-11-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Conservation Letters |
| spelling | doaj.art-1d0a1c615a2f4dbdaf4bef740c269be92022-12-22T01:47:19ZengWileyConservation Letters1755-263X2019-11-01126n/an/a10.1111/conl.12669Genetics of century‐old fish scales reveal population patterns of declineMichael H.H. Price0Brendan M. Connors1John R. Candy2Brenda McIntosh3Terry D. Beacham4Jonathan W. Moore5John D. Reynolds6Earth to Ocean Research Group, Department of Biological Sciences Simon Fraser University Burnaby BC V5A 1S6 CanadaEarth to Ocean Research Group, Department of Biological Sciences Simon Fraser University Burnaby BC V5A 1S6 CanadaFisheries and Oceans Canada, Pacific Biological Station Nanaimo BC V9T 6N7 CanadaFisheries and Oceans Canada, Pacific Biological Station Nanaimo BC V9T 6N7 CanadaFisheries and Oceans Canada, Pacific Biological Station Nanaimo BC V9T 6N7 CanadaEarth to Ocean Research Group, Department of Biological Sciences Simon Fraser University Burnaby BC V5A 1S6 CanadaEarth to Ocean Research Group, Department of Biological Sciences Simon Fraser University Burnaby BC V5A 1S6 CanadaAbstract Conservation scientists rarely have the information required to understand changes in abundance over more than a few decades, even for important species like Pacific salmon. Such lack of historical information can underestimate the magnitude of decline for depressed populations. We applied genetic tools to a unique collection of 100‐year‐old salmon scales to reveal declines of 56%–99% in wild sockeye populations across Canada's second largest salmon watershed, the Skeena River. These analyses reveal century‐long declines that are much greater than those based on modern era abundance data, which suggested that only 7 of 13 populations declined over the last five decades. Populations of larger‐bodied fish have declined the most in abundance, likely because of size‐selective commercial fisheries. Our findings illustrate how a deep historical perspective can expand our understanding of past abundances to a time before species incurred significant losses from fishing, and help inform conservation for diminished populations.https://doi.org/10.1111/conl.12669conservation geneticsecosystemsfisherieshistorical ecologypopulation depletionrecovery |
| spellingShingle | Michael H.H. Price Brendan M. Connors John R. Candy Brenda McIntosh Terry D. Beacham Jonathan W. Moore John D. Reynolds Genetics of century‐old fish scales reveal population patterns of decline Conservation Letters conservation genetics ecosystems fisheries historical ecology population depletion recovery |
| title | Genetics of century‐old fish scales reveal population patterns of decline |
| title_full | Genetics of century‐old fish scales reveal population patterns of decline |
| title_fullStr | Genetics of century‐old fish scales reveal population patterns of decline |
| title_full_unstemmed | Genetics of century‐old fish scales reveal population patterns of decline |
| title_short | Genetics of century‐old fish scales reveal population patterns of decline |
| title_sort | genetics of century old fish scales reveal population patterns of decline |
| topic | conservation genetics ecosystems fisheries historical ecology population depletion recovery |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1111/conl.12669 |
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