Abstract
Many hydroelectric dams have been in place for 50 - >100 years, which for most fish species means that enough generations have passed for fragmentation induced divergence to have accumulated. However, for long-lived species such as Lake Sturgeon, Acipenser fulvescens, it should be possible to discriminate between historical population structuring and contemporary gene flow and improve the broader understanding of anthropogenic influence. On the Winnipeg River, Manitoba, two hypotheses were tested: 1) Measureable quantities of former reservoir dwelling Lake Sturgeon now reside downstream of the Slave Falls Generating Station, and 2) genetically differentiated populations of Lake Sturgeon occur upstream and downstream, a result of historical structuring. Genetic methods based on ten microsatellite markers were employed, and simulations were conducted to provide context. With regards to contemporary upstream to downstream contributions, the inclusion of length-at-age data proved informative. Both pairwise relatedness and Bayesian clustering analysis substantiated that fast-growing outliers, apparently entrained after residing in the upstream reservoir for several years, accounted for ~15% of the Lake Sturgeon 525–750 mm fork length captured downstream. With regards to historical structuring, upstream and downstream populations were found to be differentiated (FST = 0.011, and 0.013–0.014 when fast-growing outliers were excluded), and heterozygosity metrics were higher for downstream versus upstream juveniles. Historical asymmetric (downstream) gene flow in the vicinity of the generating station was the most logical explanation for the observed genetic structuring. In this section of the Winnipeg River, construction of a major dam does not appear to have fragmented a previously panmictic Lake Sturgeon population, but alterations to habitat may be influencing upstream to downstream contributions in unexpected ways.
Highlights
Deforestation, urbanization, hydroelectric dams, weirs, water diversions, and linear transport infrastructure have altered terrestrial and aquatic environments, leading to widespread habitat fragmentation and threatening biological diversity [1,2,3,4,5]
Zone A fish tended to be larger for a given age than Zone B fish, differences were only significant for age-8 fish
The potential for historical population structure and contemporary inter-reservoir contributions of Lake Sturgeon in the vicinity of a major hydroelectric generating station was assessed using a combination of methods
Summary
Deforestation, urbanization, hydroelectric dams, weirs, water diversions, and linear transport infrastructure have altered terrestrial and aquatic environments, leading to widespread habitat fragmentation and threatening biological diversity [1,2,3,4,5]. Population fragmentation results from the introduction of one or more barriers to volitional movement and/or effective dispersal, isolating portions of a group of individuals that previously interacted genetically; over time, lack of gene flow among isolated groups could result in increased rates of genetic drift, decreased genetic variability, inbreeding depression, and risk of population extinction [8,9,10,11]. Contemporary habitat identified as fragmented may not preclude or restrict gene flow of a given species [7]. The assumption that populations were historically panmictic (presumably via contiguous habitat) prior to anthropogenic habitat alterations can be problematic, as evidence for limited historical gene flow (which gives rise to population structure) has been observed in a variety of species [12,13,14,15], and can facilitate adaptation [16,17]. Management initiatives designed to replicate historical connectivity may in some cases be based on the erroneous assumption of symmetric gene flow among groups
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