Insightful Connections and Contrasts in the Conservation Genetics of Atlantic and Pacific Salmon - A Synthesis

Resource managers must plan for an evolutionary future for trust species, as such, ecological and evolutionary processes—those that maintain genetic diversity and provide the raw material for evolution and adaptation of populations—must be explicitly identified and represented.  The initial step in preserving the adaptive potential of Pacific and Atlantic salmon has been to delineate the fundamental unit of management (e.g., species, DPS, metapopulation, population).  Separating the effects of historical and current demographic factors that determine patterns of genetic diversity remains challenging but central to delineating zones of genetic discontinuity in Pacific and Atlantic salmon. Contemporary genetic tools allow the identification and characterization of associated migration, colonization, and extinction processes among populations of each species and have allowed for extensive genetic stock identification, robust mixed-fishery assessments, and enlightened captive breeding management.  Moreover, recent advances in salmonid genomics are providing the sequences of many coding genes and an understanding of the scope of functional differences among ecophenotypic variants.  This will ultimately lead to a better understanding of the extent and rate of adaptation to environmental change.  Incorporation of the rate of evolutionary changes in physiological/metabolic and immunological systems will increase the effectiveness of mechanistic models of species management.