Genomics of Adaptation in Natural Populations

Rapid advances in genomics are providing unprecedented opportunities to improve our understanding of the amount, distribution and functional significance of genetic variation in natural populations and its dynamics over ecologically relevant time. At the same time that analyses on a genomic scale are becoming commonplace, complete genome sequence is increasingly available for many species, facilitating discovery of loci associated with adaptation and, at times, also the causal variants shaping adaptive phenotypes.  There is great promise for identifying adaptively important genes with genomic techniques, but challenges still exist in treating confounding effects of environmental heterogeneity, genetic drift, and gene by environment interactions. We will examine our current knowledge of functional genomic variation, identify gaps in our understanding, and explore future implications of this state of knowledge for conservation of fishes. Presenters will provide information about the promise as well as the limits of genomics as applied to conservation and management of fishes around the globe in an effort to identify current and future impacts of genomics in documenting and helping to stem the widespread loss of genetic and genetically based phenotypic diversity in the wild.