Population Genetics of Brook Trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) in West Virginia
From January-August 2023 I worked for Dr. Amy Welsh in the Wild Genomics Lab at West Virginia University where I was involved in all lab projects.
Poster presentation from Women in Natural Resources Spring Research Symposium in 2023.
Hatchery rearing and stocking are common methods used for creation and maintenance of sport fish populations and can additionally be applied to conservation. Brook Trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) are the only native salmonid in West Virginia and due to habitat alteration have experienced significant reductions in distribution, and in extreme cases extirpation. A heritage strain of Brook Trout has been reestablished in two streams using adult relocation from neighboring populations, field spawning, captive rearing and stocking. The heritage strain is endemic to the local watershed and naturally reproduces. Our objectives were to assess the genetic diversity and differentiation of Brook Trout populations in West Virginia, including the reintroduced populations. Specifically, genetics will allow us to determine if reintroduction efforts have been successful by evaluating genetic diversity and natural reproduction, identifying geneflow between populations, and can guide future stocking practices to improve genetic diversity. For this study we collected a total number of 1,116 genetic samples from 15 sampling locations. Using 13 polymorphic microsatellite loci, we evaluated multiple measures of genetic differentiation between population and genetic diversity within populations. Preliminary results suggest only two Brook Trout populations are experiencing geneflow. The other 13 populations were significantly different from each other (Fst 0.05-0.39) indicating genetic differentiation amongst populations. Eight of the 14 populations significantly deviated from Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium (P<0.05). Of the eight deviant populations. Our preliminary results suggest a continued process of increasing genetic diversity in reestablished populations through stocking, and additionally has identified which populations have high genetic diversity heritage strain fish that can be used for genetic rescue of low diversity populations.