Fish conservation in the land of steppe and sky: Evolutionarily significant units of threatened salmonid species in Mongolia mirror major river basins

Fuente: PANGAEA
Gespeichert in:
Bibliographische Detailangaben
Hauptverfasser: Kaus, Andrew, Michalski, Stefan, Hänfling, Bernd, Karthe, Daniel, Borchardt, Dietrich, Durka, Walter
Format: Dataset Open Access
Sprache:en
Veröffentlicht: PANGAEA 2019
Schlagworte:
Online-Zugang:
Tags: Tag hinzufügen
Keine Tags, Fügen Sie den ersten Tag hinzu!
_version_ 1867169132705742848
author Kaus, Andrew
Michalski, Stefan
Hänfling, Bernd
Karthe, Daniel
Borchardt, Dietrich
Durka, Walter
author_facet Kaus, Andrew
Michalski, Stefan
Hänfling, Bernd
Karthe, Daniel
Borchardt, Dietrich
Durka, Walter
collection Datos científicos de ciencias marinas y ambientales
contents Abstract Mongolia's salmonids are suffering extensive population declines; thus, more comprehensive fisheries management and conservation strategies are required. To assist with their development, a better understanding of the genetic structure and diversity of these threatened species would allow a more targeted approach for preserving genetic variation and ultimately improve long‐term species recoveries. It is hypothesized that the unfragmented river basins that have persisted across Mongolia provide unobstructed connectivity for resident salmonid species. Thus, genetic structure is expected to be primarily segregated between major river basins. We tested this hypothesis by investigating the population structure for three salmonid genera (Hucho, Brachymystax and Thymallus) using different genetic markers to identify evolutionarily significant units (ESUs) and priority rivers to focus conservation efforts. Fish were assigned to separate ESUs when the combined evidence of mitochondrial and nu‐clear data indicated genetic isolation. Hucho taimen exhibited a dichotomous population structure forming two ESUs, with five priority rivers. Within the Brachymystax genus, there were three B. lenok ESUs and one B. tumensis ESU, along with six priority rivers. While B. tumensis was confirmed to display divergent mtDNA haplotypes, haplotype sharing between these two congeneric species was also identified. For T. baicalensis, only a single ESU was assigned, with five priority rivers identified plus Lake Hovsgol. Additionally, we confirmed that T. nigrescens from Lake Hovsgol is a synonym of T. baicalensis. Across all species, the most prominent pattern was strong differentiation among major river basins with low differentiation and weak patterns of isolation by distance within river basins, which corroborated our hypothesis of high within‐basin connectivity across Mongolia. This new genetic information provides authorities the opportunity to distribute resources for management between ESUs while assigning additional protection for the more genetically valuable salmonid rivers so that the greatest adaptive potential within each species can be preserved.
format Dataset Open Access
id pangaea_https___doi_org_10_1594_PANGAEA_899882
institution PANGAEA
language en
publishDate 2019
publisher PANGAEA
record_format pangaea
spellingShingle Fish conservation in the land of steppe and sky: Evolutionarily significant units of threatened salmonid species in Mongolia mirror major river basins
Kaus, Andrew
Michalski, Stefan
Hänfling, Bernd
Karthe, Daniel
Borchardt, Dietrich
Durka, Walter
Brachymystax lenok; evolutionarily significant units; File format; File name; File size; freshwater fish conservation; Hucho taimen; Mongolei; Mongolia; No Device; threatened salmonids; Thymallus baicalensis; Uniform resource locator/link to file
Abstract Mongolia's salmonids are suffering extensive population declines; thus, more comprehensive fisheries management and conservation strategies are required. To assist with their development, a better understanding of the genetic structure and diversity of these threatened species would allow a more targeted approach for preserving genetic variation and ultimately improve long‐term species recoveries. It is hypothesized that the unfragmented river basins that have persisted across Mongolia provide unobstructed connectivity for resident salmonid species. Thus, genetic structure is expected to be primarily segregated between major river basins. We tested this hypothesis by investigating the population structure for three salmonid genera (Hucho, Brachymystax and Thymallus) using different genetic markers to identify evolutionarily significant units (ESUs) and priority rivers to focus conservation efforts. Fish were assigned to separate ESUs when the combined evidence of mitochondrial and nu‐clear data indicated genetic isolation. Hucho taimen exhibited a dichotomous population structure forming two ESUs, with five priority rivers. Within the Brachymystax genus, there were three B. lenok ESUs and one B. tumensis ESU, along with six priority rivers. While B. tumensis was confirmed to display divergent mtDNA haplotypes, haplotype sharing between these two congeneric species was also identified. For T. baicalensis, only a single ESU was assigned, with five priority rivers identified plus Lake Hovsgol. Additionally, we confirmed that T. nigrescens from Lake Hovsgol is a synonym of T. baicalensis. Across all species, the most prominent pattern was strong differentiation among major river basins with low differentiation and weak patterns of isolation by distance within river basins, which corroborated our hypothesis of high within‐basin connectivity across Mongolia. This new genetic information provides authorities the opportunity to distribute resources for management between ESUs while assigning additional protection for the more genetically valuable salmonid rivers so that the greatest adaptive potential within each species can be preserved.
title Fish conservation in the land of steppe and sky: Evolutionarily significant units of threatened salmonid species in Mongolia mirror major river basins
topic Brachymystax lenok; evolutionarily significant units; File format; File name; File size; freshwater fish conservation; Hucho taimen; Mongolei; Mongolia; No Device; threatened salmonids; Thymallus baicalensis; Uniform resource locator/link to file
url https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.899882