Bull trout are a species of fish native to the coldwater mountain streams of
Alberta. Because this species is of special conservation concern and displays finely
dissected population structure, it is well suited as a model species to test the utility of
versatile conservation genetics tools. One such tool, a genetic clustering method, was
used to discern the hierarchical population structure of bull trout in the core of their range
in South-West Alberta. The method also revealed patterns of gene flow by way of
assignment tests. Populations defined by this method were then used as reference
populations for mixed-migrant assignment tests, revealing that clustering method-defined
populations may be more suitable for such tests rather than traditional approaches that
define reference populations by sampling location. Combined with spatial data a
posteriori, assignment tests had additional utility of discerning spatial scale of movement
for juvenile and adult salmonids. This technique provided further evidence that
assignment tests may be powerful indirect tools for evaluating migration, and that longrange
inter-stream dispersal in juvenile salmonid fish may be more common than
previously assumed. / xi, 174 leaves : ill. ; 29 cm. --
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:ALU.w.uleth.ca/dspace#10133/740 |
| Date | January 2008 |
| Creators | Warnock, Will G, University of Lethbridge. Faculty of Arts and Science |
| Contributors | Rasmussen, Joseph |
| Publisher | Lethbridge, Alta. : University of Lethbridge, Faculty of Arts and Science, 2008, Arts and Science, Biological Sciences |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Relation | Thesis (University of Lethbridge. Faculty of Arts and Science) |
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