Managed metapopulations: do salmon hatchery 'sources' lead to in-river 'sinks' in conservation?

• Published in: PloS one 2012-02, Vol.7 (2), p.e28880-e28880
• Main Authors: Johnson, Rachel C, Weber, Peter K, Wikert, John D, Workman, Michelle L, MacFarlane, R Bruce, Grove, Marty J, Schmitt, Axel K
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adults; Agriculture; Animals; BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES; Biology; Bones; Conservation; Conservation of Natural Resources; Demographics; Dispersal; Earth Sciences; Emigration and immigration; ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; Fish; Fish hatcheries; Fish populations; Fishes; Fitness; Growth rate; Habitats; Hatcheries; Immigrants; Immigration; Isotopes; Life history; Metapopulations; Natural populations; Oncorhynchus; Oncorhynchus kisutch; Oncorhynchus mykiss; Oncorhynchus tshawytscha; Otoliths; Population biology; Population Dynamics; Population genetics; Population growth; Protection and preservation; Reproductive fitness; Rivers; Salmo trutta; Salmon; Salmonidae; Science; Sinkholes; Source-sink relationships; Spawning; Sulfur; Sulfur compounds; Sulfur isotopes; Sulfur Isotopes - analysis; Watersheds
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0028880

Maintaining viable populations of salmon in the wild is a primary goal for many conservation and recovery programs. The frequency and extent of connectivity among natal sources defines the demographic and genetic boundaries of a population. Yet, the role that immigration of hatchery-produced adults may play in altering population dynamics and fitness of natural populations remains largely unquantified. Quantifying, whether natural populations are self-sustaining, functions as sources (population growth rate in the absence of dispersal, λ>1), or as sinks (λ