Same old Salmo? Changes in life history and demographic trends of North Iberian salmonids since the Upper Palaeolithic as revealed by archaeological remains and beast analyses

Life history traits determine fitness and hence the ability of populations and species to survive through adverse conditions. Therefore, identifying temporal changes in life history traits over large timescales is necessary to understand and predict the effect of current global change on wild popula...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Molecular ecology 2012-05, Vol.21 (10), p.2318-2329
Main Authors: TURRERO, P., HORREO, J. L., GARCIA-VAZQUEZ, E.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adaptation, Physiological
Animals
archaeological remains
Archaeology
Bayes Theorem
Bayesian analysis
bayesian evolutionary analysis by sampling trees
Biological Evolution
Climate change
demographic trends
DNA, Mitochondrial - genetics
life history
Mitochondrial DNA
Molecular Sequence Data
Mutation Rate
Population Density
Salmo
Salmo salar
Salmo salar - genetics
Salmo salar - physiology
Salmo trutta
Salmon
Spain
Trout - genetics
Trout - physiology
Upper Palaeolithic
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Summary:Life history traits determine fitness and hence the ability of populations and species to survive through adverse conditions. Therefore, identifying temporal changes in life history traits over large timescales is necessary to understand and predict the effect of current global change on wild populations. In this study, we compare life history traits between Palaeolithic and present‐day vertebrates, analysing the number of winters spent in the river and at sea by North Iberian salmonids (Salmo salar and Salmo trutta) from two separate time frames: the Upper Palaeolithic, based on archaeological remains, and the present day, based on sport catches. The river stage did not change significantly, but the marine period has been shortened in modern anadromous specimens, accordingly shortening mean generation time. Population growth rates have been estimated through Bayesian analyses of the mitochondrial DNA control region of modern specimens for the two Salmo species using two different mutation rates (1% and 3.6%). Coincidence of coalescent Ne estimates with independent Ne calculated from catches suggests that the 3.6% mutation rate fits better the evolution of the studied populations. Population growth rate declines would have occurred in the last millennium and could be explained by a combination of climatic events and anthropogenic activities. See also the Perspective by Blanchet and Dubut
ISSN:0962-1083
1365-294X
DOI:10.1111/j.1365-294X.2012.05508.x