The Rio Grande silvery minnow is a short-lived, small-bodied cyprinid fish. Due to a reduction in its historic range and critical declines in abundance it is listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. The Rio Grande silvery minnow occupies a 280 km section of the Rio Grande, New Mexico that is fragmented by two reservoirs and three water diversion structures that fragment the habitat into four reaches that are <91 km long. This species is heavily managed and the wild population is supplemented with captive-reared and bred individuals. Previous genetic studies of this species show that pelagic early life history and river fragmentation interact to decrease the genetic effective size to orders of magnitude lower than the census size (Alò and Turner 2005, Turner et al. 2006, Osborne et al. 2005).
Since 2002, I have been collaborating with Dr. Tom Turner to investigate the effects of key early life-history features, river fragmentation and supportive breeding have on the genetic characteristics of the species. This long-term (>12 year) genetic monitoring data set is allowing us to better understand how the complex interactions between fluctuating environments, demography, and management actions affect the genetic diversity over spatial and temporal scales.
Recently, we have commenced a new research project with Dr. Evan Carson to use a modeling approach to explore the genetic effects of the interaction between captive bred/raised fish and the wild population of Rio Grande silvery minnow.
Since 2002, I have been collaborating with Dr. Tom Turner to investigate the effects of key early life-history features, river fragmentation and supportive breeding have on the genetic characteristics of the species. This long-term (>12 year) genetic monitoring data set is allowing us to better understand how the complex interactions between fluctuating environments, demography, and management actions affect the genetic diversity over spatial and temporal scales.
Recently, we have commenced a new research project with Dr. Evan Carson to use a modeling approach to explore the genetic effects of the interaction between captive bred/raised fish and the wild population of Rio Grande silvery minnow.
