Intraspecific diversity and conservation biology of fishes

我的研究项目使用各种方法来研究淡水和海洋鱼类的种内生物多样性，特别是那些出现在大西洋加拿大的鱼类。我们使用线粒体DNA的DNA测序来了解多样性的历史组成部分-例如，追溯当代人口到他们在冰河时代占据的冰川避难所。我们研究更快速进化的序列，称为微卫星，以衡量物种现在分裂成种群的程度，种群之间进行了多少混合或扩散，并确定种群内存在多少遗传变异。我们研究鱼类的特定基因，以确定它们是否表现出局部适应。我们研究身体形态，以考察种群在生态适应方面的不同。我们使用常见的花园实验来测试当地鱼类种群在它们的适应方面是否表现出差异，例如，它们抵御常见环境压力的能力，如酸性(低pH值)，也测试种群内的近亲交配量是否影响鱼类耐受低pH值等压力的能力。我们研究了各种鱼类，包括但不限于彩虹鱼、湖白鱼、狼鱼和美国沙鱼。

My research program uses a variety of methods to examine the intraspecific biodiversity of freshwater and marine fishes, especially those that occur in Atlantic Canada. We use DNA sequencing of mitochondrial DNA to learn about historical components of diversity - for example, to trace contemporary populations back to the glacial refugia they occupied during the ice ages. We study more rapidly evolving sequences, called microsatellites, to measure the extent to which species are split into populations now, how much mixing or dispersal goes on between populations, and to determine how much genetic variation exists within populations. We study particular genes in fishes to determine if they show local adaptations. We study body morphology to examine how populations differ in their ecological adaptations. We use common garden experiments to test whether local populations of fishes show differences in their adaptations, for example, in their ability to withstand common environmental stresses such as acidity (low pH), and also to test whether the amount of inbreeding within populations affects the ability of fish to tolerate stresses such as low pH. We study a variety of fish species, including but not limited to rainbow smelt, lake whitefish, wolffishes, and American shad.