Immediate Genetic Augmentation and Enhanced Habitat Connectivity Are Required to Secure the Future of an Iconic Endangered Freshwater Fish Population

Abstract

ABSTRACT Genetic diversity is rapidly lost from small, isolated populations by genetic drift. Measuring the level of genetic drift using effective population size (Ne) is highly useful for management. Single‐cohort genetic Ne estimators approximate the number of breeders in one season (Nb): a value < 100 signals likely inbreeding depression. Per‐generation Ne < 1000 estimated from multiple cohort signals reduced adaptive potential. Natural populations rarely meet assumptions of Ne‐estimation, so interpreting estimates is challenging. Macquarie perch is an endangered Australian freshwater fish threatened by severely reduced range, habitat loss, and fragmentation. To counteract low Ne, augmented gene flow is being implemented in several populations. In the Murrumbidgee River, unknown effects of water management on among‐site connectivity impede the design of effective interventions. Using DArT SNPs for 328 Murrumbidgee individuals sampled across several sites and years with different flow conditions, we assessed population structure, site isolation, heterozygosity, inbreeding, and Ne. We tested for inbreeding depression, assessed genetic diversity and dispersal, and evaluated whether individuals translocated from Cataract Reservoir to the Murrumbidgee River bred, and interbred with local fish. We found strong genetic structure, indicating complete or partial isolation of river fragments. This structure violates assumptions of Ne estimation, resulting in strongly downwardly biased Nb estimates unless assessed per‐site, highlighting the necessity to account for population structure while estimating Ne. Inbreeding depression was not detected, but with low Nb at each site, inbreeding and inbreeding depression are likely. These results flagged the necessity to address within‐river population connectivity through flow management and genetic mixing through translocations among sites and from other populations. Three detected genetically diverse offspring of a translocated Cataract fish and a local parent indicated that genetic mixing is in progress. Including admixed individuals in estimates yielded lower Ne but higher heterozygosity, suggesting heterozygosity is a preferable indicator of genetic augmentation.

Keywords

• effective number of breeders Nb
• effective population size Ne
• genetic diversity
• genetic management
• genetic monitoring
• inbreeding