What Are the Odds? Reframing Fitness in a Changing Environment
Presentation Abstract
Fitness – the propensity to survive and reproduce in a particular environment – is a function of different environments and genotypes. Fitness incorporates the notion of probability, but in fisheries management questions about hatcheries, these probabilities are rarely presented or discussed. This contributes to lack of transparency and confusion between the potential biological effects of artificial propagation and policy positions about the level of acceptable risk. Here we present a knowledge-based, Bayesian assessment tool that describes overall and disaggregated probabilities of loss of fitness from three different mechanisms associated with different salmon hatchery scenarios: antagonistic selection in hatchery and wild environments, relaxation of selection from the wild, and effects of small population size. Hatchery scenarios were based on an extensive review of anadromous hatchery programs in the Pacific Northwest and range from highly intensive intervention in salmonid life-cycles, such as captive breeding programs, to those where there is little intervention. We compare these results with examples of habitat change on fitness driven by society’s needs for development and transportation. We conclude by describing a framework for integrating management decisions about the potential effects of habitat change and hatchery production on fitness that is necessary for salmon recovery.
Session Title
General species and food webs
Conference Track
Species and Food Webs
Conference Name
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference (2016 : Vancouver, B.C.)
Document Type
Event
Start Date
2016 12:00 AM
End Date
2016 12:00 AM
Location
2016SSEC
Type of Presentation
Oral
Genre/Form
conference proceedings; presentations (communicative events)
Contributing Repository
Digital content made available by University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University.
Subjects – Topical (LCSH)
Biological fitness--Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.); Hatchery fishes--Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.)
Geographic Coverage
Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.)
Rights
This resource is displayed for educational purposes only and may be subject to U.S. and international copyright laws. For more information about rights or obtaining copies of this resource, please contact University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA 98225-9103, USA (360-650-7534; heritage.resources@wwu.edu) and refer to the collection name and identifier. Any materials cited must be attributed to the Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference Records, University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University.
Type
Text
Language
English
Format
application/pdf
What Are the Odds? Reframing Fitness in a Changing Environment
2016SSEC
Fitness – the propensity to survive and reproduce in a particular environment – is a function of different environments and genotypes. Fitness incorporates the notion of probability, but in fisheries management questions about hatcheries, these probabilities are rarely presented or discussed. This contributes to lack of transparency and confusion between the potential biological effects of artificial propagation and policy positions about the level of acceptable risk. Here we present a knowledge-based, Bayesian assessment tool that describes overall and disaggregated probabilities of loss of fitness from three different mechanisms associated with different salmon hatchery scenarios: antagonistic selection in hatchery and wild environments, relaxation of selection from the wild, and effects of small population size. Hatchery scenarios were based on an extensive review of anadromous hatchery programs in the Pacific Northwest and range from highly intensive intervention in salmonid life-cycles, such as captive breeding programs, to those where there is little intervention. We compare these results with examples of habitat change on fitness driven by society’s needs for development and transportation. We conclude by describing a framework for integrating management decisions about the potential effects of habitat change and hatchery production on fitness that is necessary for salmon recovery.
