THE STURROCK LAB

Salmonids are renowned for their phenotypic plasticity, and the relationship between genotype and phenotype is not always clear cut. Recent research has revealed a clear genetic basis for early maturation and adult run timing (see recent papers out of the UC Davis Miller Lab and NOAA NMFS Garza Lab).

 

Here, in collaboration with Mariah Meek (MSU), Rachel Johnson (UCD) and Natalie Stauffer-Olsen (TU), we are analyzing the genotype and otolith strontium isotope records from adults returning the Yuba River in 2009-2019 to explore:

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a) the genetic underpinnings of early vs. late juvenile emigration timing (based on otolith reconstructions of early life rearing and migration patterns)

b) straying rates of adults from other rivers and hatcheries into the Yuba River,

c) whether adults born in the Yuba River exhibit a genetic signature different to the adjacent populations, despite well-document exchange among watersheds.

d) whether there has been a change in the frequency of the early run timing gene among Yuba River origin adults across this 10-year time window.