Genetic Bottleneck and Panmixia Following the Collapse of a Great Lakes Lake Whitefish Fishery.
8 affiliations
- 1Indiana University Bloomington Indiana USA.
- 2Lake Erie Biological Station, Great Lakes Science Center U.S. Geological Survey Huron Ohio USA.
- 3Sandusky Fisheries Research Unit Ohio DNR Division of Wildlife Sandusky Ohio USA.
- 4Department of Fisheries and Wildlife Michigan State University East Lansing Michigan USA.
- 5Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources Wheatley Ontario Canada.
- 6Lake Erie Fisheries Unit New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Dunkirk New York USA.
- 7Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources Port Dover Ontario Canada.
- 8Department of Forestry and Natural Resources Purdue University West Lafayette Indiana USA.
Abstract
Lake whitefish Coregonus clupeaformis abundance has declined throughout most of the Laurentian Great Lakes in North America for two decades. Current management strategies in Lake Erie assume that there is a single stock of lake whitefish that spawns in the West Basin. There is documented lake whitefish spawning activity throughout the lake, leading to questions about locally adapted genetic stocks. Past research on lake whitefish genetic structure in Lake Erie has supported the single-stock hypothesis, but these studies used only neutral genetic markers or contained a limited number of samples that were collected during the spawning season when stocks would be spatially isolated. Using a GT-seq panel, we evaluate the genetic structure of lake whitefish collected from spawning shoals in the West, Central, and East basins of Lake Erie and compare these populations to lake whitefish from Lake Huron. We then investigate evidence of local adaptation and conduct demographic reconstruction using whole-genome sequencing. Our goals were to conclusively quantify intra-lake genetic structure in Lake Erie and determine whether spawning aggregations possess putatively adaptive variants that could be used for genetic stock identification at a sub-lake level. Our analysis supported the single-stock hypothesis in Lake Erie. However, Lake Erie stocks were distinct from neighboring Lake Huron. Whole-genome analysis did not identify any strong evidence of adaptive loci differentiating stocks. Inference of historic effective population size suggests that declines in lake whitefish populations may have caused a genetic bottleneck. Combined, these results indicate that lake whitefish in Lake Erie may have experienced an Allee Effect after population declines, resulting in a loss of population structure and genetic diversity as spawning shoals were recolonized from a common source.
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BibTeX
@article{euclide2026genetic,
title = {{Genetic Bottleneck and Panmixia Following the Collapse of a Great Lakes Lake Whitefish Fishery.}},
author = {Peter T Euclide and Joseph D Schmitt and Zak J Slagle and Jared J Homola and H Andrew Cook and Pascal D Wilkins and Thomas M MacDougall and Scott T Koenigbauer and Richard T Kraus},
journal = {Evolutionary applications},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1111/eva.70337},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42903575},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Genetic Bottleneck and Panmixia Following the Collapse of a Great Lakes Lake Whitefish Fishery.
AU - Peter T Euclide
AU - Joseph D Schmitt
AU - Zak J Slagle
AU - Jared J Homola
AU - H Andrew Cook
AU - Pascal D Wilkins
AU - Thomas M MacDougall
AU - Scott T Koenigbauer
AU - Richard T Kraus
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/20
JO - Evolutionary applications
DO - 10.1111/eva.70337
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42903575
AB - Lake whitefish Coregonus clupeaformis abundance has declined throughout most of the Laurentian Great Lakes in North America for two decades. Current management strategies in Lake Erie assume that there is a single stock of lake whitefish that spawns in the West Basin. There is documented lake whitefish spawning activity throughout the lake, leading to questions about locally adapted genetic stocks. Past research on lake whitefish genetic structure in Lake Erie has supported the single-stock hypothesis, but these studies used only neutral genetic markers or contained a limited number of samples that were collected during the spawning season when stocks would be spatially isolated. Using a GT-seq panel, we evaluate the genetic structure of lake whitefish collected from spawning shoals in the West, Central, and East basins of Lake Erie and compare these populations to lake whitefish from Lake Huron. We then investigate evidence of local adaptation and conduct demographic reconstruction using whole-genome sequencing. Our goals were to conclusively quantify intra-lake genetic structure in Lake Erie and determine whether spawning aggregations possess putatively adaptive variants that could be used for genetic stock identification at a sub-lake level. Our analysis supported the single-stock hypothesis in Lake Erie. However, Lake Erie stocks were distinct from neighboring Lake Huron. Whole-genome analysis did not identify any strong evidence of adaptive loci differentiating stocks. Inference of historic effective population size suggests that declines in lake whitefish populations may have caused a genetic bottleneck. Combined, these results indicate that lake whitefish in Lake Erie may have experienced an Allee Effect after population declines, resulting in a loss of population structure and genetic diversity as spawning shoals were recolonized from a common source.
SN - 1752-4571
ER -