Historical and anthropogenic factors affecting the population genetic structure of Ontario’s inland lake populations of walleye (Sander vitreus)

Populations existing in formerly glaciated areas often display composite historical and contemporary patterns of genetic structure. For Canadian freshwater fishes, population genetic structure is largely reflective of dispersal from glacial refugia and isolation within drainage basins across a range of scales. Enhancement of sport fisheries via hatchery stocking programs and other means has the potential to alter signatures of natural evolutionary processes. Using 11 microsatellite loci genotyped from 2182 individuals, we analyzed the genetic structure of 46 inland lake walleye (Sander vitreus) populations spanning five major drainage basins within the province of Ontario, Canada. Population genetic analyses coupled with genotype assignment allowed us to; 1) characterize broad and fine scale genetic structure among Ontario walleye populations; and 2) determine if the observed population divergence is primarily due to natural / historical processes or recent anthropogenic events. The par...