Dramatic decline in genetic diversity of Northwest salmon

Columbia River Chinook salmon have lost as much as two-thirds of their genetic diversity, researchers have found. The researchers reached this conclusion after extracting DNA from scores of bone samples — some harvested as many as 7,000 years ago — and comparing them to the DNA of Chinook currently swimming in the Snake and Columbia rivers. The work is ‘the first direct measure of reduced genetic diversity for Chinook salmon from the ancient to the contemporary period.’ …read more