title: Meta-analysis reveals lower genetic diversity in overfished populations.
abstract: While population declines can drive the loss of genetic diversity under some circumstances, it has been unclear whether this loss is a general consequence of overharvest in highly abundant marine fishes. We compiled data from 11 049 loci across 140 species and found that allelic richness was lower in overfished populations within 9 of 12 genera and families. A multiple linear regression showed that allelic richness was on average 12% lower (P < 0.0001) in overharvested populations after accounting for the effects of body size, latitude and other factors. Heterozygosity was on average 2% lower (P = 0.030). Simulations confirmed that these patterns are consistent with a recent bottleneck in abundant species and also showed that our analysis likely underestimates the loss of rare alleles by a factor of two or three. This evidence suggests that overharvest drives the decay of genetic diversity across a wide range of marine fishes. Such reductions of genetic diversity in some of the world's most abundant species may lead to a long-term impact of fishing on their evolutionary potential, particularly if abundance remains low and diversity continues to decay.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, 106A Guyot Hall, Princeton, NJ, 08544, USA; Department of Ecology, Evolution and Natural Resources & Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University, 14 College Farm Rd., New Brunswick, NJ, 08901, USA.
authors.forename: Malin L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Pinsky
authors.forename: Stephen R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Palumbi
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D000818:Animals; D003198:Computer Simulation; D005398:Fisheries; D005399:Fishes / Q000235:genetics*; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005828:Genetics, Population; D016014:Linear Models; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats; D008957:Models, Genetic; D011156:Population Density
keywords: conservation genetics; fish; fisheries management; population dynamics