New publications…

A comprehensive review on Rainbow Trout in Europe (introduction, naturalization and impacts)-a side product of David's PhD work-has been recently published in Reviews in Fisheries Sciences and Aquaculture. David did a great job; I am not sure if I know anyone else, who would be persistent and motivated enough to produce such a … paper.

I would like to present another, not so freshly published paper in JFB, about genetic and morphological variation of Umbra krameri in Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. The paper has finally got pagination details and thus fulfilled the last condition to be posted on the blog.

The core of the hucho populations is in the Balkans

Ljubljana, March 19, 2015. As a contribution to the world water day this year (March, 22.) scientists and experts in the field of fisheries, together with non-governmental organizations presented a survey on the distribution of hucho (Hucho hucho) populations in the Balkans. In the framework of the international campaign "Save the Blue Heart of Europe", 18 scientists from seven countries for the first time carried out an extensive survey of the distribution of hucho populations in rivers between Slovenia and Montenegro. The results showed that the Balkan rivers represent the last hot spot of this species. Natural populations were found in 43 hucho rivers in total length of 1.842 kilometers, corresponding to 65% of all populations globally.

>Miroslav Žaberl, the president of the Fisheries Association of Slovenia, Neža Posnjak, Campaign Coordinator for Slovenia, Ulrich Eichelmann, RiverWatch, and Steve Weiss, Karl-Franzens University Graz, at the press-conference in Ljubljana. 

The major threat to these populations is a massive hydropower development plan. Practically all hucho rivers are targets of substantial hydropower exploitation. A total of 93 dam projects were identified directly in river reaches supporting hucho and a large number of additional projects are located in tributaries or headwater reaches upstream of hucho habitat that will invariably degrade environmental conditions downstream. The full study can be found at: http://balkanrivers.net/sites/default/files/Huchen_Study_2015.pdf 

>Uli is stocking hucho into the Sava River close to Ljubljana.

Two comprehensive papers on trout in Slovenia have been recently published

In Ribič (2015, 1-2), the gazette of National Union for fishing in Slovenia, Aleš, Klavdija, Nejc and Simona published a review of the work we have done on brown trout so far, with emphasis on more detailed presentation of the results referring to the last applied research project entitled Genetically-based analysis of endangered native brown trout (Salmo trutta) in Slovenia and identification of its genetically pure resources.

On the basis of molecular data that Gašper had produced for his PhD, we wrote an article entitled: Population genetic SNP analysis of marble and brown trout in a hybridization zone of the Adriatic watershed in Slovenia, which has been recently published in Biological Conservation (2015, 184, p. 239-259).

Some highlights:

• Most introgression has occurred from brown trout Atlantic lineage
• Hybrid swarms were found mostly in main rivers, but as well in some small unmanaged streams
• A high proportion of genetically non-introgressed (pure) marble trout was found in the upper Soča river
• Non-introgressed marble trout can still be found in the hybridization zone
• Discordance between mtDNA and nDNA due to asymmetric introgressive hybridization was observed

Write for pdf to find out more about it.

New publication: Phylogeny of Caspian grayling

A close relationship between Caspian and Fennoscandian haplotypes  found in this study implies that the Caspian basin might have been a corridor for grayling dispersal connecting eastern and northern Europe.
To find out more, read the whole paper.

Announcement

This announcment is just to let you know the chapter on the marble trout has been updated and is worth seeing.

ALS Ice Bucket Challenge

The chair for Genetics, Animal Biotechnology and Immunology was nominated for ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.

BTRG being a part of the Chair, participated with two of its members, Ida and Aleš.

As seen from the video, two institutions have already been nominated, however, BTRG is nominating also Steven Weiss group at “the Karl-FranzensUniversität Graz, Institut für Zoologie. and Omega d.o.o.

Intercontinental Trout Masterclass in Tolmin

Simona and Aleš attended Intercontinental Trout Masterclass, where they were invited to give a lecture on conservation genetics of marble trout and Adriatic grayling in the Soča catchment.

The aim of the workshop, organized by Continental Trout Conservation Fund (Rene Beaumont) and held in Tomin from 25. – 29. Aug., was to introduce diverse conservation principles and aspects of freshwater wildlife to young people from different countries, who care about nature. The mascot of the workshop was indigenous trout, and the fil rouge was the story of success referring to the marble trout restoration project in the Soča River.

> Field work: ITM participants and Dušan Jesenšek discuss different marble trout phenotypes.