Complex evolutionary history in the brown trout: Insights on the recognition of conservation units

We screened genetic variation in a polytypicorganism, whose populations are oftendistributed into numerous isolated habitats,and integrated the results into a critique ofdefining ``units' of conservation for organismswith highly fragmented populations. Sixteenpopulations of brown trout Salmo truttaL. across 8 Portuguese river basins werescreened for variation at 5 loci (mtDNA andallozymes). Population history based on mtDNArevealed a mosaic pattern driven by pastfragmentation and restricted gene flow withlittle correspondence to major river drainagesor recently proposed OCUs on the IberianPeninsula. Such patterns of variation offer achallenge to conservation strategies that basethemselves on defining units of conservation,particularly if such units intend to reflect ahierarchical evolutionary structure. Wesuggest that geographically mosaic patterns ofevolutionary lineages, as well as adaptivelysignificant traits are common characteristicsof many freshwater organisms. Thus,large-scale units, even if diagnosed by mtDNAclades, are often too heterogeneous to considera ``unit' of conservation. Alternatively, abottom-up perspective that prioritizespopulations or metapopulations is both morepractical and more effective in recognizing andpreserving evolutionary diversity.