Analysis of Historical Population Structure for Evolutionarily Significant Units of Chinook Salmon, Coho Salmon, and Steelhead in the North-Central California Coast Recovery Domain.

摘要

As the Technical Recovery Team (TRT) for the North-Central California Coast Recovery Domain we have been assigned the task of developing biological viability criteria for four Evolutionarily Significant Units (ESUs) currently listed under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA): California Coastal Chinook salmon ('CC-Chinook'; Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), Central California Coastal coho salmon ('CCC-Coho'; O. kisutch), North-Central California Coastal steelhead ('NC-Steelhead'; O. mykiss), and Central California Coastal steelhead ('CCC-Steelhead'; O. mykiss). A critical first step in this process is to define the relevant biological structure within each ESU and the temporal and spatial scales relevant to this structure. The priority of this step reflects the importance of understanding population characteristics that contribute to populations' viability and thus their contribution to the persistence of the ESU.