POPULATION GENETIC CASE STUDIES OF SALMONIDS IN THE REGION OF BASEL (SWITZERLAND)

Populations genetics of Brown Trout (Salmo trutta) and European Grayling (Thymallus thymallus) and Population Genomics of Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar) hatched and stocked in the rivers Birs, Wiese and Rhine have been researched. The thesis contains four parts: Part one consists of four chapters of scientific reports of the population genetics and the origin of Brown Trout and European Grayling sampled in the river Birs and the river Wiese; Part two of two chapters of a ready-to-publish peer-reviewed article as well as a manuscript of the population genomics of Atlantic Salmon hatched for reintroduction in the river Rhine and of animals returned between 2015-2017 and in 1898. The thesis is concluded by an example of numerous scientific short contributions published during the PhD. For the population genetic studies of Brown Trout and European Grayling, microsatellite and D-Loop analyses have been applied, as for Atlantic Salmon RAD-sequencing was chosen. In all studies, major effects of hatchery activities were found and returned animals could be attributed to the hatcheries in the Upper and High Rhine region.