Jackson, LelandRogers, SeanTunna, Haley2015-01-082015-02-232015-01-082014Tunna, H. (2015). Patterns of habitat fragmentation and contaminant exposure in longnose dace (Rhinichthys cataractae) (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/27275http://hdl.handle.net/11023/1993Human-induced environmental change occurs rapidly and challenges the persistence of organisms. I studied patterns of contaminants and habitat fragmentation on longnose dace (Rhinichthys cataractae). I compared liver biotransformation and age-structured sex ratios at sites upstream and downstream of anthropogenic inputs. Downstream of anthropogenic inputs, female biases in the oldest age classes shift to female biases in all age classes relative to upstream sites. Liver biotransformation reflects an urban footprint. Together these results suggest that contaminants may adversely affect fish health. Dams and weirs are barriers to fish movement and can reduce connectivity and genetic diversity of populations. Results from population genetic analyses using microsatellite DNA markers show substantial gene flow and overall weak population genetic structure across Alberta. Consequently, fragmentation did not alter connectivity of dace in Alberta. Overall, longnose dace in Alberta have spatially and temporally variable sex ratios and exhibit weak population structure in association with human activities.engUniversity of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.EcologyGeneticsmicrosatellitemolecular ecologyfragmentationcontaminantsRhinichthys cataractaefishenvironmental changemaster thesis10.11575/PRISM/27275