Dams and Their Evolutionary Consequences

BioScience Talks

In this episode, we're joined by Liam Zarri, PhD student at Cornell University, and Dr. Eric Palkovacs, Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of California, Santa Cruz. They discuss their recent BioScience article on evolutionary effects of dams and other anthropogenic water barriers, such as culverts, on riverine fishes. The impacts they highlight include rapid evolution affecting behavior, migration, behavior, temperature tolerance, and body type. Damming waterways can also lead to reductions in genetic diversity, with possibly harmful effects for fish populations.