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Inferring the genomic basis of local adaptation is a long‐standing goal of evolutionary biology. Beyond its fundamental evolutionary implications, such knowledge can guide conservation decisions for populations of conservation and management concern. Here, we investigated the genomic basis of local adaptation in the Coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) across its entire North American range. We hypothesized that extensive spatial variation in environmental conditions and the species' homing behaviour may promote the establishment of local adaptation. We genotyped 7829 individuals representing 217 sampling locations at more than 100,000 high‐quality RADseq loci to investigate how recombination might affect the detection of loci putatively under selection and took advantage of the precise description of the demographic history of the species from our previous work to draw accurate population genomic inferences about local adaptation. The results indicated that genetic differentiation scans and genetic–environment association analyses were both significantly affected by variation in recombination rate as low recombination regions displayed an increased number of outliers. By taking these confounding factors into consideration, we revealed that migration distance was the primary selective factor driving local adaptation and partial parallel divergence among distant populations. Moreover, we identified several candidate single nucleotide polymorphisms associated with long‐distance migration and altitude including a gene known to be involved in adaptation to altitude in other species. The evolutionary implications of our findings are discussed along with conservation applications. see also the Perspective by Rebekah L. Horn and Shawn R. Narum [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a program called GEODUC that was developed to increase interest and retention in geosciences among community college transfer students. The program consists of three phases: recruitment, a bridge program, and a mentoring seminar series. The program was successful in recruiting historically excluded group participants, and the bridge program and seminar series were effective in increasing research skills, confidence, and creating a supportive community. The program also had early successes, with participants receiving fellowships and presenting at professional meetings. The authors provide lessons learned and plans for future iterations of the program. [Extracted from the article]

Coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) are a culturally and economically important species that return from multiyear ocean migrations to spawn in rivers that flow to the Northern Pacific Ocean. Southern stocks of coho salmon in Canada and the United States have significantly declined over the past quarter century, and unfortunately, conservation efforts have not reversed this trend. To assist in stock management and conservation efforts, we generated a chromosome-level genome assembly. We also resequenced the genomes of 83 coho salmon across the North American range to identify nucleotide variants and understand the demographic histories of these salmon by modeling effective population size from genome-wide data. From demographic history modeling, we observed reductions in effective population sizes between 3,750 and 8,000 years ago for several northern sampling sites, which may correspond to bottleneck events during recolonization after glacial retreat., Competing Interests: Conflicts of interest statement The authors declare no conflict of interest., (© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Genetics Society of America.)