The trial lecture is: "'Insights into past populations: Why do we need ancient DNA when we have coalescent approaches?".
Time and place: December 16, 2022 10:15 AM, Zoom and Nucleus, Bikuben, The Kristine Bonnevie building.
The events will also be live streamed using Zoom. The host of the session will moderate the technicalities while the chair of the defence will moderate the events.
The events opens for participation just before they start, and closes for new participants approximately 15 minutes after it has begun.
Main research findings
During the last centuries, fisheries and climate change have negatively impacted marine ecosystems leading to the population collapse of marine species. One such species is the economically important Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua), which has supported commercial fisheries and provided wealth to coastal communities for over a thousand years. Cod experienced dramatic population declines following the industrialization of fisheries leading to intense exploitation across the North Atlantic Ocean. Yet, there is still a lack of knowledge about the long-term consequences of fisheries and climate change on the genomic diversity or the extent of past trade in this species. In this thesis, I used ancient DNA and stable isotope methods to provide a long-term genomic and historical exploitation perspective of Atlantic cod. I found high mitogenomic diversity, which is shaped by historical climatic events. I traced the biological origin of archaeological cod in Europe to northern Norway, Iceland, and the western Atlantic, and found an earlier and greater spatial extent of long-distance trade. I also observed recent declines in the level of heterozygosity and effective population sizes in some Atlantic cod populations, possibly related to negative impact of fisheries. This thesis provides new knowledge with implications for sustainable fishing management of this iconic marine fish species.
Candidate contact information
Adjudication committee
Associate Professor Andrew Foote, NTNU University Museum
Associate Professor Eline Lorenzen, University of Copenhagen
Professor Mike Koomey, University of Oslo
Chair of defence
Professor Nils Christian Stenseth, University of Oslo
Supervisors
Associate Professor Bastiaan Star, University of Oslo
Professor James H. Barrett, Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Professor Kjetill Sigurd Jakobsen, University of Oslo