Hucho hucho (Linnaeus, 1758): last natural viable population in the Eastern Carpathians - conservation elements

There is great variation in the conservation status of the last habitats with long-term natural viable populations of the salmon species Hucho hucho in Maramureş Mountains Nature Park, Eastern Carpathians (Romania). According to the specific guidelines for Natura 2000, 42.11% are in good conservation status, 31.57% are of average status, and 26.32% are in a partially degraded condition. In this study area, 6 main risk elements were identified related to human impact on the environment: poaching, minor riverbed morphodynamic changes, liquid and solid natural flow disruption, habitat fragmentation leading to isolation of fish populations, organic and mining pollution, and destruction of riparian tree and shrub vegetation. All of them have contributed to the decrease of H. hucho distribution in the study area to about 50% of the previous local range. Individuals of this species were recorded in only 21 of the 370 sampling stations

Genetic analysis of populations of brown trout (Salmo trutta L.) from the Romanian Carpathians

The Carpathian Mountains are one of the most complex orogenetic areas of Europe, with unique fauna, including the brown trout (Salmo trutta). In this study we performed population genetic analysis of 12 different S. trutta populations using two types of molecular markers: nine microsatellites and mitochondrial D-loop sequences. The following working hypothesis was considered: the Romanian Carpathians and their surrounding lowlands can be key relief units based on which the S. trutta genetic diversity, spread, distribution, connectivity, relative isolation and genetic divergence can be at least partially explained. The phylogenetic analysis revealed that the majority of sequences were grouped in the Danubian clade. The high haplotype diversity of the 12 analyzed brown trout populations can be explained by the high nucleotide diversity. The microsatellite analysis revealed an inbreeding event for all the loci and for the populations analyzed. The Romanian Carpathians' shape and geographic orientation play a zoogeographical key role driving force in respect to the S. trutta populations