Randomly Amplified Polymorphic DNA Profile-Based Measures of Genetic diversity in Crayfish Correlated with Environmental Impacts

<p> Environmental insults diminish an ecosystem's ability to maintain productive and adaptable populations of organisms. We have analyzed randomly amplified polymorphic DNA polymerase chain reaction (RAPD-PCR)-generated DNA profiles of naturally occurring rusty crayfish ( <em> Orconectes rusticus </em> ) populations from eight different populations collected from three separate sets of Ohio (USA) streams and find that changes in the underlying genetic diversity of these populations are significantly correlated ( <em> n </em> = 144, <em> p </em> &ll; 0.001) with the extent to which they have been exposed to anthropogenic stressors. Because a population's genetic diversity is largely responsible for its vigor and ability to adapt to subsequent stressors, these results suggest that RAPD-PCR-based measures of genetic diversity may be suitable for development as a sensitive means of directly assessing the impact of stressors upon ecosystems.</p>