barriers to migration could impact the genetic in-
tegrity of the species by fragmenting it into isolated
stocks and causing the loss of genetic variability
through evolutionary processes such as random ge-
nctic drift and inbreeding. Populations with low
ered genetic variability may be less able to with-
stand future stresses. Genetic impacts of such an-
thropogenic influences are illustrated by the re-
Figure 3. Status of lake sturgeon in the province. of Manitoba, Canada.duced mtDNA haplotypic diversity in white stur-
geon,Acipenser transtomontanus, from isolated sec-
tions of the Columbia River (Brown et al. 1992).
The other impact on Canadian lake sturgeon
comes from the effects of the forest products indus-
try including construction of forest access roads, log
driving, and pulp mill effluent. Roads often cross
rivers at spawning sites due to the presence of rock