REVIEW Extent and scale of local adaptation in salmonid fishes: review and meta-analysis

What is the extent and scale of local adaptation (LA)? How quickly does LA arise? And what is its underlying molecular basis? Our review and meta-analysis on salmonid fishes estimates the frequency of LA to be B55–70%, with local populations having a 1.2 times average fitness advantage relative to foreign populations or to their perfor-mance in new environments. Salmonid LA is evident at a variety of spatial scales (for example, few km to41000 km) and can manifest itself quickly (6–30 generations). As the geographic scale between populations increases, LA is generally more frequent and stronger. Yet the extent of LA in salmonids does not appear to differ from that in other assessed taxa. Moreover, the frequency with which foreign salmonid populations outperform local populations (B23– 35%) suggests that drift, gene flow and plasticity often limit o