Pacific salmon extinctions: quantifying lost and remaining diversity.

Widespread population extirpations and the consequent loss of ecological, genetic, and life-history diversity can lead to extinction of evolutionarily significant units (ESUs) and species. We attempted to systematically enumerate extinct Pacific salmon populations and characterize lost ecological, life history, and genetic diversity types among six species of Pacific salmon (Chinook [Oncorhynchus tshawytscha], sockeye [O. nerka], coho [O.