scholarly journals Influence of discharge, hydraulics, water temperature, and dispersal on density synchrony in brown trout populations (Salmo trutta)

2016 ◽  
Vol 73 (3) ◽  
pp. 319-329 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victor Bret ◽  
Benjamin Bergerot ◽  
Hervé Capra ◽  
Véronique Gouraud ◽  
Nicolas Lamouroux

Environmental factors may cause synchronous density variations between populations. A better understanding of the processes underlying synchrony is fundamental to predicting resilience loss in metapopulations subject to environmental change. The present study investigated the determinants of synchrony in density time series of three age groups of resident brown trout (Salmo trutta) (0+, 1+, and adults) in 36 stream reaches. A series of Mantel tests were implemented to disentangle the relative effects on trout synchrony of geographical proximity, environmental synchrony in key environmental variables affecting trout dynamics (discharge, water temperature, hydraulics, and spawning substrate mobility), and density-dependent dispersal. Results indicated that environmental synchrony strongly explained trout synchrony over distances less than 75 km. This effect was partly due to a negative influence on 0+ trout of strong discharges during the emergence period and a more complex influence of substrate mobility during the spawning period. Dispersal between reaches had a weak influence on results. Juvenile and adult densities were strongly driven by survival processes and were not influenced by environmental synchrony. The results suggest that the environment can have general effects on population dynamics that may influence the resilience of metapopulations.

2012 ◽  
Vol 69 (5) ◽  
pp. 821-832 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irene Parra ◽  
Ana Almodóvar ◽  
Daniel Ayllón ◽  
Graciela G. Nicola ◽  
Benigno Elvira

This study looks at the relative influence of water temperature and density dependence on the spatial variation in body size of 126 brown trout ( Salmo trutta ) cohorts from 12 Iberian rivers over a 12-year period. Mean cohort mass and length of age groups 0+ to 2+ varied significantly among sampling sites because of the concurrent effect of water temperature and density dependence. Density in suitable habitat had a limiting role that influenced potential maximum growth of cohorts, and water temperature differentiated these cohorts in two groups of sites with high and low potential maximum growth. Water temperature had a positive cumulative effect on body size of all age classes. However, body size of age-0 trout was nonlinearly influenced by short-term exposure to extreme water temperature. Thus, extremely high temperatures became a limiting factor and had deleterious effects on growth. There were intracohort and intercohort effects of density dependence throughout the life span, which were mainly due to the density in the available suitable habitat of trout of the same age or older. The present study supports the hypothesis that both density-dependent and density-independent processes are crucial for the understanding of population dynamics and that their relative importance varies across scales of space and time.


2017 ◽  
Vol 74 (10) ◽  
pp. 1612-1627 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victor Bret ◽  
Hervé Capra ◽  
Véronique Gouraud ◽  
Nicolas Lamouroux ◽  
Jérémy Piffady ◽  
...  

Successful management and protection of wild animal populations relies on good understanding of their life cycles. Because population dynamics depends on intricate interactions of biological and ecological processes at various scales, new approaches are needed that account for the variability of demographic processes and associated parameters in a hierarchy of spatial scales. A hierarchical Bayesian model for the resident brown trout (Salmo trutta) life cycle was built to assess the relative influence of local and general determinants of mortality. The model was fitted to an extensive data set collected in 40 river reaches, combining abundance and environmental data (hydraulics, water temperature). Density-dependent mortality of juveniles increased at low water temperatures and decreased with shelter availability. High water temperature increased density-dependent mortality in adults. The model could help to predict monthly juvenile and adult mortality under scenarios of global warming and changes in shelter availability due to habitat degradation or restoration.


1991 ◽  
Vol 48 (10) ◽  
pp. 1838-1845 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bror Jonsson ◽  
Jan Henning L'Abée-Lund ◽  
Tor G. Heggberget ◽  
Arne J. Jensen ◽  
Bjørn O. Johnsen ◽  
...  

Longevity in 25 populations of anadromous brown trout (Salmo trutta) showed a significant trend with increasing life span at latitudes of 58–70°N in Norway, with the largest change from 58 to 60°N. Moreover, longevity was negatively correlated with temperature and growth rate in freshwater and at sea. Body size was negatively correlated with water temperature and growth rate in freshwater, but not with latitude or water temperature and growth rate at sea. Thus, conditions influencing development and metabolic rates in fresh water seem more important than conditions in the sea in determining variation in longevity and body size of anadromous brown trout. Our results support the hypothesis that interpopulation variation in longevity and body size is influenced by rate of metabolism, chiefly influenced by ambient water temperature.


2002 ◽  
Vol 59 (1) ◽  
pp. 12-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Franck Cattanéo ◽  
Nicolas Lamouroux ◽  
Pascal Breil ◽  
Hervé Capra

Hydrological and biotic forces constrain brown trout (Salmo trutta) population dynamics, but tests of their role across numerous streams are uncommon. In 30 French stream reaches, using 5–8 samples (1 per year) each, we investigated whether the year-to-year seasonal hydrology influenced annual trout densities within reaches, and whether the relationships were shared by all reaches. We also searched for intraspecific interactions between and within cohorts. Trout data were age class (0+, 1+, and adults) densities. For each year, hydrology was described using 13 variables, each computed for a reproduction, emergence, and growth period related to the biological cycle of trout. We used analyses of covariance (ANCOVA) to test how trout densities at year n – 1 and hydrology at year n influenced trout densities at year n. High flows during emergence significantly reduced the 0+ densities, consistently across the 30 reaches. Then, 1+ and adult densities were linked, respectively, to 0+ and 1+ densities from the previous year. Analyses also revealed density-dependent survival mechanisms for the 0+ cohort, suggesting intracohort competition. Therefore, hydrology constrains trout dynamics only during the critical emergence period, after which intracohort interactions regulate the 0+ density. Such mechanisms, validated across 30 environmentally different reaches, seem to be fundamental to trout population dynamics.


2012 ◽  
Vol 69 (9) ◽  
pp. 1513-1524 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leif Asbjørn Vøllestad ◽  
Dimitar Serbezov ◽  
Arthur Bass ◽  
Louis Bernatchez ◽  
Esben Moland Olsen ◽  
...  

Many animals move among habitats, and even small-scale dispersal of individuals between habitat patches may have strong implications for population dynamics and structure. Here, we use long-term mark–recapture data combined with extensive genotyping and parentage assignment to investigate the importance of small-scale location change of resident brown trout ( Salmo trutta ) in a small stream (1500 m). During the first summer, juvenile fish dispersed downstream (mean displacement 200 m), with smaller juveniles dispersing longer distances. Downstream movement was also predominant during the first winter, but older fish moved little. This limited dispersal resulted in a significant isolation-by-distance structure for ages 1 and 2, but not for older age groups or for the mature fish. Individual pairwise relatedness coefficients decreased with waterway distance for mature fish during the 2002 and 2003 spawning seasons, but only weakly. Overall, between-site genetic differentiation was stronger for the younger age classes, and the signal decayed with age, indicating that the genetic structure observed in the stream is mainly driven by spatial aggregation of close relatives.


1983 ◽  
Vol 61 (8) ◽  
pp. 1783-1792 ◽  
Author(s):  
Larry D. Witzel ◽  
Hugh R. MacCrimmon

Effects of three homogeneous gravels (2.7, 6.2 and 9.2 mm in diameter) and five heterogeneous gravel mixtures (with 0, 20, 40, 60 and 80% sand; geometric mean diameters = 14.2, 10.1, 7.2, 5.1, 3.7 mm, respectively) on embryo survival and subsequent emergence of brook charr (Salvelinus fontinalis) and brown trout (Salmo trutta) were examined in the laboratory using vertical flow incubators. Differences in survival to emergence, temporal components of emergence and developmental stage of emergents are significant [Formula: see text] among gravel types within and between species. Alevin survival, time interval to first and 50% emergence and duration of emergence period vary directly with gravel size and inversely with sand concentration. Survivals of 0 to 20% occurred in unigranular gravels 6.2 mm or finer and in multitextured gravels with 60% or more sand and rates of 60 to 96% were found in 9.2-mm gravel and gravels with 20% or less sand. Emergent survival increased from 14 to 79% in gravels of 6.2 to 9.2 mm and from 2 to 96% in sand concentrations between 60 and 20% because of reduced entrapment. Period of emergence was longest in 9.2-mm gravel (mean for charr, 381 day degrees; mean for trout, 423 day degrees) and in 0% sand–gravel mixture (mean for charr, 232 day degrees; mean for trout, 179 day degrees). Premature emergence of alevins over a shortened emergence period in finer gravels is identified as a stress response. Larger gravel and lower sand concentrations produced the largest and most advanced alevins at emergence. Ecological implications of the results are examined.


1986 ◽  
Vol 43 (10) ◽  
pp. 1970-1981 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard A. Cunjak ◽  
Geoffrey Power

Habitat utilization by brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) and brown trout (Salmo trutta) is described from three winters of underwater observations in a southern Ontario river. Older trout (>age 1) generally occupied positions in deeper and faster water than age 0+ trout. In winter, at sites of sympatry, brown trout occupied greater focal point water depths than brook trout; both species had similar focal point water velocities. At all sites, and for both age groups and species, there was a strong preference for positions beneath cover. Relative to summer, trout positions in winter were characterized by slower water velocities and greater overhead cover, In winter, most trout were in aggregations, usually in pools beneath cover and close to point sources of groundwater discharge. Gregarious behaviour appeared to increase as water temperatures decreased; no such relationship was evident in the summer. Specific strategies for overwintering varied between sites and age groups but generally conformed to the theory of energetic cost minimization for position choice. These variable patterns appear to be adaptive.


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