Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Population structure, biomass, and diet of landlocked Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus) in a small, shallow High Arctic lake

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Polar Biology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Although landlocked Arctic charr, Salvelinus alpinus, occur in a large number of High Arctic lakes and often as the only fish species, knowledge of densities and resource use is limited. An allopatric landlocked population of Arctic charr in the 1.47 ha Lake Nordre Borgdam on Svalbard (78°3′N, 13°5′E) was studied during the period 1998–2004. Population abundance was estimated by mark–recapture in July–August 2001. The population was dominated by small individuals with lengths below 16 cm. In 2001, the total number of charr in the length-class 6.0–15.9 cm corresponded to 1,920 individuals/ha or 20.7 kg ha−1. They were mostly feeding on chironomid and trichopteran larvae. The few larger charr seem to feed mainly on smaller conspecifics, and these cannibals probably control the population structure and the abundance of smaller fish. Due to low total number of prey fish in the lake, few individuals are likely to become piscivores.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Berg OK, Finstad AG, Olsen PH, Arnekleiv JV, Nilssen K (2010) Dwarfs and cannibals in the Arctic: production of Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus (L.)) at two trophic levels. Hydrobiologia 652:337–347

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Borgstrøm R (1992) Relationship between annual recruitment and density in a lacustrine population of allopatric brown trout (Salmo trutta). Can J Fish Aquat Sci 49:1107–1113

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Borgstrøm R, Museth J (2005) Accumulated snow and summer temperature - critical factors for recruitment to high mountain populations of brown trout (Salmo trutta L.). Ecol Freshw Fish 14:375–384

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Borgstrøm R, Ebne I, Svenning M-A (2010) High lacustrine gillnet catchability of anadromous Arctic charr. Hydrobiologia 650:203–212

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bøyum A, Kjensmo J (1978) Physiography of lake Linnévatn, Western Spitsbergen. Verh Internat Verein Limnol 20:609–614

    Google Scholar 

  • Bylund G (1973) Observations on the taxonomic status and the biology of Diphyllobothrium ditremum (Creplin, 1825) (=D. osmeri (von Linstow, 1878)). Acta Acad Aboensis 33(19):1–18

    Google Scholar 

  • Byström P (2006) Recruitment pulses induce cannibalistic giants in Arctic char. J Anim Ecol 75:434–444

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Christensen JM (1964) Burning of otoliths, a technique for age determination of soles and other fish. J Cons Perm Int Explor Mer 26:73–81

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Claessen D, Van Oss C, de Roos AM, Persson L (2002) The impact of size-dependent predation on population dynamics and individual life history. Ecology 83:1660–1675

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dahl K (1917) Studier og forsøk over ørret og ørretvann. Centraltrykkeriet, Kristiania. (In Norwegian)

  • Dick TA, Gallagher CP, Yang A (2009) Summer habitat use of Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus) in a small Arctic lake, monitored by acoustic telemetry. Ecol Freshw Fish 18:117–125

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Finstad AG, Jansen PA, Langeland A (2001) Production and predation rates in a cannibalistic Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus L.) population. Ecol Freshw Fish 10:220–226

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Godiksen J, Svenning M-A, Sinnatamby RN, Dempson JB, Borgstrøm R, Power M (2011) Stable isotope-based determinations of the average temperatures experienced by young-of-the-year Svalbard Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus (L.)). Polar Biol 34:591–596

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Griffiths D (1994) The size structure of lacustrine Arctic charr (Pisces: Salmonidae) populations. Biol J Linn Soc 51:337–357

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guiguer KRRA, Reist JD, Power M, Babaluk JA (2002) Using stable isotopes to confirm the trophic ecology of Arctic charr morphotypes from Lake Hazen, Nunavut, Canada. J Fish Biol 60:348–362

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gulseth OA, Nilssen KJ (2000) The brief period of spring migration, short marine residence, and high return rate of a northern Svalbard population of Arctic char. Trans Am Fish Soc 129:782–796

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Halvorsen O (1970) Studies of the Helminth Fauna of Norway XV: On the taxonomy and biology of plerocercoids of Diphyllobothrium Cobbold, 1858 (Cestoda, Pseudophyllidea) from north-western Europe. Norw J Zool 18:152–174

    Google Scholar 

  • Halvorsen O, Andersen K (1984) The ecological interaction between arctic charr, Salvelinus alpinus (L.), and the plerocercoid stage of Diphyllobothrium ditremum. J Fish Biol 25:305–316

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hammar J (1985) The geographical distribution of the Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus (L.)) species complex in Svalbard. In: ISACF Information Series No 3. Proceedings of the third ISACF workshop on Arctic charr, 1984. Inst Freshw Res Drottningholm, pp 29–37

  • Hammar J (1989) Freshwater ecosystems of Polar regions: vulnerable resources. Ambio 18:6–22

    Google Scholar 

  • Hammar J (2000) Cannibals and parasites: conflicting regulators of bimodality in high latitude Arctic char, Salvelinus alpinus. Oikos 88:33–47

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson L (1983) Homeostatic characteristics of single species fish stocks in Arctic lakes. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 40:987–1024

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson L (1994) Long-term experiments on the stability of two fish populations in previously unexploited Arctic lakes. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 51:209–225

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kerekes JJ (1990) Possible correlation of summer common loon (Gavia immer) population with the trophic state of a water body. Verh Internat Verein Limnol 24:349–353

    Google Scholar 

  • Klemetsen A, Grotnes PE, Holthe H, Kristoffersen K (1985) Bear Island charr. Rep Inst Freshw Res Drottningholm 62:98–119

    Google Scholar 

  • Kristoffersen K, Halvorsen M, Jørgensen L (1994) Influence of parr growth, lake morphology, and freshwater parasites on the degree of anadromy in different populations of Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus) in Northern Norway. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 51:1229–1246

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Larsson S, Berglund I (2005) The effect of temperature on the energetic growth efficiency of Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus L.) from four Swedish populations. J Therm Biol 30:29–36

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lien L (1978) The energy budget of the brown trout of Øvre Heimdalsvatn. Holarc Ecol 1:279–300

    Google Scholar 

  • MacCallum W (1972) Arctic char study. In: Rigler FH (ed) Char Lake project PF-2 annual report 1970-1971. Ottawa, Canadian Committee International Biological Program, pp 67–83

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Connell MF, Dempson JB (2002) The biology of Arctic charr, Salvelinus alpinus, of Gander Lake, a large, deep, oligotrophic lake in Newfoundland, Canada. Environ Biol Fish 64:115–126

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parker HH, Johnson L (1991) Population structure, ecological segregation and reproduction in non-anadromous Arctic charr, Salvelinus alpinus (L.) in four unexploited lakes in the Canadian high Arctic. J Fish Biol 38:123–147

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Power G (1978) Fish population structure in arctic lakes. J Fish Res Board Can 35:53–59

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ricker WE (1975) Computation and interpretation of biological statistics of fish populations. Bull Fish Res Board Can 191:1–328

    Google Scholar 

  • Rigler FH (1975) The Char Lake project, an introduction to limnology in the Canadian Arctic. In: Cameron TWM, Billingsley LW (eds) Energy flow–it’s biological dimensions, A summary of the IBP in Canada 1964–1974. Royal Society of Canada, Ottawa, pp 171–198

    Google Scholar 

  • Sandlund OT, Forseth T (1995) Bare få ørreter kan bli fiskeetere. In: Borgstrøm R, Jonsson B, L’Abee-Lund JH (eds) Ferskvannsfisk Økologi, kultivering og utnytting. Norwegian Research Council, Oslo, pp 78–85 (In Norwegian)

    Google Scholar 

  • Saunders LH, Power G (1969) The Arctic char, Salvelinus alpinus (Linnaeus), of Matamek Lake, Quebec. Nat Can 96:919–934

    Google Scholar 

  • Sierszen ME, McDonald ME, Jensen DA (2003) Benthos as the basis for arctic lake food webs. Aquat Ecol 37:437–445

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Svärdson G (1976) Interspecific population dominance in fish communities of Scandinavian lakes. Rep Inst Freshw Res Drottningholm 55:144–171

    Google Scholar 

  • Svenning M-A, Borgstrøm R (1995) Population structure in landlocked Arctic charr. Sustained by cannibalism? Nordic J Freshw Res 71:424–431

    Google Scholar 

  • Svenning M-A, Borgstrøm R (2005) Cannibalism in Arctic charr: do all individuals have the same propensity to be cannibals? J Fish Biol 66:957–965

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Svenning M-A, Gullestad N (2002) Adaptations to stochastic environmental variations: the effect of seasonal temperatures on the migratory window of Svalbard Arctic charr. Environ Biol Fish 22:165–174

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Svenning M-A, Klemetsen A, Olsen T (2007) Habitat and food choice of Arctic charr in Linnévatn on Spitsbergen, Svalbard: the first year-round investigation in a High Arctic lake. Ecol Freshw Fish 16:70–77

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We thank Carina R. Isdahl and Lars Knutsen for assistance in the field work, the staff at Kapp Linné for practical assistance, the Governor of Svalbard for transport between Longyearbyen and the field station, and Longyearbyen Hunting and Fishing Association for allowance to use their cabin at Russekeila. We also acknowledge Jenny Stien for improving the English. We highly appreciate the corrections and suggestions given by three anonymous referees, as well as all suggestions given by the editor, Dieter Piepenburg, for improving the manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ecology and Natural Resource Management, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, P.O. Box 5003, 1432, Ås, Norway

    Reidar Borgstrøm

  2. Ecology and Natural Resource Management, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, P.O. Box 5003, 1432, Ås, Norway

    Torgeir Isdahl

  3. Norconsult AS, P.O. Box 626, 1303, Sandvika, Norway

    Torgeir Isdahl

  4. Arctic Ecology Department, Fram Center, Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, 9296, Tromsø, Norway

    Martin-A. Svenning

Authors
  1. Reidar Borgstrøm
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Torgeir Isdahl
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Martin-A. Svenning
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Reidar Borgstrøm.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Borgstrøm, R., Isdahl, T. & Svenning, MA. Population structure, biomass, and diet of landlocked Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus) in a small, shallow High Arctic lake. Polar Biol 38, 309–317 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-014-1587-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-014-1587-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation