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Spring climate and summer otolith growth in juvenile Arctic charr, Salvelinus alpinus

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Abstract

The influence of different climate variables on the first four years of otolith growth in Salangen Arctic charr, Salvelinus alpinus, was studied over the period 1939–2005. Salangen is a coastal, low altitude, subarctic lake system located in northern Norway. Climate data, including water temperature, air temperature, ice-cover and precipitation, were available for most of the 67 year period. Water temperatures in May and June had a significant effect on otolith growth during the second growth year, while no relationship between otolith growth and climate variables was found for the first, third and fourth years of otolith growth. Otolith increment size during the third and fourth growth year was autocorrelated with growth during the previous year. Spring snow fall and timing of ice break-up had an indirect effect on growth, as these variables were highly correlated with spring water temperatures. High variation in otolith growth within years and among individuals suggests that individual and age-specific variations in spatial habitat use may confound the direct effects of changing air temperatures and time of ice break-up.

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Acknowledgment

We would like to thank Knut Kristoffersen at Fylkesmannen in Troms for providing otoliths and fish data from 1990 and 1994, and the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate for providing ice-cover and water temperature data. We would also like to thank Bård-Jørgen Bårdsen, Morten Johansen and Wendy Michaud for discussions that improved the manuscript. We also acknowledge three anonymous referees for helpful comments and suggestions. This study was funded through the Norwegian Research Council (grant number 172148/v10). During the writing process of this manuscript, one of the authors, Hans Nordeng, to whom we are highly indebted, passed away.

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Author notes

  1. J. A. Godiksen

    Present address: Institute of Marine Research, P.O.Box 1870, Nordnes, 5817, Bergen, Norway

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Arctic Ecology Department, Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA), FRAM—High North Research Centre on Climate and the Environment, 9296, Tromsø, Norway

    J. A. Godiksen, A. Stien & M.-A. Svenning

  2. Department of Arctic and Marine Biology, Faculty of BioSciences, Fisheries and Economics, University of Tromsø, 9037, Tromsø, Norway

    J. A. Godiksen & M.-A. Svenning

  3. Department of Ecology and Natural Resource Management, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, 1432, Ås, Norway

    R. Borgstrøm

  4. Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Science Branch, P.O. Box 5667, St. John’s, NL, A1C 5X1, Canada

    J. B. Dempson

  5. Norwegian Polar Research Institute, FRAM—High North Research Centre on Climate and the Environment, 9296, Tromsø, Norway

    J. Kohler

  6. Department of Biology, University of Oslo, P.O. Box 1066, Blindern, 0316, Oslo, Norway

    H. Nordeng

  7. Department of Biology, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, ON, N2L 3G1, Canada

    M. Power

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  1. J. A. Godiksen
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Correspondence to J. A. Godiksen.

Additional information

H. Nordeng passed away May 2010.

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Godiksen, J.A., Borgstrøm, R., Dempson, J.B. et al. Spring climate and summer otolith growth in juvenile Arctic charr, Salvelinus alpinus . Environ Biol Fish 95, 309–321 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-012-9998-0

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