Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Trophic relationships of nonnative brown trout, Salmo trutta, and native Bonneville cutthroat trout, Oncorhynchus clarkii utah, in a northern Utah, USA river

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Environmental Biology of Fishes Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Nonnative trout invasions have caused the widespread decline of cutthroat trout populations in western North America. In contrast to other nonnative salmonids, the role of nonnative brown trout in native cutthroat trout decline is poorly understood. Specifically, the level of ecological similarity that occurs between these species and the importance of other trophic mechanisms (e.g., predation) in their interactions are key uncertainties. We evaluated the trophic relationships of brown trout and cutthroat trout in a northern Utah river using a combination of diet and stable isotope analyses. We compared the dietary habits of these two species using multiple and complementary measures. Based on both stomach contents and δ13C signatures, we found that these species consumed a similar and opportunistic diet (i.e., they were nonselective in their foraging patterns). However, at most sizes, brown trout ingested larger prey—including fishes—and occupied a higher relative trophic position (i.e., δ15N) than cutthroat trout. Overall, these results demonstrate a high degree of dietary similarity and therefore strengthen earlier conclusions regarding interspecific competition between these two species. Our study, when considered alongside the work of others, suggests there is potential for predatory interactions between these species (i.e., brown trout preying on small cutthroat trout). We believe that future research on brown trout–cutthroat trout interactions should consider predatory effects in greater detail.

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

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. http://water.usgs.gov, gauge number 10109000

References

  • Allen JD, Russek E (1985) The quantification of stream drift. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 38:184–192

    Google Scholar 

  • Bachman RA (1984) Foraging behavior of free-ranging wild and hatchery brown trout in a stream. Trans Am Fish Soc 113:1–32

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baxter CV, Fausch KD, Murakami M, Chapman PL (2004) Fish invasion restructures stream and forest food webs by interrupting reciprocal prey subsidies. Ecology 85:2656–2663

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beaudoin CP, Tonn WM, Prepas EE, Wassenaar LI (1999) Individual specialization and trophic adaptability of northern pike (Esox lucius): an isotope and dietary analysis. Oecologia 120:386–396

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Birch LC (1957) The meanings of competition. Am Nat 91:5–18

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Budy P, McHugh P, Thiede GP (2004) Logan River whirling disease study: factors affecting trout population dynamics, abundance, and distribution in the Logan River, Utah. Annual Report to Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, Utah Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Logan, 61 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Budy P, Thiede G, McHugh P (in press) A quantification of the vital rates, abundance, and status of a critical population of endemic cutthroat trout. N Am J Fish Manag

  • Cartwright MA, Beauchamp DA, Bryant MD (1998) Quantifying cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarki) predation on sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) fry using a bioenergetics approach. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 55:1285–1295

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cortés E (1997) A critical review of methods of studying fish feeding based on analysis of stomach contents: application to elasmobranch fishes. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 54:726–738

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dunham JB, Rahn ME, Schroeter RE, Breck SW (2000) Diets of sympatric Lahontan cutthroat trout and nonnative brook trout: implications for species interactions. West N Am Nat 60:304–310

    Google Scholar 

  • Dunham J, Adams SB, Schroeter R, Novinger D (2002) Alien invasions in aquatic ecosystems: toward an understanding of brook trout invasions and their potential impacts on inland cutthroat trout in western North America. Rev Fish Biol Fish 12:373–391

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fausch KD (1988) Tests of competition between native and introduced salmonids in streams: what have we learned? Can J Fish Aquat Sci 45:2238–2246

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fausch KD (1989) Do gradient and temperature affect distribution of, and interactions between juvenile brook char and other salmonids in streams? Physiol Ecol Jpn 1(Spec Vol):303–322

    Google Scholar 

  • Fausch K (1998) Interspecific competition and juvenile Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar): on testing effects and evaluating evidence across scales. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 55(Suppl. 1):218–231

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fausch KD, Nakano S, Kitano S (1997) Experimentally induced foraging mode shift by sympatric charrs in a Japanese mountain stream. Behav Ecol 8:414–420

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fuller PL, Nico LG, Williams JD (1999) Nonindigenous fishes introduced into inland waters of the United States. American Fisheries Society, Bethesda

    Google Scholar 

  • Griffith JS (1974) Utilization of invertebrate drift by brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) and cutthroat trout (Salmo clarki) in small streams in Idaho. Trans Am Fish Soc 103:440–447

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Griffith JS (1988) Review of competition between cutthroat trout and other salmonids. Am Fish Soc Symp 4:134–140

    Google Scholar 

  • Hilderbrand RH, Kershner JL (2004) Influence of habitat type on food supply, selectivity, and diet overlap of Bonneville cutthroat trout and nonnative brook trout in Beaver Creek, Idaho. N Am J Fish Manag 24:33–40

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de la Hoz Franco EA, Budy P (2005) Effects of biotic and abiotic factors on the distribution of trout and salmon along a longitudinal stream gradient. Environ Biol Fish 72:379–391

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kara C, Alp A (2005) Feeding habits and diet composition of brown trout (Salmo trutta) in the upper streams of River Ceyhan and River Euphrates in Turkey. Turk J Vet Sci 29:417–428

    Google Scholar 

  • Koel TM, Bigelow PE, Doepke PD, Ertel BD, Mahony DL (2005) Nonnative lake trout result in Yellowstone cutthroat trout decline and impacts to bears and anglers. Fisheries 30:10–19

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kreivi P, Muotka T, Huusko T, Mäki-Petäys A, Huhta A, Meissner K (1999) Diel feeding periodicity, daily ration, and prey selectivity in juvenile brown trout in a subarctic river. J Fish Biol 55:553–571

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • L’Abée-Lund JH, Aass P, Saegrov H (2002) Long-term variation in piscivory in a brown trout population: effect of changes in available prey organisms. Ecol Fresh Fish 11:260–269

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Matthews B, Mazumder A (2004) A critical evaluation of intrapopulation variation in δ13C and isotopic evidence of individual specialization. Oecologia 140:361–371

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mayama H (1999) Predation of juvenile masu salmon (Oncorhynchus masu) and brown trout (Salmo trutta) on newly emerged masu salmon fry in the Chitose River. Bull Natl Salmon Resour Cent 2:21–27

    Google Scholar 

  • McCune B, Grace JB (2002) Analysis of ecological communities. MjM Software, Gleneden Beach

    Google Scholar 

  • McGrath CC (2004) Trophic roles of native greenback cutthroat trout and non-native brook trout in montane streams of Colorado. Dissertation, University of Colorado, Boulder

    Google Scholar 

  • McHugh P, Budy P (2005) An experimental evaluation of competitive and thermal effects on brown trout (Salmo trutta) and Bonneville cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarki utah) performance along an altitudinal gradient. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 62:2784–2795

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McHugh P, Budy P (2006) Experimental effects of nonnative brown trout (Salmo trutta) on the individual- and population-level performance of native Bonneville cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii utah). Trans Am Fish Soc 135:1441–1455

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McIntosh AR (2000) Habitat- and size-related variations in exotic trout impacts on native galaxiid fishes in New Zealand streams. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 57:2140–2151

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Metzeling L, Robinson D, Perriss S (2002) Temporal persistence of benthic invertebrate communities in south-eastern Australian streams: taxonomic resolution and implications for the use of predictive models. Mar Freshw Res 53:1223–1234

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Milliken GA, Johnson DE (2000) Analysis of messy data, volume III: analysis of covariance. Chapman and Hall, Boca Raton

    Google Scholar 

  • Milner AM, Conn SC, Brown LW (2006) Persistence and stability of macroinvertebrate communities in streams of Denali National Park, Alaska: implications for biological monitoring. Freshw Biol 51:373–387

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mittelbach GG, Persson L (1998) The ontogeny of piscivory and its ecological consequences. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 55:1454–1465

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Museth J, Borgstrøm R, Hame T, Holen LÅ (2003) Predation by brown trout: a major mortality factor for sexually mature European minnows. J Fish Biol 62:692–705

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nakano S, Fausch KD, Kitano S (1999) Flexible niche partitioning via a foraging mode shift: a proposed mechanism for coexistence in stream-dwelling charrs. J Anim Ecol 68:1079–1092

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Novinger DC (2000) Reversals in competitive ability: do cutthroat trout have a thermal refuge from competition with brook trout? Dissertation, University of Wyoming, Laramie

    Google Scholar 

  • Novinger DC, Rahel FJ (2003) Isolation management with artificial barriers as a conservation strategy for cutthroat trout in headwater streams. Conserv Biol 17:772–781

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Overman NC, Parrish DL (2001) Stable isotope composition of walleye: 15N accumulation with age and area-specific differences in δ13C. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 58:1253–1260

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Post DM (2002) Using stable isotopes to estimate trophic position: models, methods, and assumptions. Ecology 83:703–718

    Google Scholar 

  • Quist MC, Hubert WA (2004) Bioinvasive species and the preservation of cutthroat trout in the western United States: ecological, social, and economic issues. Environ Sci Policy 7:303–313

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Quist MC, Hubert WA (2005) Relative effects of biotic and abiotic processes: a test of the biotic–abiotic constraining hypothesis using cutthroat trout. Trans Am Fish Soc 134:676–686

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rader RB (1997) A functional classification of the drift: traits that influence invertebrate availability to salmonids. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 54:1211–1234

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Richter BD, Braun DP, Mendelson MA, Master LL (1997) Threats to imperiled freshwater fauna. Conserv Biol 11:1081–1093

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Robinson CT, Minshall GW, Royer TV (2000) Inter-annual patterns in macroinvertebrate communities of wilderness streams in Idaho, USA. Hydrobiologia 421:187–198

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ruzycki JR, Beauchamp DA, Yule DL (2003) Effects of introduced lake trout on native cutthroat trout in Yellowstone Lake. Ecol Appl 13:23–37

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • SAS Institute (2005) SAS Version 9.01. SAS Institute, Cary

    Google Scholar 

  • Schoener TW (1970) Non-synchronous spatial overlap of lizards in patchy habitats. Ecology 51:408–418

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Strauss RE (1979) Reliability of estimates for Ivlev’s electivity index, the forage ratio, and a proposed linear index of food selection. Trans Am Fish Soc 108:344–352

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Townsend CR (2003) Individual, population, community, and ecosystem consequences of a fish invader in New Zealand streams. Conserv Biol 17:38–47

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Townsend CR, Crowl TA (1991) Fragmented population structure in a native New Zealand fish: an effect of introduced brown trout. Oikos 61:347–354

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trueman CN, McGill RAR, Guyard PH (2005) The effect of growth rate on tissue-diet isotopic spacing in rapidly growing animals. An experimental study with Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar). Rapid Commun Mass Spectrom 19:3239–3247

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Vander Zanden MJ, Cabana G, Rasmussen JB (1997) Comparing trophic position of freshwater fish calculated using stable nitrogen isotope ratios (δ15N) and literature dietary data. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 54:1142–1158

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang L, White RJ (1994) Competition between wild brown trout and hatchery greenback cutthroat trout of largely wild parentage. N Am J Fish Manag 14:475–487

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weigel DE, Peterson JT, Spruell P (2003) Introgressive hybridization between native cutthroat trout and introduced rainbow trout. Ecol Appl 13:38–50

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilcove DS, Rothstein D, Dubow J, Phillips A, Losos E (1998) Quantifying threats to imperiled species in the United States. Bioscience 48:607–615

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Woodward G, Jones JI, Hildrew AG (2002) Community persistence in Broadstone Stream (UK) over three decades. Freshw Biol 47:1419–1435

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Young MK (1995) Conservation assessment for inland cutthroat trout. Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experimental Station, USDA Forest Service publication RM-GTR-256, Fort Collins, 61 pp

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We gratefully acknowledge the Quinney Foundation, the U.S. Geological Survey, the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (Project XIII, Sport Fisheries Research, grant number F-47-R, Amendment 20), and Utah State University (CURI, Water Initiative, and URCO grants) for funding our study. We also thank the fish-survey crew for their assistance in electrofishing the Logan River during both years. Finally, we thank Todd Crowl, Mike Pfrender, Dan Rosenberg, Jack Schmidt, members of the Fish Ecology Lab, and two anonymous reviewers for their critical review of this manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. USGS Utah Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of AWER, College of Natural Resources, Utah State University, Logan, UT, 84322, USA

    Peter McHugh, Phaedra Budy, Gary Thiede & Erin VanDyke

Authors
  1. Peter McHugh
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Phaedra Budy
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Gary Thiede
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Erin VanDyke
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Peter McHugh.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

McHugh, P., Budy, P., Thiede, G. et al. Trophic relationships of nonnative brown trout, Salmo trutta, and native Bonneville cutthroat trout, Oncorhynchus clarkii utah, in a northern Utah, USA river. Environ Biol Fish 81, 63–75 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-006-9171-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-006-9171-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation