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Short-and long term niche segregation and individual specialization of brown trout (Salmo trutta) in species poor Faroese lakes

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Abstract

Trophic niche divergence is considered to be a major process by which species coexistence is facilitated. When studying niche segregation in lake ecosystems, we tend to view the niche on a one-dimensional pelagic-littoral axis. In reality, however, the niche use may be more complex and individual fidelity to a niche may be variable both between and within populations. In order to study this complexity, relative simple systems with few species are needed. In this paper, we study how competitor presence affects the resource use of brown trout (Salmo trutta) in 11 species-poor Faroese lakes by comparing relative abundance, stable isotope ratios and diet in multiple habitats. In the presence of three-spined sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus), a higher proportion of the trout population was found in the pelagic habitat, and trout in general relied on a more pelagic diet base as compared to trout living in allopatry or in sympatry with Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus). Diet analyses revealed, however, that niche-segregation may be more complex than described on a one-dimensional pelagic-littoral axis. Trout from both littoral and offshore benthic habitats had in the presence of sticklebacks a less benthic diet as compared to trout living in allopatry or in sympatry with charr. Furthermore, we found individual habitat specialization between littoral/benthic and pelagic trout in deep lakes. Hence, our findings indicate that for trout populations interspecific competition can drive shifts in both habitat and niche use, but at the same time they illustrate the complexity of the ecological niche in freshwater ecosystems.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Jane Stougaard Pedersen, Karina Jensen and Lissa Skov Hansen for identification of zooplankton samples. Special thanks go to Kirsten Landkildehus Thomsen for chemical analysis and Anne Mette Poulsen for manuscript editing. We also wish to thank Juana Jacobsen and Kathe Møgelvang for graphical layout. The project was partly funded by the Carlsberg Foundation, The Nordic Arctic Research Programme 1999–2003 and The Danish North Atlantic Research Programme. The study was also supported by the EU projects EUROLIMPACS (www.eurolimpacs.ucl.ac.uk) and WISER (www.wiser.eu), REFRESH, CRES, Greenland Research Centre and by Galathea 3. Furthermore, we thank Andy Jones, Geraldine Thiere and Karin Olsson for valuable comments on the manuscript.

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  1. Jakob Brodersen

    Present address: Department of Fish Ecology and Evolution, EAWAG Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, Center of Ecology, Evolution and Biochemistry, Seestrasse 79, CH-6047, Kastanienbaum, Switzerland

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Vejlsøvej 25, DK-8600, Silkeborg, Denmark

    Jakob Brodersen, Frank Landkildehus, Torben L. Lauridsen, Susanne L. Amsinck, Rikke Bjerring, Martin Søndergaard, Liselotte S. Johansson & Erik Jeppesen

  2. Department of Biology/Aquatic Ecology, Lund University, 223 62, Lund, Sweden

    Jakob Brodersen

  3. Natural History Museum of Kópavogur, Hamraborg 6a, IS-200, Kópavogur, Iceland

    Hilmar J. Malmquist

  4. Freshwater Biological Laboratory, University of Copenhagen, Helsingørsgade 51, DK-3400, Hillerød, Denmark

    Kirsten S. Christoffersen

  5. Greenland Climate Research Centre (GCRC), Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, Nuuk, Greenland

    Erik Jeppesen

  6. The Sino-Danish Center for Education and Research (SDC), Beijing, China

    Erik Jeppesen

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  1. Jakob Brodersen
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Correspondence to Jakob Brodersen.

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Brodersen, J., Malmquist, H.J., Landkildehus, F. et al. Short-and long term niche segregation and individual specialization of brown trout (Salmo trutta) in species poor Faroese lakes. Environ Biol Fish 93, 305–318 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-011-9914-z

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