Skip to main content

Advertisement

Springer Nature Link
Log in

Spawning and rearing behavior of bull trout in a headwater lake ecosystem

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

Abstract

Numerous life histories have been documented for bull trout Salvelinus confluentus. Lacustrine-adfluvial bull trout populations that occupy small, headwater lake ecosystems and migrate short distances to natal tributaries to spawn are likely common; however, much of the research on potamodromous bull trout has focused on describing the spawning and rearing characteristics of bull trout populations that occupy large rivers and lakes and make long distance spawning migrations to natal headwater streams. This study describes the spawning and rearing characteristics of lacustrine-adfluvial bull trout in the Quartz Lake drainage, Glacier National Park, USA, a small headwater lake ecosystem. Many spawning and rearing characteristics of bull trout in the Quartz Lake drainage are similar to potamodromous bull trout that migrate long distances. For example, subadult bull trout distribution was positively associated with slow-water habitat unit types and maximum wetted width, and negatively associated with increased stream gradient. Bull trout spawning also occurred when water temperatures were between 5 and 9 °C, and redds were generally located in stream segments with low stream gradient and abundant gravel and cobble substrates. However, this study also elucidated characteristics of bull trout biology that are not well documented in the literature, but may be relatively widespread and have important implications regarding general characteristics of bull trout ecology, use of available habitat by bull trout, and persistence of lacustrine-adfluvial bull trout in small headwater lake ecosystems.

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

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

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

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 6
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

Explore related subjects

Discover the latest articles and news from researchers in related subjects, suggested using machine learning.

References

  • Akaike H (1973) Information theory as an extension of the maximum likelihood principle. In: Petrov BN, Csaki F (eds) Second international symposium on information theory. Akademiai Kiado, Budapest, pp. 267–281

    Google Scholar 

  • Arend KK (1999) Macrohabitat identification. In: Bain MB, Stevenson NJ (eds) Aquatic habitat assessment: common methods. American Fisheries Society, Bethesda, Maryland, pp. 75–93

    Google Scholar 

  • Al-Chokhachy R, Roper BR, Bowerman T, Budy P (2010) A review of bull trout habitat associations and exploratory analyses of patterns across the interior Columbia river basin. N Am J Fish Manag 30:464–480

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bateman DS, Gresswell RE, Torgersen CE (2005) Evaluating single-pass catch as a tool for identifying spatial pattern in fish distribution. Freshw Ecol 20:335–345

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baxter CV, McPhail JD (1999) The influence of red site selection, groundwater upwelling, and over-winter incubation temperature on survival of bull trout (salvelinus confluentus) from egg to alevin. Can J Zool 77:1233–1239

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baxter CV, Hauer FR (2000) Geomorphology, hyporheic exchange, and selection of spawning habitat by bull trout (salvelinus confluentus). Can J Fish Aquat Sci 57:1470--1481

  • Bisson PA, Nielsen JL, Palmasono RA, Grove LE (1982) A system of naming habitat types in small streams, with examples of habitat utilization by salmonids during low streamflow: acquisition and utilization of aquatic habitat inventory information. In: Armantrout NB (ed) Acquisition and utilization of aquatic habitat inventory information. American Fisheries Society, Western Division, Bethesda, Maryland, pp. 62–73

    Google Scholar 

  • Brenkman SJ, Larson GL, Gresswell RE (2001) Spawning migration of lacustrine-adfluvial bull trout in a natural area. Trans Am Fish Soc 130:981–987

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bowerman T (2013) A multi-scale investigation of factors limiting bull trout viability. Utah State University, Dissertation

    Google Scholar 

  • Buchanan TJ, Somers WP (1969) Discharge measurements at gaging stations. US Geological Survey, Washington DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Burnham KP, Anderson DR (2002) Model selection and multimodel inference: a practical information-theoretic approach, 2nd edn. Springer Science + Business Media, LLC, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Dambacher JM, Jones KK (1997) Stream habitat of juvenile bull trout populations in Oregon and benchmarks for habitat quality. Friends Bull Trout Conf Proc 353-360

  • Den Boer PJ (1968) Spreading of risk and stabilization of animal numbers. Acta Biotheretica 18:165–194

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Devries DR, Frie RV (1996) Determination of age and growth. In: Murphy BR, Willis DW (eds) Fisheries techniques, 2nd edn. American Fisheries Society, Bethesda, Maryland, pp. 483–512

    Google Scholar 

  • Downs CC, Fredenberg CR, D’Angelo V, Muhlfeld C, McKeon B (2015) Glacier national park fisheries monitoring and management report 2014. National Park Service, West Glacier, Montana

    Google Scholar 

  • Downs CC, Horan DH, Morgan-Harris E, Jakubowski R (2006) Spawning demographics and juvenile dispersal of an adfluvial bull trout population in trestle creek, Idaho. N Am J Fish Manag 26:190–200

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dunham J, Rieman B, Davis K (2001) Sources and magnitude of sampling error in redd counts for bull trout. N Am J Fish Manag 21:343–352

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dunham J, Baxter C, Fausch K, Fredenberg W, Kitano S, Koizumi I, Morita K, Nakumura T, Rieman B, Savvaitova K, Stanford J, Taylor E, Yamamoto S (2008) Evolution, ecology, and conservation of dolly varden, white spotted char, and bull trout. Fish 33:537–550

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dupont JM, Brown RS, Geist DR (2007) Unique allacustrine migration patterns of a bull trout population in the pend Oreille river drainage, Idaho. N Am J Fish Manag 27:1268–1275

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Earle JE, McKenzie JS (2001) Habitat use by juvenile bull trout in mountain streams in the copton creek drainage, Alberta and its Relation to Mining Activity. Bull Trout II Conf Proc 121-128

  • Ferguson JM, Taper ML, Guy CS, Syslo JM (2012) Mechanisms of coexistence between native bull trout (salvelinus confluentus) and non-native lake trout (salvelinus namaycush): inferences from pattern-oriented modeling. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 69:755–769

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fraley JJ, Shepard BB (1989) Life history, ecology, and population status of migratory bull trout (salvelinus confluentus) in the flathead lake and river system, Montana. Northwest Sci 63:133–143

    Google Scholar 

  • Fredenberg W (1997) Observation from a basinwide sampling program for juvenile adfluvial bull trout. In: Mackay WC, brewin MK, monita M (eds) Friends of the Bull Trout conference proceedings. Bull Trout Task Force (Alberta), Trout Unlimited Canada, Calgary, pp 261–268

  • Gresswell RE, Liss WJ, Larson GL (1994) Life history organization of Yellowstone cutthroat trout (oncorhynchus clarki bouvieri) in Yellowstone lake. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 51:298–309

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gresswell RE, Liss WJ, Larson GL, Bartlein PJ (1997) Influence of basin-scale physical variables on life history characteristics of cutthroat trout in Yellowstone lake. N Am J Fish Manag 17:1046–1064

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hankin DG, Reeves GH (1988) Estimating total fish abundance and total habitat area in small streams based on visual estimation methods. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 45:834–844

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hansen MJ, Beard Jr TD, Hayes DB (2007) Sampling and experimental design. In: Guy CS, Brown ML (eds) Analysis and interpretation of freshwater fisheries data. American Fisheries Society, Bethesda, Maryland, pp. 51–120

    Google Scholar 

  • Homel K, Budy P (2008) Temporal and spatial variability in the migration patterns of juvenile and subadult bull trout in northeastern Oregon. Trans Am Fish Soc 137:869–880

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Howell PJ, Dunham JB, Sankovich PM (2010) Relationships between water temperatures and upstream migration, cold water refuge use, and spawning of adult bull trout from the lostine river, Oregon, USA. Ecol Freshw Fish 19:96–106

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hurvich DW, Tsai CL (1989) Regression and time series model selection in small samples. Biometrika 76:297–307

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jakober MJ, McMahon TE, Thurow RF, Clancy CG (1998) Role of stream ice on fall and winter movements and habitat use by bull trout and cutthroat trout in Montana headwater streams. Trans Am Fish Soc 127:223–235

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jones KK, Cornwell TJ, Bottom DL, Campbell LA, Stein S (2014) The contribution of estuary-resident life histories to the return of oncorhynchus kisutch. J Fish Biol 85:52–80

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kaufmann PR, Levine P, Robison EG, Seeliger C, Peck DV (1999) Quantifying physical habitat in wadeable streams. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Martinez PJ et al. (2009) Western lake trout woes. Fish 34:424–442

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • MacKenzie DI, Nichols JD, Royle JA, Pollock KH, Bailey LL, Hines JE (2006) Occupancy estimation and modeling: inferring patterns and dynamics of species occurrence. Elsevier, San Francisco, CA

    Google Scholar 

  • Mazzerolle MJ (2015) AICcmodavg: Model selection and multimodel inference based on (Q)AIC(c). Version 2.0–3. http://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/AICcmodavg/index.html. Accessed: 14 April 2015

  • McMahon TE, Zale AV, Barrows FT, Selong JH, Danehy RJ (2007) Temperature and competition between bull trout and brook trout: a test of the elevation refuge hypothesis. Trans Am Fish Soc 136:1313–1326

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meeuwig MH, Guy CS (2007) Evaluation and action plan for protection of 15 threatened adfluvial populations of bull trout in Glacier National Park, Montana. University of Montana. http://www.cfc.umt.edu/CESU/Reports/NPS/MSU/2005/Guy_bull%20trout-final%20rpt.pdf. Accessed 14 April 2015

  • Meeuwig MH, Guy CS, Fredenberg WA (2008) Influence of landscape characteristics on fish species richness among lakes of glacier national park, Montana. Intermt J Sci 14:1–16

    Google Scholar 

  • Meeuwig MH, Guy CS, Kalinowski ST, Fredenberg WA (2010) Landscape influences on genetic differentiation among bull trout populations in a stream-lake network. Mol Ecol 19:3620–3633

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mogen JT, Kaeding LR (2005) Identification and characterization of migratory and nonmigratory bull trout populations in the St. Mary river drainage, Montana. Trans Am Fish Soc 134:841–852

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Monnot L, Dunham JB, Hoem T, Koetsier P (2008) Influences of body size and environmental factors on autumn downstream migration of bull trout in the Boise river, Idaho. N Am J Fish Manag 28:231–240

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moore K, Jones KK, Dambacher J (2002) Methods for stream habitat surveys aquatic inventories project. Natural Production Program, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Corvallis, Oregon. http://oregonstate.edu/Dept/ODFW/ freshwater/inventory/pdffiles/habmethod.pdf. Accessed February 2010

  • Muhlfeld CC, Marotz B (2005) Seasonal movement and habitat use by subadult bull trout in the upper flathead river system, Montana. N Am J Fish Manag 25:797–810

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Muhlfeld CC, Taper ML, Staples DF, Shepard BB (2006) Observer error structure in bull trout red counts in Montana streams: implications for inference on true red numbers. Trans Am Fish Soc 135:643–654

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nagelkerke NJD (1991) A note on a general definition of the coefficient of determination. Biometrika 78:691–692

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nakazawa M (2014) Fmsb: Functions for medical statistics book with some demographic data. Version 0.5.1. http://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/fmsb/fmsb.pdf. Accessed: 14 April 2015

  • Northcote TT (1997) Potamodromy in salmonidae – living and moving in the fast lane. N Am J Fish Manag 17:1029–1045

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Quinn TP (2005) The behavior and ecology of Pacific salmon and trout, 1st edn. American Fisheries Society, Bethesda

    Google Scholar 

  • Rich CF, McMahon TE, Rieman BE, Thompson WL (2003) Local-habitat, watershed, and biotic features associated with bull trout occurrence in Montana stream. Trans Am Fish Soc 132:1053–1064

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rieman BE, McIntyre JD (1995) Occurrence of bull trout in naturally fragmented habitat patches of varied size. Trans Am Fish Soc 124:285–296

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rieman BE, Lee DC, Thurow RF (1997) Distribution, status, and likely future trends of bull trout within the Columbia river and Klamath river basins. N Am J Fish Manag 17:1111–1125

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rieman BE, Isaak D, Adams S, Horan D, Nagel D, Luce C, Meyers D (2007) Anticipated climate warming effects on bull trout habitats and population across the interior Columbia river basin. Trans Am Fish Soc 136:1552–1565

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shepard B, Pratt K, Graham P (1984) Life histories of westslope cutthroat and bull trout in the upper flathead river basin, Montana. Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Parks, Kalispell

    Google Scholar 

  • Sindt AR, Quist MC, Pierce CL (2012) Habitat associations of fish species of greatest conservation need at multiple spatial scales in wadeable Iowa streams. N Am J Fish Manag 32:1046–1061

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spangler RE, Scarnecchia DL (2001) Summer and fall microhabitat utilization of juvenile bull trout and cutthroat trout in a wilderness stream, Idaho. Hydrobiol 452:145–154

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spiess AN (2014) qpcR: Modelling and analysis of real-time PCR data. Version 1.4–0. http://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/qpcR/index.html. Accessed 14 April 2015

  • US Fish and Wildlife Service (2002) Bull trout (salvelinus confluentus) draft recovery plan. Portland, Oregon

    Google Scholar 

  • Varley JD, Gresswell RE (1988) Ecology, status, and management of the Yellowstone cutthroat trout. In: Gresswell RE (ed) . Status and management of interior stocks of cutthroat trout. American Fisheries Society, Symposium 4. Bethesda, Maryland, pp. 13–24

    Google Scholar 

  • Warren CE, Liss WJ (1980) Adaptation to aquatic environments. In: Lackey RT, Nielsen L (eds) Fisheries management. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford, pp. 15–40

    Google Scholar 

  • Watson G, Hillman TW (1997) Factors affecting the distribution and abundance of bull trout: an investigation at hierarchical scales. N Am J Fish Manag 17:237–252

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This project was funded by The Glacier Institute. Glacier National Park arranged logistical support and housing for field staff. Wade Fredenberg, Bill Michels, and Chris Downs provided important insight about the study area. Amber Steed and Jan Boyer assisted with data collection in the field. Kim Jones and four anonymous reviewers provided insightful feedback of a previous draft of this manuscript. This work was conducted under IACUC guidelines. Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Lora B. Tennant

    Present address: United States Geological Survey - Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center, 3200 SW Jefferson Way, Corvallis, OR, 97331, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ecology, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, 59715, USA

    Lora B. Tennant

  2. U.S. Geological Survey, Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center, 2327 University Way, Suite 2, Bozeman, MT, 59715, USA

    Robert E. Gresswell

  3. U.S. Geological Survey, Montana Cooperative Fishery Research Unit, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, 59715, USA

    Christopher S. Guy

  4. Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Corvallis Research Laboratory, 28655 Hwy 34, Corvallis, OR, 97333, USA

    Michael H. Meeuwig

Authors
  1. Lora B. Tennant
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Robert E. Gresswell
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Christopher S. Guy
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Michael H. Meeuwig
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lora B. Tennant.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Tennant, L.B., Gresswell, R.E., Guy, C.S. et al. Spawning and rearing behavior of bull trout in a headwater lake ecosystem. Environ Biol Fish 99, 117–131 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-015-0461-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-015-0461-x

Keywords