Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Neighbouring populations, opposite dynamics: influence of body size and environmental variation on the demography of stream-resident brown trout (Salmo trutta)

  • Population ecology - Original research
  • Published:
Oecologia Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In organisms such as fish, where body size is considered an important state variable for the study of their population dynamics, size-specific growth and survival rates can be influenced by local variation in both biotic and abiotic factors, but few studies have evaluated the complex relationships between environmental variability and size-dependent processes. We analysed a 6-year capture–recapture dataset of brown trout (Salmo trutta) collected at 3 neighbouring but heterogeneous mountain streams in northern Spain with the aim of investigating the factors shaping the dynamics of local populations. The influence of body size and water temperature on survival and individual growth was assessed under a multi-state modelling framework, an extension of classical capture–recapture models that considers the state (i.e. body size) of the individual in each capture occasion and allows us to obtain state-specific demographic rates and link them to continuous environmental variables. Individual survival and growth patterns varied over space and time, and evidence of size-dependent survival was found in all but the smallest stream. At this stream, the probability of reaching larger sizes was lower compared to the other wider and deeper streams. Water temperature variables performed better in the modelling of the highest-altitude population, explaining over a 99 % of the variability in maturation transitions and survival of large fish. The relationships between body size, temperature and fitness components found in this study highlight the utility of multi-state approaches to investigate small-scale demographic processes in heterogeneous environments, and to provide reliable ecological knowledge for management purposes.

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

  • Baerum KM, Haugen TO, Kiffney P et al (2013) Interacting effects of temperature and density on individual growth performance in a wild population of brown trout. Freshw Biol 58:1329–1339. doi:10.1111/fwb.12130

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beckmann C, Biro PA, Post JR (2006) Asymmetric impact of piscivorous birds on size- structured fish populations. Can J Zool 84:1584–1593. doi:10.1139/Z06-151

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Biro PA, Post JR, Parkinson EA (2003) From individuals to populations: prey fish risk-taking mediates mortality in whole-system experiments. Ecology 84:2419–2431

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Biro PA, Morton AE, Post JR, Parkinson EA (2004) Over-winter lipid depletion and mortality of age-0 rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). Can J Fish Aquat Sci 61:1513–1519. doi:10.1139/F04-083

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bohlin T, Sundström LF, Johnsson JI et al (2002) Density-dependent growth in brown trout : effects of introducing wild and hatchery fish. J Anim Ecol 71:683–692

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boss SM, Richardson JS (2002) Effects of food and cover on the growth, survival, and movement of cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarki) in coastal streams. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 1053:1044–1053. doi:10.1139/F02-079

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brownie C, Hines J, Nichols J (1993) capture–recapture studies for multiple strata including non-Markovian transitions. Biometrics 49:1173–1187

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Byström P, Andersson J, Kiessling A, Eriksson L-O (2006) Size and temperature dependent foraging capacities and metabolism: consequences for winter starvation mortality in fish. Oikos 115:43–52. doi:10.1111/j.2006.0030-1299.15014.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cam E, Oro D, Pradel R, Jimenez J (2004) Assessment of hypotheses about dispersal in a long-lived seabird using multistate capture–recapture models. J Anim Ecol 73:723–736. doi:10.1111/j.0021-8790.2004.00848.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carlson SM, Olsen EM, Vollestad LA (2008) Seasonal mortality and the effect of body size: a review and an empirical test using individual data on brown trout. Funct Ecol 22:663–673. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2435.2008.01416.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Caswell H (2001) Matrix populations models. Sinauer, Sunderland

  • Choquet R, Nogue E (2010) E-SURGE 1.7 user’s manual. CEFE, Montpellier

  • Choquet R, Lebreton J, Gimenez O (2009) U-CARE: utilities for performing goodness of fit tests and manipulating CApture–REcapture data. Ecography 32:1071–1074

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crisp DT (1993) Population densities of juvenile trout (Salmo trutta) in five upland streams and their effects upon growth, survival and dispersal. J Appl Ecol 30:759–771

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Einum S, Sundt-Hansen L, Nislow KH (2006) The partitioning of density-dependent dispersal, growth and survival throughout ontogeny in a highly fecund organism. Oikos 113:489–496

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Elliott JM (1975) The growth rate of brown trout (Salmo trutta L.) fed on maximum rations. J Anim Ecol 44:805–821

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Elliott JM, Elliott Ja (2010) Temperature requirements of Atlantic salmon Salmo salar, brown trout Salmo trutta and Arctic charr Salvelinus alpinus: predicting the effects of climate change. J Fish Biol 77:1793–1817. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8649.2010.02762.x

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Garvey JE, Ostrand KG, Wahl DH (2004) Energetics, predation, and ration affect size-dependent growth and mortality of fish during winter. Ecology 85:2860–2871

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heggenes J, Baglinière JL, Cunjak RA (1999) Spatial niche variability for young Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) and brown trout (Salmo trutta) in heterogeneous streams. Ecol Freshw Fish 8:1–21

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hurst TP (2007) Causes and consequences of winter mortality in fishes. J Fish Biol 71:315–345. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8649.2007.01596.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hutchings JA (1993) Adaptive life histories effected by age-apecific survival and growth rate. Ecology 74:673–684

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hutchings JA (1999) Influence of growth and survival costs of reproduction on Atlantic cod, Gadus morhua, population growth rate. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 56:1612–1623

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huusko ARI, Greenberg L, Stickler M et al (2007) Life in the ice lane: the winter ecology of stream salmonids. River Res Appl 23:469–491. doi:10.1002/rra

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jenkins TM, Diehl S, Kratz KW, Cooper SD (1999) Effects of population density on individual growth of brown trout in streams. Ecology 80:941–956

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jensen AJ, Johnsen BO (1999) The functional relationship between peak spring floods and survival and growth of juvenile Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) and brown trout (Salmo trutta). Funct Ecol 13:778–785

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnston P, Bergeron NE, Dodson JJ (2005) Assessment of winter size-selective mortality of young-of-the-year Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) using otolith microstructure analysis*. Ecol Freshw Fish 14:168–176. doi:10.1111/j.1600-0633.2005.00089.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kirkpatrick M (1984) Demographic models based on size, not age, for organisms with indeterminate growth. Ecology 65:1874–1884

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lebreton J-D, Pradel R (2002) Multistate recapture models: modelling incomplete individual histories. J Appl Stat 29:353–369

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lebreton AJ, Burnham KP, Clobert J, Anderson DR (1992) Modeling survival and testing biological hypotheses using marked animals: a unified approach with case studies. Ecol Monogr 62:67–118

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lebreton JD, Hines JE, Pradel R et al (2003) Estimation by capture–recapture of recruitment and dispersal over several sites. Oikos 101:253–264

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lebreton JD, Nichols JD, Barker RJ, et al. (2009) Modeling individual animal histories with multistate capture–recapture models. In: Caswell H (ed) Advances in ecological research, vol 41. Elsevier, Burlington, pp 87–173

  • Letcher BH, Horton GE (2008) Seasonal variation in size-dependent survival of juvenile Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar): performance of multistate capture–mark–recapture models. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 65:1649–1666. doi:10.1139/F08-083

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lobón-Cerviá J (2007) Density-dependent growth in stream-living brown trout Salmo trutta L. Funct Ecol 21:117–124. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2435.2006.01204.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lobón-Cerviá J, Rincón PA (2004) Environmental determinants of recruitment and their influence on the population dynamics of stream-living brown trout Salmo trutta. Oikos 105:641–646

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McMillan JR, Dunham JB, Reeves GH et al (2011) Individual condition and stream temperature influence early maturation of rainbow and steelhead trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss. Environ Biol Fishes 93:343–355. doi:10.1007/s10641-011-9921-0

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meyers KA, Griffith JS (1997) First-winter survival of rainbow trout and brook trout in the Henrys Fork of the Snake River, Idaho. Can J Zool 75:59–63

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mommsen TP (2001) Paradigms of growth in fish. Comp Biochem Physiol B 129:207–219

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Morris WF, Doak DF (2002) Quantitative conservation biology; theory and practice in conservation biology. Sinauer, Sunderland

    Google Scholar 

  • Nichols JD (1992) Capture–recapture models. Bioscience 42:94–102

  • Nichols J, Hines J, Pollock K et al (1994) Estimating breeding proportions and testing hypotheses about costs of reproduction with capture–recapture data. Ecology 75:2052–2065

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nicola GG, Almodóvar A (2004) Growth pattern of stream-dwelling brown trout under contrasting thermal conditions. Trans Am Fish Soc 133:66–78

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ojanguren AF, Reyes-Gavilán FG, Braña F (2001) Thermal sensitivity of growth, food intake and activity of juvenile brown trout. J Therm Biol 26:165–170

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pollock KH, Yoshizaki J, Fabrizio MC, Schram ST (2007) Factors affecting survival rates of a recovering lake trout population estimated by mark-recapture in Lake Superior, 1969–1996. Trans Am Fish Soc 136:185–194. doi:10.1577/T05-317.1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pradel R, Wintrebert CMA, Gimenez O (2003) A proposal for a goodness-of-fit test to the Arnason-Schwarz multisite capture–recapture model. Biometrics 59:43–53. doi:10.1111/1541-0420.00006

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Quinn TP, Peterson NP (1996) The influence of habitat complexity and fish size on over-winter survival and growth of individually marked juvenile coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) in Big Beef Creek, Washington. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 53:1555–1564. doi:10.1139/f96-092

    Google Scholar 

  • Schultz ET, Conover DO (1999) The allometry of energy reserve depletion : test of a mechanism for size-dependent winter mortality. Oecologia 119:474–483

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Skalski JR, Hoffmann A, Smith SG (1993) Testing the significance of individual- and cohort-level covariates in animal survival studies. In: Lebreton JD, North PM (eds). Marked individuals in the study of bird populations. Birkäuser, Basel, pp 9–28

  • Sogard SM (1997) Size-selective mortality in the juvenile stage of teleost fishes: a review. Bull Mar Sci 60:1129–1157

    Google Scholar 

  • Stearns S (1992) The evolution of life histories. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Trexler J, Travis J, McManus M (1992) Effects of habitat and body size on mortality rates of poecilia latipinna. Ecology 73:2224–2236

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trexler J, Tempe R, Travis J (1994) Size-selective predation of sailfin mollies by two species of heron. Oikos 69:250–258

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vøllestad LA, Olsen EM, Forseth T (2002) Growth-rate variation in brown trout in small neighbouring streams : evidence for density-dependence ? J Fish Biol 61:1513–1527. doi:10.1006/jfbi.2002.2170

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wesselingh RA, Klinkhamer PGL, De Jong TJ, Boorman LA (1997) Threshold size for flowering in different habitats: effects of size-dependent growth and survival. Ecology 78:2118–2132

    Google Scholar 

  • Xu CL, Letcher BH, Nislow KH (2010) Size-dependent survival of brook trout Salvelinus fontinalis in summer: effects of water temperature and stream flow. J Fish Biol 76:2342–2369. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8649.2010.02619.x

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

Thanks are due to all people involved in the field work over the years: César Cajigal, Alejandro Isla, Fredrik Nordwall, Felipe Reyes-Gavilán, Antón Fernández, Ataulfo Martínez, F. Cimentada. The staff of Picos de Europa National Park kindly helped with site selection and administrative tasks. Funds were provided by grants FAIR CT95-0009 to F. Braña and FAIR CT97-3498 and MCYT-AGL2000-3181-CE to A. G. N. We thank Lucie Buttay for helping with data management and Daniel Oro, Marc Mangel and one anonymous referee for their useful comments on earlier versions of the manuscript. A. F.-C. was supported by a FPU grant from the Spanish Ministry of Education (ref. AP2008-04476). We also thank Stuart Larsen for revising the English.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Albert Fernández-Chacón

    Present address: Institute of Marine Research, Nye Flødevigveien 20, 4817, Arendal, Norway

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Population Ecology Group, Institut Mediterrani d’Estudis Avançats (CSIC-UIB), Miquel Marqués 21, 07190, Esporles, Spain

    Albert Fernández-Chacón & Meritxell Genovart

  2. Departamento de Biología de Organismos y Sistemas, University of Oviedo, Catedrático Rodrigo Uría s/n, 33006, Oviedo, Spain

    David Álvarez & Alfredo G. Nicieza

  3. Research Unit of Biodiversity (UO-CSIC-PA), Campus de Mieres, Edificio de Investigación, Gonzalo Gutiérrez Quirós s/n, 33600, Mieres, Spain

    José M. Cano & Alfredo G. Nicieza

  4. Scottish Oceans Institute, School of Biology, University of St. Andrews, KY16 8LB, St. Andrews, Scotland, UK

    Alfredo F. Ojanguren

  5. Centre for Ecology and Conservation, School of Biosciences, University of Exeter, TR10 9EZ, Penryn, UK

    Rolando Rodriguez-Muñoz

Authors
  1. Albert Fernández-Chacón
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Meritxell Genovart
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. David Álvarez
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. José M. Cano
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Alfredo F. Ojanguren
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Rolando Rodriguez-Muñoz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Alfredo G. Nicieza
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Albert Fernández-Chacón.

Additional information

Communicated by Marc Mangel.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary material 1 (PDF 1654 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Fernández-Chacón, A., Genovart, M., Álvarez, D. et al. Neighbouring populations, opposite dynamics: influence of body size and environmental variation on the demography of stream-resident brown trout (Salmo trutta). Oecologia 178, 379–389 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-015-3222-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-015-3222-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation