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Habitat requirements of Atlantic salmon and brown trout in rivers and streams

Habitat requirements of Atlantic salmon and brown trout in rivers and streams
Habitat requirements of Atlantic salmon and brown trout in rivers and streams
The distributions and abundances of trout and salmon are strongly influenced by their habitat. The habitat includes both abiotic and biotic factors, which interact in complex webs. Habitat probably has strongest effects during population bottlenecks, when the standing stock approaches the carrying capacity of the environment. Various approaches to modelling interactions between habitat and population density and mean weight have been explored, but further work is needed in this area of investigation. The importance of depth, current, substrate, cover, and to a lesser extent, temperature and oxygen availability to the various stages of the life cycles of salmon and trout are briefly reviewed. By drawing on published data, it is possible to define broad ranges of acceptable conditions for the life stages of each species. However, it is not possible to partition this variation into between-population differences, within-population preferences, within-population tolerances, and effects of interactions between habitat variables. To pursue this important issue further, a structured approach using experimentation both in the field and in suitable laboratory systems is recommended. There is abundant evidence that habitat requirements of salmon and trout overlap. Trout tend to out-compete salmon except often in areas of particularly fast flows and, perhaps, remote from the river bank. The habitat requirements of year classes of salmon and trout overlap and therefore, there is scope for interactions between them depending on the spatial arrangement of habitats and the occurrence of bottlenecks. It is particularly important to understand where the bottlenecks to production lie and to focus on these in the first instance. Otherwise, there is a risk of manipulating habitat that is already in excess, or increasing numbers of a population that will subsequently be constrained, e.g., by over-wintering habitat. For this reason, it is prudent to accept that although manipulations of habitat may appear to be beneficial when considered locally, they should be measured and assessed where possible in terms of the production of returning adults and/or high quality smolts. Because of the complexity of interactions between salmon, trout, and the animals that eat them, it is at present difficult, or impossible, to derive good predictive models of the effects of manipulating habitats under many circumstances.
habitat management, carrying capacity, population dynamics, water flow, enhancement, salmo trutta, salmo salar
0165-7836
143-170
Armstrong, J.
88e69b1a-1953-43d4-8b02-b15aff1e2a94
Kemp, P.S.
9e33fba6-cccf-4eb5-965b-b70e72b11cd7
Kennedy, G.J.A.
e5fdf91d-fc87-4e03-afaf-76f2384da052
Ladle, M.
256e1587-266a-4b4c-affd-53a2eecf2f75
Milner, N.J.
d4a57c55-e5e1-448d-94c6-a2acca225a79
Armstrong, J.
88e69b1a-1953-43d4-8b02-b15aff1e2a94
Kemp, P.S.
9e33fba6-cccf-4eb5-965b-b70e72b11cd7
Kennedy, G.J.A.
e5fdf91d-fc87-4e03-afaf-76f2384da052
Ladle, M.
256e1587-266a-4b4c-affd-53a2eecf2f75
Milner, N.J.
d4a57c55-e5e1-448d-94c6-a2acca225a79

Armstrong, J., Kemp, P.S., Kennedy, G.J.A., Ladle, M. and Milner, N.J. (2003) Habitat requirements of Atlantic salmon and brown trout in rivers and streams. Fisheries Research, 62 (2), 143-170. (doi:10.1016/S0165-7836(02)00160-1).

Record type: Article

Abstract

The distributions and abundances of trout and salmon are strongly influenced by their habitat. The habitat includes both abiotic and biotic factors, which interact in complex webs. Habitat probably has strongest effects during population bottlenecks, when the standing stock approaches the carrying capacity of the environment. Various approaches to modelling interactions between habitat and population density and mean weight have been explored, but further work is needed in this area of investigation. The importance of depth, current, substrate, cover, and to a lesser extent, temperature and oxygen availability to the various stages of the life cycles of salmon and trout are briefly reviewed. By drawing on published data, it is possible to define broad ranges of acceptable conditions for the life stages of each species. However, it is not possible to partition this variation into between-population differences, within-population preferences, within-population tolerances, and effects of interactions between habitat variables. To pursue this important issue further, a structured approach using experimentation both in the field and in suitable laboratory systems is recommended. There is abundant evidence that habitat requirements of salmon and trout overlap. Trout tend to out-compete salmon except often in areas of particularly fast flows and, perhaps, remote from the river bank. The habitat requirements of year classes of salmon and trout overlap and therefore, there is scope for interactions between them depending on the spatial arrangement of habitats and the occurrence of bottlenecks. It is particularly important to understand where the bottlenecks to production lie and to focus on these in the first instance. Otherwise, there is a risk of manipulating habitat that is already in excess, or increasing numbers of a population that will subsequently be constrained, e.g., by over-wintering habitat. For this reason, it is prudent to accept that although manipulations of habitat may appear to be beneficial when considered locally, they should be measured and assessed where possible in terms of the production of returning adults and/or high quality smolts. Because of the complexity of interactions between salmon, trout, and the animals that eat them, it is at present difficult, or impossible, to derive good predictive models of the effects of manipulating habitats under many circumstances.

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More information

Published date: May 2003
Keywords: habitat management, carrying capacity, population dynamics, water flow, enhancement, salmo trutta, salmo salar

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 53617
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/53617
ISSN: 0165-7836
PURE UUID: f050ce1f-5847-40ec-907e-42f02c279d59
ORCID for P.S. Kemp: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-4470-0589

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 22 Jul 2008
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 03:42

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Contributors

Author: J. Armstrong
Author: P.S. Kemp ORCID iD
Author: G.J.A. Kennedy
Author: M. Ladle
Author: N.J. Milner

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