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Effects of forestry clear‐cutting on numbers and sizes of brook trout, Salvelinus fontinalis (Mitchill), in lakes of the Mastigouche Wildlife Reserve, Québec, Canada
Author(s) -
Bérubé,
; Levesque
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
fisheries management and ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.693
H-Index - 55
eISSN - 1365-2400
pISSN - 0969-997X
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2400.1998.00092.x
Subject(s) - fontinalis , salvelinus , trout , logging , fishing , wildlife , catch per unit effort , fishery , deforestation (computer science) , biomass (ecology) , environmental science , population , habitat , geography , fauna , ecology , forestry , fish <actinopterygii> , biology , demography , programming language , sociology , computer science
Brook trout, Salvelinus fontinalis (Mitchill), angling data, collected between 1971 and 1991, were analysed before, during, and after logging operations for 20 lakes located within 200 m of a clear‐cutting area and 16 reference lakes undisturbed by logging. The mean weight of catches by anglers remained unchanged over the three periods, while catches per unit of effort (CPUE) and biomass per unit of effort (BPUE) decreased, respectively, by 18% and 22% after clear‐cutting. These changes reflected a significant modification in population dynamics probably caused by logging operations. Results indicated that the negative impacts on aquatic fauna were felt more strongly on water bodies located in watersheds where deforestation was more severe; CPUE was inversely correlated with a cumulative cutting index ( CI ) developed from physiographic parameters. An increasing interannual trend of the spring‐flood discharge in the order of 8% was noted. It was hypothesized that this increase might damage spawning and nursery habitats, hence affecting recruitment and offering a possible part of the explanation for the variations in fishing success. The cause‐to‐effect links and the mechanisms associated with changes affecting fish populations following deforestation remain to be clarified.