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Influence of water quality, habitat and species richness on brown trout populations
Author(s) -
Eklöv A. G.,
Greenberg L. A.,
Brönmark C.,
Larsson P.,
Berglund O.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
journal of fish biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.672
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1095-8649
pISSN - 0022-1112
DOI - 10.1111/j.1095-8649.1999.tb00610.x
Subject(s) - trout , biology , intraspecific competition , species richness , brown trout , habitat , predation , ecology , fishery , competition (biology) , streams , abundance (ecology) , fish <actinopterygii> , computer network , computer science
The influence of water quality, physical habitat and species richness on the occurrence, density and size of brown trout at 216 stream sites in southern Sweden was studied. Discriminant analysis showed that the occurrence of trout at a locality was largely determined by oxygen conditions and medium‐sized substrata. At localities where trout occurred, the density of + trout was highest in narrow streams with high oxygen concentrations. For older trout, >0+ in age, stream size and temperature were negatively related to density. Biotic factors also appeared to affect trout density, as trout density was inversely related to abundance of predators and coexisting species. Even intraspecific competition appeared to be important as length of 0+ trout was inversely related to trout density. It is suggested that improvements of water quality may be an effective way to restore sea trout populations in southern Sweden, especially in narrow streams where smolt production has the highest potential.