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Total population density during the first year of life as a major determinant of lifetime body‐length trajectory in marble trout
Author(s) -
Vincenzi S.,
Crivelli A. J.,
Jesensek D.,
De Leo G. A.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
ecology of freshwater fish
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.667
H-Index - 55
eISSN - 1600-0633
pISSN - 0906-6691
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0633.2008.00309.x
Subject(s) - trout , density dependence , salmo , biology , population density , population , range (aeronautics) , ecology , life history , zoology , fishery , demography , fish <actinopterygii> , materials science , sociology , composite material
– The conditions experienced early in life can strongly influence life‐history trajectories in a variety of animal species. Here, we use data from four isolated populations of the endangered stream‐dwelling salmonid marble trout ( Salmo marmoratus Cuvier 1817) living in the Soca and Idrijca river basins (Slovenia) to explore the influence of the total density experienced during and after the first year of life by marble trout year‐classes on body length of marble trout through the lifetime. Analyses were performed by pooling together the stream‐specific datasets to cover a wider range of densities. Mean body length of marble trout year‐classes through the lifetime (from age 1+ to 5+) was negatively related to total density of marble trout during the first year of life. The relationship between density during the first growth period and body length through the lifetime was well described by negative power curves. Total population density after the first year of life was not correlated with body length, thus suggesting that body growth trajectories are heavily determined early in life. Given size‐dependent sexual maturity and egg production in marble trout, the relationship between density early in life and lifetime individual growth may have strong implications in terms of population dynamics and regulation of population size.