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Prediction of Rainbow Trout Embryo Survival in Relation to Groundwater Seepage and Particle Size of Spawning Substrates
Author(s) -
Sowden Terry K.,
Power G.
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
transactions of the american fisheries society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.696
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1548-8659
pISSN - 0002-8487
DOI - 10.1577/1548-8659(1985)114<804:portes>2.0.co;2
Subject(s) - rainbow trout , substrate (aquarium) , salmo , streams , groundwater , zoology , particle size , trout , composition (language) , biology , environmental science , ecology , fishery , hydrology (agriculture) , fish <actinopterygii> , geology , geotechnical engineering , computer network , paleontology , linguistics , philosophy , computer science
Several measures of the size composition of spawning substrates were used to describe the survival of preemergent embryos of rainbow trout Salmo gairdneri in a groundwater‐fed streambed. Survival was not significantly related (P > 0.05) to the percentage of sediments smaller than 2.0 mm in diameter, the geometric‐mean particle size, or fredle indices of substrate quality. However, survival strongly depended on the mean dissolved oxygen content and velocity of groundwater in redds. Dissolved oxygen concentrations were not related (P > 0.05) to measures of substrate size composition, and these variables accounted for only a limited proportion of the variance among redds in seepage velocities. These factors account for the lack of any significant association between survival and substrate size composition. The findings of this study imply that embryo survival models based on substrate size composition may not be entirely suitable for assessing the quality of spawning beds in groundwater‐fed streams.