Domesticated (farm) salmonid fishes display an increased willingness to accept risk while foraging, and achieve high growth rates not observed in nature. Theory predicts that elevated growth rates in domestic salmonids will result in greater risk-taking to access abundant food, but low survival in the presence of predators. In replicated whole-lake experiments, we observed that domestic trout (selected for high growth rates) took greater risks while foraging and grew faster than a wild strain. However, survival consequences for greater growth rates depended upon the predation environment. Domestic trout experienced greater survival when risk was low, but lower survival when risk was high. This suggests that animals with high intrinsic growth rates are selected against in populations with abundant predators, explaining the absence of such phenotypes in nature. This is, to our knowledge, the first large-scale field experiment to directly test this theory and simultaneously quantify the initial invasibility of domestic salmonid strains that escape into the wild from aquaculture operations, and the ecological conditions affecting their survival.
Recreational angling opportunities in lakes are distributed across landscapes and attract anglers based on the combination of angling quality, travel distance, and availability of facilities. The relationship between angler density and fishing quality, as measured by catch rate, represents a numerical response that is analogous to a predator numerical response to variability in prey abundance. We quantified this numerical response of anglers to rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss, populations distributed over a large lake district in south-central British Columbia, Canada. We developed a harvest dynamics model by linking this empirical description of the spatial numerical response of anglers to a logistic population growth rate model. The model was parameterized for rainbow trout and simulated spatial patterns of angler density and catch rates over a landscape. At locations distant from urban centers, angler density is low and catch rate high, suggesting near pristine conditions; at intermediate distances angler density is higher while catch rates are lower and approximate maximum sustainable levels; and at short distances angler density is sufficiently high to harvest to local extirpation. We extrapolated the model to other lake districts varying in human population size using an empirically derived angling participation rate relationship. Extrapolation to lake districts with one-tenth the human population maintained viable fisheries close to the urban area, and districts with 10 times the human populations could not maintain viable fisheries across much of their lake district. Landscape-scale spatial patterns differed quantitatively for species varying in rates of intrinsic population growth and carrying capacity, but the qualitative spatial patterns were consistent among species, demonstrating the pervasive impacts of the angler numerical response. To achieve a management goal of sustaining fisheries across landscapes, a change in management perspective is necessary, from that of individual lakes to one of dynamic harvest processes across landscapes. This new approach makes it clear that a one-size-fits-all management approach must be replaced with a mosaic of approaches cognizant of landscape-scale processes.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org. This content downloaded from 128.235.251.160 on Sun, Abstract. The goal of this study is to identify the mechanisms and measure the strengths of interactions within and among size classes in experimental populations of rainbow trout, Onchoranchus mivkiss. The metric that we used to assess the density-dependent effects was based on consumptive allometry and predator-prey theory. We demonstrate that the interactions among size classes were asymmetrical, favoring larger-bodied individuals. Descriptions of diet and spatial resource use, measures of prey availability, and risk to intra-specific interactions allowed assessment of the relative contributions of exploitative and interference competitive interactions among size classes.Growth of the larger classes was strongly density-dependent and driven primarily by exploitative competition. Growth of the smallest size class was controlled by a combination of exploitative competition within and among size classes and interference competition with larger-bodied conspecifics. This combination of interactions among size classes within populations resulted in a body-size-based asymmetry favoring the larger size classes. Survival of all size classes was positively related to both body size and growth rate. We speculate that the net result of these processes within size-structured populations is compensatory, leading to stable population dynamics. Key w'ordcls: (ci/aiibalisni,; completitive initercictions; Lon1sumllptive alloinetrv; (lenisitV-(lepenld(lence; lCdilsit'-(le/peliClenlt groYwthl (i/1C! sulirvivil; exploitaltive co)p/)etitiOll, relative co0/1tribiitioi Of io'-iteractioni streiigtlhs; iiiterfe'eice CoI1letitiOll, relative contribiitiOii Of; OncorhynchuLs mykiss, rainbowl trout; whlole-lalke experiments.
In this study we identify the size-dependent risk of winter starvation mortality as a strong selective pressure on age-0 rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) that could promote the risk-taking behaviour and allocation of energy to lipids previously observed in young trout cohorts. Age-0 trout subjected to simulated winter starvation conditions gradually depleted lipid reserves to a critical minimum lipid content below which death occurred. Small fish with lower lipid content exhausted lipid reserves earlier, and experienced high mortality rates sooner, than larger fish with greater lipid content. Consequently, winter starvation endurance was dependent upon size-dependent lipid reserves and winter duration. To validate the laboratory findings in the field, we stocked several size classes of hatchery-raised trout with known lipid content at the start of winter into two experimental lakes, and estimated survival and lipid depletion at winter's end. Larger age-0 trout had greater initial lipid reserves than smaller trout. Individuals depleted most of their lipid reserves over the winter, and experienced mortality that ranged from just under 60% for the largest individuals to just over 90% of the smallest individuals. Many survivors had lipid contents near, but none were below, the minimum lipid content determined in the laboratory.
We observed substantial variation in seasonal growth rates, autumn body size, and growing-season mortality among eight experimental cohorts of age-0 rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss. Wet mass, water, lipids (storage), and lipid-free dry mass (structure) had biphasic allometries with inflexions at ϳ10 cm in length. Dry:wet mass and storage:structure ratios were positively related to fish length, indicating that the relative quantities of these constituents change with body size. Lipid concentration varied according to a sigmoid relationship with wet mass which also had a growth-rate dependence. Independent assessments of the allometry of growing-season survival and winter metabolism facilitated assessment of the costs and benefits of two alternate energy allocation strategies of young fish. For cohorts with low growth rates and small autumn body size, a somatic growth rate maximization strategy is optimum, producing a 5% net survival advantage over an energy storage maximization strategy. For cohorts with intermediate growth rates and autumn mass, somatic growth and energy storage strategies lead to similar first-year survival. The fastest growing cohorts are estimated to have a net survival advantage of 7%, by adopting an energy storage maximization strategy over a growth rate maximization strategy.
Summary1. The importance of body size and growth rate in ecological interactions is widely recognized, and both are frequently used as surrogates for fitness. However, if there are significant costs associated with rapid growth rates then its fitness benefits may be questioned. 2. In replicated whole-lake experiments, we show that a domestic strain of rainbow trout (artificially selected for maximum intrinsic growth rate) use productive but risky habitats more than wild trout. Consequently, domestic trout grow faster in all situations, experience greater survival in the absence of predators, but have lower survival in the presence of predators. Therefore, rapid growth rates are selected against due to increased foraging effort (or conversely, lower antipredator behaviour) that increases vulnerability to predators. In other words, there is a behaviourally mediated trade-off between growth and mortality rates. 3. Whereas rapid growth is beneficial in many ecological interactions, our results show the mortality costs of achieving it are large in the presence of predators, which can help explain the absence of an average phenotype with maximized growth rates in nature.
Recent research suggests that the behavior of individuals under risk of predation could be a key link between individual behavior and population and community dynamics. Yet existing theory remains largely untested at large spatial and temporal scales. We manipulated food available to age‐0 rainbow trout while at risk of cannibalism, in a replicated factorial whole‐lake experiment, to test whether the trade‐off between growth and mortality rates is mediated by foraging activity by young fish under predation risk. We found that this trade‐off exists for young fish at the whole‐system scale, and that food‐dependent behavioral variation has large mortality consequences. In high‐food lakes, age‐0 trout spent less time moving, fewer individuals swam continuously, and those swimming continuously swam at slower speeds relative to those in low‐food lakes. Age‐0 trout also used deep, risky habitats less when food was abundant. This lower activity, combined with avoidance of risky habitats, coincided with 68% higher survival in high‐food lakes. If general, this trade‐off may be a key mechanism linking individual behavior to population‐level processes in size‐structured populations.
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