Are wild populations ideally distributed? Variations in density-dependent habitat use by age class in juvenile Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar)

• Published in: Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
• Main Authors: Gibson, A. Jamie F., Bowlby, Heather D., Amiro, Peter G.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Canadian Science Publishing 2008
• Subjects: Aquatic Science; Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics; Atlantic salmon; Salmo salar
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/f08-087; http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/full-xml/10.1139/F08-087; http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/F08-087

We examined relationships between abundance and habitat use in three age classes of juvenile Atlantic salmon ( Salmo salar ) in the Stewiacke River, Nova Scotia, Canada. Using stream gradient as a proxy for habitat quality, we used a double half normal function, modified to include density dependence, to model the relationship between habitat quality and fish density. We found that density was asymmetrically distributed around a similar optimum gradient for all three age classes regardless of abundance. Habitat use was highly density-dependent for age-0 and age-1 juveniles, but not for age-2+ salmon. As abundance of age-0 and age-1 salmon increased, their relative density decreased in low-gradient habitat and increased in higher-gradient habitat, although their absolute density increased in all stream gradient categories. Variation in habitat use was consistent with ideal free theory for age-1 juveniles in high-gradient habitat, but not in low-gradient habitat. Age-2+ individuals appeared not to modify their distribution among habitats, even though increasing competition changes the relative benefit of low-gradient habitat in terms of resource acquisition. In contrast, age-1 individuals responded to increased competition by modifying their distribution along the habitat gradient, even though this may have slightly reduced an individual’s potential for growth.