The comparative lake ecology of two allopatric Arctic Charr, Salvelinus alpinus, populations with differing life histories in Cumberland Sound, Nunavut

The lake ecology of high-latitude fishes is strongly influenced by seasonal feeding opportunities and environmental stochasticity in Arctic environments. Arctic Charr (Salvelinus alpinus (Linnaeus, 1758)) populations are prevalent throughout the Arctic and show multiple life history strategies acros...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Published in:Arctic Science
Main Authors: Angela L. Young, Ross F. Tallman
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
French
Published: Canadian Science Publishing 2021
Subjects:
geo
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2019-0037
https://doaj.org/article/e9297da54ea047d9b670358538bcfcee
Description
Summary:The lake ecology of high-latitude fishes is strongly influenced by seasonal feeding opportunities and environmental stochasticity in Arctic environments. Arctic Charr (Salvelinus alpinus (Linnaeus, 1758)) populations are prevalent throughout the Arctic and show multiple life history strategies across their range. Unlike Old World populations, the lake ecology of Arctic Charr populations on south Baffin Island remains poorly defined. We examined the comparative seasonal lake ecology of two differing Arctic Charr populations (anadromous and landlocked) in Cumberland Sound, Nunavut. Anadromous Charr showed no evidence of feeding occurring within freshwater once they began seaward migrations. Anadromous Charr achieve sexual maturation at a larger size and younger age than landlocked Charr. Landlocked Charr used more lake habitats than anadromous Charr with feeding opportunities as an apparent influence on habitat selection. Landlocked Charr fed year round. They adopted a cannibalistic feeding strategy in the winter but consumed a variety of prey items in the fall. Littoral habitat was found to be important to all sizes of Charr in both seasons. Smaller anadromous Charr (<350 mm) did not use the benthic habitat. The variable ecology and form demonstrated further emphasizes the phenotypic adaptability of Arctic Charr that allows its widespread distribution in the Arctic.