Skip to main content
SLU publication database (SLUpub) (stage, solr2:8983)

Research article2007Peer reviewed

The influence of spawning habitat restoration on juvenile brown trout (Salmo trutta) density

Palm, D; Brannas, E; Lepori, F; Nilsson, K; Stridsman, S

Abstract

Between 1992 and 2003, we assessed the density of age-0+ brown trout (Salmo trutta) in a channelized stream in northern Sweden, which was restored using two different schemes. One section of the stream was restored by the addition of boulders and reconstruction of gravel beds (boulder + gravel section), whereas another section was restored through addition of boulders only (boulder-only section). In addition, we compared the substrate size composition of gravel beds and the egg-to-fry survival between the two stream sections, and we related the density of age-0+ brown trout to the area of reconstructed gravel beds. After the restoration, the density of age-0+ brown trout increased significantly in the boulder + gravel section and was positively correlated with the area of reconstructed gravel beds. By contrast, the density of age-0+ brown trout did not change in the boulder-only treatment. Egg-to-fry survival was significantly higher in the boulder + gravel section compared with the boulder-only section, probably because of the higher content of sand and fines in the gravel beds of the latter treatment. This study shows that the density of age-0+ brown trout was limited by the availability and quality of spawning substrate rather than by the structural habitat complexity

Published in

Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
2007, volume: 64, number: 3, pages: 509-515
Publisher: NATL RESEARCH COUNCIL CANADA-N R C RESEARCH PRESS

SLU Authors

UKÄ Subject classification

Fish and Aquacultural Science
Environmental Sciences and Nature Conservation

Publication identifier

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1139/F07-027

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/16300