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Marine and Freshwater Research Marine and Freshwater Research Society
Advances in the aquatic sciences
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Estimating the contribution of sympatric anadromous and freshwater resident brown trout to juvenile production

K. Charles A , J.-M. Roussel A C and R. A. Cunjak B
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, Laboratoire d’Ecologie Aquatique, UMR 985, 65 rue de St Brieuc, 35042 Rennes, France.

B Canadian Rivers Institute, University of New Brunswick, PO Box 4400, Loring Bailey Hall, Fredericton, NB E3B 5A3, Canada.

C Corresponding author. Email: roussel@roazhon.inra.fr

Marine and Freshwater Research 55(2) 185-191 https://doi.org/10.1071/MF03173
Submitted: 20 October 2003  Accepted: 19 February 2004   Published: 31 March 2004

Abstract

Carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analysis was used to study the reproductive contributions of anadromous and freshwater resident female brown trout (Salmo trutta L.) in La Roche Brook (Normandy, France), where both forms live in sympatry. Sixty-nine emerging fry were sampled by electrofishing in three different locations in the lower, middle and upper reaches of the stream, in March–April 2002. A collection of samples with known origin (brown trout eggs and fin tissues and benthic invertebrates) allowed classification of each emerging fry as the progeny of freshwater resident (δ13C = –26.0‰ ± 0.8 s.d.; δ15N = 12.5‰ ± 1.4 s.d.) or anadromous (δ13C = –18.8‰ ± 0.6 s.d., δ15N = 14.8‰ ± 0.9 s.d.) female brown trout. It was then possible to estimate the relative contribution (33%) of anadromous females to the population of fry that emerged from redds in 2002 and to evaluate the extent to which freshwater and anadromous spawning grounds overlapped in the stream.

Extra keywords: spawning migration, stable isotope ratios, 13C : 12C, 15N : 14N.


Acknowledgments

Financial support was provided by Le Conseil Régional de Basse-Normandie to K. Charles (doctoral fellowship). J-L. Baglinière made helpful suggestions during this work and comments by T. Jardine and anonymous reviewers enhanced the final draft. We are especially grateful to S. Azam for collecting the available scientific papers within this research area, and to R. Delanoë, D. Huteau, F. Marchand, M. Roucaute, A. McGeachy and J. Tremblay for laboratory and field assistance.


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