Modes of competition: adding and removing brown trout in the wild to understand the mechanisms of density-dependence.

ABSTRACT: While the prevalence of density-dependence is well-established in population ecology, few field studies have investigated its underlying mechanisms and their relative population-level importance. Here, we address these issues, and more specifically, how differences in body-size influence population regulation. For this purpose, two experiments were performed in a small coastal stream on the Swedish west coast, using juvenile brown trout (Salmo trutta) as a study species. We manipulated densities of large and small individuals, and observed effects on survival, migration, condition and individual growth rate in a target group of intermediate-sized individuals. The generality of the response was investigated by reducing population densities below and increasing above the natural levels (remo

SUBMITTER: Kaspersson R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3642212 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature