Density-dependent compensatory growth in brown trout (Salmo trutta) in nature.

ABSTRACT: Density-dependence is a major ecological mechanism that is known to limit individual growth. To examine if compensatory growth (unusually rapid growth following a period of imposed slow growth) in nature is density-dependent, one-year-old brown trout (Salmo trutta L.) were first starved in the laboratory, and then released back into their natural stream, either at natural or at experimentally increased population density. The experimental trout were captured three times over a one-year period. We found no differences in growth, within the first month after release (May-June), between the starved fish and the control group (i.e. no evidence of compensation). During the summer however (July-September), the starved fish grew more than the control group (i.e. compensation), and the starved fis

SUBMITTER: Sundstrom LF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3643939 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature