Spawning Habitat And Reproductive Strategies Of Lake Trout Salvelinus Namaycush In A Northern Boreal Lake PDF Download

The reproductive success of brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) populations, like those of other salmonid species, is dependent on the availability and quality of spawning/incubation habitats. For brook trout in particular substrate composition and groundwater-hyporheic flow characteristics are key abiotic factors influencing both the suitability of lotic spawning habitats and the survival of embryos nested within these habitats. Egg-to-emergence survival has been shown to be negatively related to substrate fine sediment concentrations and positively related to interstitial flow velocity. Both substrate composition (through filtering effects) and interstitial flow are also thought to influence the susceptibility of egg pockets to fine sediment infiltration. The objectives of this doctoral study are to clarify the roles of groundwater and hyporheic flow in brook trout redd site selection; as well as the effect of substrate composition and interstitial flow on...