1. Influence of Habitat Manipulations on Interactions Between Cutthroat Trout and Invertebrate Drift
- Author
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Margaret A. Wilzbach, James D. Hall, and Kenneth W. Cummins
- Subjects
geography ,geography.geographical_feature_category ,biology ,Ecology ,Foraging ,biology.organism_classification ,Substrate (marine biology) ,Predation ,Trout ,Habitat ,Shading ,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics ,Invertebrate ,Riparian zone - Abstract
The objectives of this study were to examine the interactions of the riparian setting (logged vs. forested) and prey availability on the prey capture efficiency and growth of cutthroat trout, and to determine if the riparian setting influences the impact of trout predation on drift composition. Short-term relative growth rates of cutthroat trout, experimentally confined in stream pools, were greater in a logged than in a forested section of stream. Differences in growth rates were attributed to differences among pools in invertebrate drift density, and to differences in trout foraging efficiency that were related to differences between the sections in the amount of overhead shading and substrate crevices. Mean percentages of introduced prey captured by trout were greater in logged control pools and pools of both sections whose bottoms were covered with fiberglass screening to eliminate substrate crevices than in forested control pools and logged pools that were artificially shaded. A logarithmic relationship was found between trout foraging efficiency and surface light of pools. Drift density significantly increased relative to controls in pools from which trout were removed in the logged reach, but not in the forested section. This may result from .habitat features in the logged section that favor greater trout foraging success and the occurrence of behaviorally drifting prey taxa, which represent a predictable food supply for the trout.
- Published
- 1986
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