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Brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) are a highly prized species found in lakes and streams throughout Ontario. A broadscale monitoring program (BsM) has been conducted in lakes throughout the province, in 5‐year cycles, which targets Salvelinus fontinalis populations. The objective of this study was to use the data gained from the BsM and establish a contemporary baseline on the variation of relative abundance and demographics of natural lake populations of S. fontinalis in Ontario. Additionally, given the variability in environmental conditions across the landscape, an objective was to assess the factors, abiotic and biotic, that influence relative abundance among waterbodies. Over the three BsM cycles (2008–2022), 273 S. fontinalis waterbodies were assessed, some multiple times, and 124 were unique populations. S. fontinalis were sampled in 112 of these unique lakes. In total, 7487 S. fontinalis were caught and 5372 were fully sampled (length, weight, and age assessed). The mean catch‐per‐unit‐effort (CPUE) in all waterbodies was 1.4 (0.12 standard error) S. fontinalis per net gang. There was not a significant trend in CPUE over the three BsM cycles nor did CPUE vary significantly among BsM cycles at the provincial scale, but CPUE varied significantly among fisheries management zones (FMZs). Multiple variables were examined to explain the variation in CPUE across the province; a negative association with species diversity was the only variable considered significant. Furthermore, S. fontinalis were more associated with the relative abundance of small cyprinids (i.e., chubs and shiners) and negatively associated with centrarchids, smelt, and other game species. Mean growth potential was greater for males than females but not significantly, whereas longevity favored females. Growth potential and parameters were similar between sexes within FMZs but varied among FMZs. Mean survival among these populations was 25.7%, ranging from 15.2% to 45.6%, with a mean instantaneous mortality of 1.41. This study provided a contemporary assessment of the current range and variability in relative abundance population dynamics of S. fontinalis in lakes within Ontario. This provides a benchmark to assess changes with the pending stressors of climate change and human expansion across the landscape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Critical thermal maximum (CTmax) is widely used to measure upper thermal tolerance in fish but is rarely examined in embryos. Upper thermal limits generally depend on an individual's thermal history, which molds plasticity. We examined how thermal acclimation affects thermal tolerance of brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) embryos using a novel method to assess CTmax in embryos incubated under three thermal regimes. Warm acclimation was associated with an increase in embryonic upper thermal tolerance. However, CTmax variability was markedly higher than is typical for juvenile or adult salmonids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Individual aggression and thermal refuge use were monitored in brook trout Salvelinus fontinalis in a controlled laboratory to determine how fish size and personality influence time spent in forage and thermal habitat patches during periods of thermal stress. On average, larger and more exploratory fish initiated more aggressive interactions and across all fish there was decreased aggression at warmer temperatures. Individual personality did not explain changes in aggression or habitat use with increased temperature; however, larger individuals initiated comparatively fewer aggressive interactions at warmer temperatures. Occupancy of forage patches generally declined as ambient stream temperatures approached critical maximum and fish increased thermal refuge use, with a steeper decline in forage patch occupancy observed in larger fish. These findings suggest that larger individuals may be more vulnerable to stream temperature rise. Importantly, even at thermally stressful temperatures, all fish periodically left the thermal refuge to forage. This indicates that the success of refugia at increasing population survival during periods of stream temperature rise may depend on the location of thermal refugia relative to forage locations within the larger habitat mosaic. These results provide insights into the potential for thermal refugia to improve population survival and can be used to inform predictions of population vulnerability to climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study demonstrated that the transition from a steady to an unsteady locomotory gait ( USTmax) in juvenile brook trout Salvelinus fontinalis can be measured easily using a new tilting raceway design and a simple experimental protocol. It was found that USTmax increased linearly with fork length ( LF), and that this relationship was statistically identical in fish that swam volitionally in the raceway and those that were forced to perform, although slightly different data processing methods were needed in the latter to achieve this result. Furthermore, the relationship between LF and USTmax was statistically identical to that between LF and critical swimming speed ( Ucrit), although LF in the former relationship explained 83% of the variance compared to 37% in the latter. This finding indicates that gait transition speed can be used to estimate maximum aerobic capacity, with less unexplainable variance than Ucrit. Gait transition speeds were also determined from Ucrit tests; however, this required measuring and incorporating ground speed into the analysis. USTmax as determined in the Ucrit tests was not significantly different from that measured in the raceway, suggesting that gait transition speed can be measured in raceways or swim tunnel respirometers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Early growth of wild, anadromous and non-anadromous (resident) brook charr Salvelinus fontinalis was compared under controlled laboratory conditions. Offspring were collected as they emerged from natural redds in the Miramichi River, New Brunswick, Canada. Anadromous offspring were initially longer and heavier than residents. Anadromous offspring had lower specific growth rates during their first 2 months post-emergence, but surpassed residents by the third month. Consequently, anadromous offspring remained larger at the end of 3 months and it is concluded that they had a predetermined, maternal and genetic advantage related to body size, rather than an environmentally determined advantage during their first summer of growth. Other studies hypothesize that juvenile development affects life-history strategy adopted as adults, which suggests anadromy in this population may be, at least in part, predetermined by maternal and genetic effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the field, juvenile brook charr Salvelinus fontinalis inhabiting high-velocity water were found to have larger caudal fins and more slender bodies than those inhabiting low-velocity water. Young-of-the-year S. fontinalis were reared in either a high- or low-velocity treatment for 16 weeks and their morphology was measured bi-weekly. From the second to fourth weeks of the experiment onwards, fish reared in the high-velocity treatment had larger maximum caudal fin heights and deeper caudal peduncles than fish reared in the low-velocity treatment. This study demonstrated that the morphological variation in caudal area exhibited by wild juvenile brook charr from microhabitats differing in water velocity could be a consequence of phenotypic plasticity in response to hydrological conditions. Copyright 2002 The Fisheries Society of the British Isles. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]