Beaver activity increases habitat complexity and spatial partitioning by steelhead trout

Abstract

Freshwater habitat restoration is a major conservation objective, motivating efforts to restore habitat complexity and quality for fishes. Restoration based on the engineering activities of beavers (Castor canadensis) increases fish habitat complexity, but how this affects fish habitat use and movement behaviours is not well known. We used a network of passive integrated transponder antennas to quantify small-scale movement and microhabitat use of 175 individual juvenile steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) in a stream channel with a complex bathymetric profile resulting from a beaver impoundment and in a simplified channel devoid of beaver activity. Our results show that juvenile steelhead exploit microhabitat heterogeneity by employing a range of behaviours that maximizes available habitat via spatial and temporal partitioning among individuals. These results suggest spatial resource partitioning as a potential mechanism for the previously established positive correlations among steelhead density, survival, and production with beaver-based restoration within the study watershed. More broadly, our findings provide insight as to how populations can exploit habitat complexity through spatial partitioning that can be informative for planning restoration and management actions.