Density-independent and -dependent habitat selection of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) based on geostatistical aggregation curves in the northern Gulf of St Lawrence

Abstract

Abstract Tamdrari, H., Castonguay, M., Brêthes, J-C., and Duplisea, D. 2010. Density-independent and -dependent habitat selection of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) based on geostatistical aggregation curves in the northern Gulf of St Lawrence. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 67: 1676–1686. Relationships were sought between local density and population abundance of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) in the northern Gulf of St Lawrence (Canada) over its entire area (4RS) and also within a subarea (4R) where the stock has concentrated since it collapsed during the early 1990s. Relationships were analysed using geostatistical aggregation curves computed within the two areas between years of contrasting abundance levels. The curves were interpreted in terms of four conceptual models of spatial dynamics: models D1 and D2, forced mainly by environmental heterogeneity, and models D3 and D4, in which individual behaviour is influenced by local density. Over the entire area, the cod population follows the D2 model for all years and age groups, and it is influenced by abiotic factors. Within the subarea, all four models applied, and the density-dependent basin model (D4) dominated from 2006 to 2008. The year 2006 seems to be pivotal because it coincides with the expansion of the cod population into its former area in the western Gulf (4S).