Abstract
The movement of individuals within preferred areas is reduced by a high availability of food and information about its distribution, while high number of competitors promotes increased movement. Experienced animals use information about social and physical environment to improve resources exploitation, tended to maintain positions within the preferred areas and reuse the environment that is often referred to as site fidelity. In this study, radio‐telemetry was used to observe the movements of 98 adult brown trout, Salmo trutta, in oligotrophic streams with different population densities; to determine subpopulation site fidelity, 5,195 conspecifics from 14 subpopulations were individually tagged during spring and autumn. During a 7‐year‐long field study, we tested the hypothesis that brown trout individuals from subpopulations with high site fidelity would display lower movement. The hypothesis was supported, and reduced movement was further related to high subpopulation density in association with high slope indicating the physical environment‐influenced movement. The probability of contact between individuals increased with subpopulation site fidelity and subpopulation density. No influence of food abundance on brown trout movement was found. Furthermore, increased body size predicted higher movement (and vice versa). The least movement occurred during the day and during the full moons. Our study tended to show that individuals reused preferred areas and needed less movement to exploit available resources.
Highlights
In response to the presence of conspecifics and the spatial distribution of resources, animals tend to avoid areas with a high number of competitors (Kuefler, Avgar, & Fryxell, 2013; Leibold, 1995) and spend more time in patches with high-quality forage (Benhamou, 2007; Fretwell & Lucas, 1970) with the aim of increasing energy intake
These trends appeared to impact the behavior of animals in the preferred areas, where their movement is reduced by the high availability of food and information about its dispersal, while, in contrast, the high number of competitors promotes increased movement
Based on the assumption that preferred areas are associated with high food availability and population density, we tested the hypothesis that brown trout, S. trutta, individuals would move less in areas with high subpopulation site fidelity
Summary
In response to the presence of conspecifics and the spatial distribution of resources, animals tend to avoid areas with a high number of competitors (Kuefler, Avgar, & Fryxell, 2013; Leibold, 1995) and spend more time in patches with high-quality forage (Benhamou, 2007; Fretwell & Lucas, 1970) with the aim of increasing energy intake. Based on the assumption that preferred areas are associated with high food availability and population density, we tested the hypothesis that brown trout, S. trutta, individuals would move less in areas with high subpopulation site fidelity. To test this hypothesis, we observed the diel movements of brown trout in variably abundant subpopulations in the Šumava Mountains (Czech Republic, Central Europe) by radio-telemetry and determined the spatial distribution of the observed individuals. Data about brown trout movement in subpopulations with variable density and site fidelity were obtained and further related to food abundancy and physical parameters of environment
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