Record Details
Feeding behavior and diet of native bull trout Salvelinus confluentus and introduced brook trout S. fontinalis in two Eastern Oregon streams
ScholarsArchive at Oregon State University
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Title | Feeding behavior and diet of native bull trout Salvelinus confluentus and introduced brook trout S. fontinalis in two Eastern Oregon streams |
| Names |
Gunckel, Stephanie L.
(creator) Li, Judith L. (advisor) |
| Date Issued | 2000-10-31 (iso8601) |
| Note | Graduation date: 2001 |
| Abstract | One of the greatest threats to native bull trout Salvelinus confluentus populations is the presence of non-native brook trout S. fontinalis. This study, conducted in two second-order Eastern Oregon streams, investigates the effect of brook trout on the feeding behavior arid diet of bull trout. Feeding behavior, microhabitat use, and agonistic interactions were examined in a controlled in-stream experiment where twenty enclosures were randomly assigned one of three treatments: two bull trout, four bull trout, or a mix of two bull trout and two brook trout. Results provide little evidence of a niche shift for bull trout in the presence of brook trout or of resource partitioning between sympatric bull trout and brook trout. All fish held focal feeding points in similar microhabitats and fed primarily from the water column. Brook trout showed the greatest growth, were highly aggressive, and consistently dominated bull trout of equal size. Examination of stomach contents revealed allopatric bull trout, sympatric bull and brook trout fed primarily on larvae of Ephemeroptera, Trichoptera, and aquatic Diptera and terrestrial insects. Sympatric bull trout and brook trout had a high degree of dietary overlap. All fish exhibited size selective predation, and piscivory was rare. Similar habitat use, feeding behavior and diet of bull trout and brook trout, and aggressive interactions between these species suggest that, when habitat and prey resources are scarce, direct interference competition is likely, and the dominant behavior of brook trout may potentially displace bull trout. |
| Genre | Thesis/Dissertation |
| Topic | Bull trout -- Food -- Oregon |
| Identifier | http://hdl.handle.net/1957/20235 |
