Forest-stream linkages Experimental studies of foraging and growth of brown trout (Salmo trutta L)

Sammanfattning: Riparian vegetation along streams and rivers affects the aquatic community in numerous ways and often operates as a link for energy flux between forest and streams. The studies presented in this licentiate thesis focus on light and terrestrial invertebrates, two factors influenced by riparian zone structure, which potentially affect stream ecosystems and thus also brown trout (Salmo trutta). Paper I is a laboratory experiment where I study size dependent foraging behavior on surface-drifting terrestrial invertebrates and benthic invertebrates by brown trout. The results show a size-dependent difference in foraging ability with large trout being better able to use terrestrial surface prey than small trout. I argue that such ontogenetic foraging differences are due to both morphological constraints (eg. gape limitation) and size dependent behavioral differences related to predation risk. Paper II consists of a 5 month-long 2x2 factorial design field experiment where my objective was to examine the effects of terrestrial invertebrate input and solar radiation (PAR) on different trophic levels in a boreal headwater stream. More specifically, I followed the effects of increased light and decreased terrestrial invertebrate subsidies on periphyton, benthic macroinvertebrates and two size classes of the top fish predator, brown trout. The results showed that the reduction of terrestrial invertebrate input had size- and seasonal-dependent effects on trout, where large trout had lower growth rates than small trout, mainly in summer. Diet analyses of trout supported growth differences in that large trout in unmanipulated enclosures consumed relatively more terrestrial prey than large trout living in enclosures with reduced terrestrial inputs. A higher reliance on terrestrial prey subsidies by large trout compared to small may be explained by ontogenetic differences in foraging and habitat choice. Despite a 2.5-fold increase in PAR, light did not have an effect on chlorophyll a biomass, nor was there an effect on the density or composition of benthic macroinvertebrates. The lack of effects on primary production may be explained by very low nutrient levels in the stream.