Redd-site selection by brook trout and brown trout in southwestern Ontario streams

Abstract Redd-substrate composition, water velocity, depth, and other environmental variables associated with redd-site selection and spawning by brook trout Salvelinus fontinalis and brown trout Salmo trutta in southwestern Ontario streams were examined. Sympatric and allopatric populations spawned in similar ranges of specific conductance (225–810 μmhos/cm), pH (7.0–8.2), dissolved oxygen (>83% saturation), and stream gradient (0.2–2.3%). Brook trout spawned exclusively in areas of groundwater seepage, typically near headwaters where streamflow did not exceed 177 litres/second. Brown trout spawned in a wider range of flows (21–600 liters/second), and utilized locations with and without groundwater seepage. Spawning by brook trout usually began by the second week of October, by brown trout a week later. Brook trout spawning periods lasted 3–5 weeks, those of brown trout, 2–4 weeks. In sympatric populations, an overlap in spawning time occurred for up to 3 weeks. Reuse of redds was mostly intraspecific, a...

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