The following schedule is from the 72nd Annual Conference of the Southeastern Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies which was held October 21-24, 2018 in Mobile, Alabama.
AUTHORS: Todd D. Ewing, James C. Borawa, Jacob C. Rash – North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission; Robert P. Creed, Jr., Appalachian State University
ABSTRACT: Stream-dwelling salmonid populations may be affected by both density-dependent and density-independent processes. However, the relative importance of density-independent processes on salmonid populations may vary both spatially and temporally. We quantified population fluctuations over a 10-year period in two unexploited rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) populations in western North Carolina and attempted to elucidate the factors that drive these population fluctuations. Rainbow trout populations in Beetree Creek and North Fork Swannanoa River both exhibited high degrees of temporal variability in density. Densities of rainbow trout in both streams exhibited strong, negative correlations with the maximum instantaneous flow occurring during the incubation and emergence periods. There was strong synchrony in fluctuations of both populations which suggests that the high discharge events may have had similar impacts on multiple trout populations within this ecoregion. These results suggest that fluctuations in rainbow trout density in these two streams were determined primarily by density-independent factors.
