Home range size decreases with increasing site fidelity in high-density subpopulations of brown trout

Abstract

The home range (HR) of wild animals increases with individual body size and is smaller in high density populations in productive areas. If sufficient resources are available, animals often display sedentary behavior. The return and reuse of an environment by individuals is frequently termed “site fidelity”. Smaller HR size and high site fidelity have been reported especially in mammals. In the present study, we explored this relationship in adults of subpopulations of the brown trout Salmo trutta, which typically exhibits HRs. The HR size of conspecifics from subpopulations characterized by density and subpopulation site fidelity was determined by radio-telemetry during a 7-year study. We found smaller HR sizes in subpopulations with higher site fidelity. Moreover, HR size was found to increase with body mass and decrease with subpopulation density across seasons. The results showed that the HR size of wild brown trout varies with subpopulation density and site fidelity.

KEY WORDS:

• freshwater fish
• sedentary behavior
• radio-telemetry
• body mass

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors wish to thank two anonymous referees for their valuable comments and A. Slavikova for providing assistance with earlier versions of the manuscript.

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ETHICAL APPROVAL

All applicable institutional and/or national guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed. The permit was granted to O. Slavík according to Law no. 246/1992, § 17, art. 1; permit no. CZ00167.

AUTHOR CONTRIBUTION

O. Slavík participated in conceiving, designing, and performing the experiments and wrote and reviewed drafts of the manuscript. P. Horký participated in conceiving, designing, and performing the experiments, analysed the data, prepared the figures and tables, contributed materials and analytical tools, and reviewed drafts of the manuscript.

SUPPLEMENTAL DATA

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed at https://doi.org/10.1080/03949370.2019.1624277

Additional information

Funding

The study was financially supported by the European Regional Development Fund-Project “Centre for the investigation of synthesis and transformation of nutritional substances in the food chain in interaction with potentially harmful substances of anthropogenic origin: comprehensive assessment of soil contamination risks for the quality of agricultural products” (No. CZ.02.1.01/0.0/0.0/16_019/0000845).