Brown Trout Spawning Location and Relationship to Suitable Winter Habitat

Authors

Matthew L. Skoog

Document Type

Article

Abstract

Brown trout are a popular game fish throughout much of the world. Understanding habitat requirements is necessary for the successful management of brown trout. This study looks at the spawning habitat preferences and relationship of redd location to wintering habitat of brown trout in the Straight River, Minnesota. Brown trout in the Straight River were found to spawn in similar habitat to brown trout looked at in previous literature. All redds were located on gravel substrate. Seventy eight percent of redds were associated with some sort of cover. Water velocities at the redd sites. (mean=0.456 ms/cm), dissolved oxygen (mean=9.78 mg/L), and pH (range 4.54-6.01) were also examined. Evidence of a relationship between wintering habitat and spawning location was found. When the relationship between wintering habitat and mean winter HSI values for 100 m sections was examined, the relationship is insignificant at each minimum HSI value that was examined. When the relationship of distance to site specific wintering habitat was examined, the relationship was found to be significant for every minimum wintering HSI value that was examined (HSI=0.65 p=0.003)(HSI=0.55 p=0.0355)(HSI=0.50 p=0.0001).

Publication Date

2013

Comments

Faculty sponsor: Dr. Andrew Hafs, Department of Biology, Aquatic Biology Program, Dr. Richard Koch, Department of Biology

Recommended Citation

Skoog, Matthew L., "Brown Trout Spawning Location and Relationship to Suitable Winter Habitat" (2013). Journal of Earth and Life Science. 52.
https://pines.bemidjistate.edu/j-earth-life-sci/52