Kd. Clarke et Da. Scruton, Brook trout production dynamics in the streams of a low fertility Newfoundland watershed, T AM FISH S, 128(6), 1999, pp. 1222-1229
Production of brook trout Salvelinus fontinalis ranged from 99 to 651 g . 1
00 m(-2) . year(-1) among headwater streams of the Copper Lake watershed in
insular Newfoundland. Ratios of annual production to mean annual biomass (
P/(B) over bar) ranged from 0.9 to 1.5 among the same streams. Empirical mo
dels developed from stream salmonid populations in the United States succes
sfully predicted modal production based on water alkalinity and P/(B) over
bar ratios based on age-class structure of the populations. Differences in
production among streams were consistent with previous work in low-fertilit
y headwater systems, which suggests habitat attributes of the stream define
salmonid production within the range dictated by the water fertility. The
most important of these attributes in this study was food abundance. Substr
ate composition and habitat complexity may have played secondary roles in d
etermining production in the most productive stream.