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The potential influence of Atlantic salmon Salmo salar and brown trout Salmo trutta on density and breeding of the white-throated dipper Cinclus cinclus.

ABSTRACT: Interactions between birds and fish are often overlooked in aquatic ecosystems. We studied the influence of Atlantic salmon and brown trout on the breeding population size and reproductive output of the white-throated dipper in a Norwegian river. Acidic precipitation led to the extinction of salmon, but salmon recolonized after liming was initiated in 1991. We compared the dipper population size and reproductive output before (1978-1992) and after (1993-2014) salmon recolonization. Despite a rapid and substantial increase in juvenile salmon, the breeding dipper population size and reproductive output were not influenced by juvenile salmon, trout, or total salmonid density. This might be due to different feeding strategies in salmonids and dippers, where salmonids are mainly feeding on drift, while the dipper is a benthic feeder. The correlation between the size of the dipper population upstream and downstream of a salmonid migratory barrier was similar before and after recolonization, indicating that the downstream territories were not less attractive after the recolonization of salmon. Upstream dipper breeding success rates declined before the recolonization event and increased after, indicating improved water quality due to liming, and increasing invertebrate prey abundances and biodiversity. Surprisingly, upstream the migratory barrier, juvenile trout had a weak positive effect on the dipper population size, indicating that dippers may prey upon small trout. It is possible that wider downstream reaches might have higher abundances of alternative food, rending juvenile trout unimportant as prey. Abiotic factors such as winter temperatures and acidic precipitation with subsequent liming, potentially mediated by prey abundance, seem to play the most important role in the life history of the dipper.

SUBMITTER: Nilsson ALK

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5916291 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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The potential influence of Atlantic salmon Salmo salar and brown trout Salmo trutta on density and breeding of the white-throated dipper Cinclus cinclus.

Nilsson Anna L K ALK L'Abée-Lund Jan Henning JH Vøllestad L Asbjørn LA Jerstad Kurt K Larsen Bjørn Mejdell BM Røstad Ole Wiggo OW Saltveit Svein Jakob SJ Skaugen Thomas T Stenseth Nils C NC Walseng Bjørn B

Ecology and evolution 20180326 8

Interactions between birds and fish are often overlooked in aquatic ecosystems. We studied the influence of Atlantic salmon and brown trout on the breeding population size and reproductive output of the white-throated dipper in a Norwegian river. Acidic precipitation led to the extinction of salmon, but salmon recolonized after liming was initiated in 1991. We compared the dipper population size and reproductive output before (1978-1992) and after (1993-2014) salmon recolonization. Despite a rap ...[more]

PMID: 29721280

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Project description:BackgroundAquaculture is a globally important and rapidly growing industry. It contributes positively to the economy and sustainability of coastal communities, but it is not without regulatory challenges. These challenges are diverse, and may include identification of fish discarded in an illegal manner, biological discharge from fish ensilage tanks, and partially destroyed or processed tissues. Robust genetic tools are required by management authorities to address these challenges. In this paper, we describe nine species-specific primer sets amplifying very short DNA fragments within the mitochondrial DNA cytochrome c oxidase (COI) gene, which were designed to permit diagnostic identification of degraded DNA from two of the most commonly farmed salmonids in Europe and North America.ResultsOf the nine designed primer sets, six were found to be species-specific (four Atlantic salmon, two rainbow trout), whereas the remaining three sets (two Atlantic salmon, one rainbow trout) also amplified a product from other, closely related, salmonid DNA templates. Screening of DNA templates from 11 other non-salmonid native fish species did not produce PCR products with any of the primer sets. Specific tests confirmed the ability of these markers to identify Atlantic salmon and rainbow trout tissues in treated food products, chemically treated ensilage waste and fillets left to degrade in saltwater for up to 31 days at 15°C. Importantly, these markers provided diagnostic identification in cases where other genetic methods failed because of degraded DNA quality.ConclusionsResults from this study demonstrate that amplification of very short DNA fragments using species-specific primers represents a robust and versatile method to create cheap and efficient genetic tests that can be implemented in a range of forensic applications. These markers will provide fishery, aquaculture and food regulatory authorities with a method to investigate and enforce regulations within these industries.

Dataset Information

The potential influence of Atlantic salmon Salmo salar and brown trout Salmo trutta on density and breeding of the white-throated dipper Cinclus cinclus.

Publications

The potential influence of Atlantic salmon <i>Salmo salar</i> and brown trout <i>Salmo trutta</i> on density and breeding of the white-throated dipper <i>Cinclus cinclus</i>.

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