0000000000379897
AUTHOR
Aki Mäki-petäys
Synthesis of habitat restoration impacts on young-of-the-year salmonids in boreal rivers
River restoration offers the potential to enhance biological integrity, often measured as fish population changes. We used a meta-analytical approach to synthesize density responses to in-stream habitat restoration by young-of-the year (YOY) brown trout and Atlantic salmon in 28 rivers (overall 32 restoration projects) in Finland. We also examined which local and watershed-scale factors most influenced restoration success. Finally, we conducted an expert survey to obtain an independent estimate of a sufficient density enhancement for restoration to be considered successful. Despite strong context-dependency, habitat restoration had an overall positive effect on YOY salmonid density. When co…
Quantifying and addressing the prevalence and bias of study designs in the environmental and social sciences
Building trust in science and evidence-based decision-making depends heavily on the credibility of studies and their findings. Researchers employ many different study designs that vary in their risk of bias to evaluate the true effect of interventions or impacts. Here, we empirically quantify, on a large scale, the prevalence of different study designs and the magnitude of bias in their estimates. Randomised designs and controlled observational designs with pre-intervention sampling were used by just 23% of intervention studies in biodiversity conservation, and 36% of intervention studies in social science. We demonstrate, through pairwise within-study comparisons across 49 environmental da…
Diel feeding periodicity, daily ration and prey selectivity in juvenile brown trout in a subarctic river
Feeding of age-1 brown trout Salmo trutta in a third-order river in northern Finland was usually highest in the twilight hours and lowest around midday. Diel periodicity in food intake was less distinct and rarely significant for age-0 trout. Daily rations declined seasonally, being lowest in October, and highest in June (age-1 trout) or early August (age-0 trout). Prey selection did not differ between day and night, but differences between age classes and sampling dates were distinct. Age-0 trout preferred Ephemerella nymphs in summer and Micrasema larvae later in the season. Age-1 trout fed selectively on caddis larvae on all sample dates. Aerial insects and Baetis nymphs were avoided by …
Short sea migration and precocious maturation in reared Atlantic salmon post-smolts in the northern Baltic Sea
Abstract Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) display significant variation in life history traits, including migration patterns and age at maturity. Hatchery rearing has been shown to affect the life history, and rearing-induced changes may include unfavourable consequences, e.g. shortened sea migration period and smaller size at maturity. We report on a new phenomenon of life history of reared Atlantic salmon in the Baltic Sea area: small-sized salmon returning to freshwater only a few months after release as smolts. These “one-sea-summer (1SS)” salmon were ca. 35 cm in length and weighed ca. 400 g, being clearly larger than smolts, but substantially smaller than one-sea-winter (1SW) salmon f…
Intercohort competition causes spatial segregation in brown trout in artificial streams
When together in a flume, 13-cm LS (age-1) trout appeared to increase their activity and behaved more aggressively, whereas 10-cm LS (age-0) trout tended to move less and were rarely aggressive in the presence of the larger size class. Both size classes were less mobile and preferred lower water velocities in winter than in summer, and increased their use of instream cover in winter. When both size classes were present, only small trout decreased their use of low water velocities and cover. The results indicate that intercohort competition may cause spatial segregation among size groups of brown trout, especially in winter when trout attempt to minimize their maintenance costs.