Acronym NA
Category
Fisheries
Title Development of size variation in fish populations Programme National Programme
Instrument (FP6)
Contact Type (FP7)
Strand (Interreg)
NA
Theme (FP7)
Activity Area (FP6)
Regional Area (Interreg)
Action (COST)
NA
Specific Programme (FP7)
NA
Funding source National Coordinator Lennart Persson Coordinator email lennart.persson@emg.umu.se
Coordinator institution
UMU - UMEA University (Sweden)
Institutions involved
NA
Start year 2005 End year 2008 Funding (€) € 17,780 Website NA Summary The size distribution of a cohort at the end of the growing season will affect the survival through the winter season because of size-dependent capacity to withstand starvation. An understanding of the development of size variation is therefore fundamental to be able to predict recruitment variation in exploited populations like fish populations. Present knowledge has advanced positive size-dependent performance and positive growth autocorrelation as factors that may generate increased size variation within cohorts. The suggested mechanisms underlying size-dependent performance and growth autocorrelation are, however, quite diverse and generally only partly supported by empirical data. We aim to investigate possible mechanisms giving rise to size variation within cohorts during the first year from eggs through early ontogenetic niche shifts using a combination of field studies, experiments and modelling. The experiments include studies of the origin of initial size variation and the effects of ontogenetic niche shifts and predation on size variation. Modelling studies using a modelling approach specifically designed to handle size-based dynamics will theoretically investigate the effects of the mechanisms studied in the experiments separately and in combination. Field studies will be carried out to yield data on individual growth and cohort size formation in relation to hatching date, resource use, habitat use and resource levels.
Keywords
Growth rate;
Fish biology;
Population structure;
Marine Region
76
Not associated to marine areas
0
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