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Movement ecology of bull trout and lake trout reveals divergent depth use in Williston Lake, British Columbia
Get PDFIn Williston Lake, BC, a large hydropower reservoir in the Peace River basin, recent lake trout population increases pose a concern for endemic bull trout. Using pressure-sensing acoustic transmitters, I examined the depth distributions of bull trout, lake trout, and kokanee (a prey fish species) to provide insight into the ecology of these predatory congeners. Populations exhibited divergent depth-use across seasons, with lake trout consistently occupying deeper habitats than bull trout. The vertical distributions of kokanee were intermediate to both consumer species but exhibited greater overlap with lake trout than bull trout. These results suggest that that bull trout may not selectively forage on kokanee, and lake trout may have a competitive advantage for access to kokanee prey resources in Williston Lake. While these findings suggest the possibility of coexistence for these top predators, investigating interspecific resource conflicts is recommended to better understand threats to bull trout in the system
