The timing of spawning migration: implications of environmental variation, life history, and sex

Abstract

During 1960–2002, the arrival times of all spawning male and female Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L., 1758) and brown trout (Salmo trutta L., 1758) entering Dalälven River were recorded. To study the role of environmental variation in spawning migration timing, we used long-term temperature (river and sea) and river discharge data. For salmon, the spawning migration peak was strongly correlated with mean monthly sea and river temperatures during spring: salmon arrived earlier when temperatures were higher and later when temperatures were lower. River discharge explained little of the variation in migration timing. Female salmon migration showed a stronger correlation with temperature than male salmon migration, and female salmon arrived ≈18 days earlier than males. Trout showed a larger variation in their spawning migration, but river and sea temperatures and river discharge explained little of the variation. Trout females arrived ≈7 days earlier than males. The sea and river temperatures were highly correlated during the spawning migration, indicating that large climate processes determine the temperature regimes in the Baltic Sea and its tributaries. Time of arrival at the river was not correlated with ovulation date; a female salmon or brown trout arriving late could ovulate almost immediately, whereas a female arriving early could wait to ovulate.