Feb 12, 2009 - Paul M. Chittaro · Rachel J. Finley · Phillip S. Levin. Received: 26 February 2008 / Accepted: 7 January 2009 / Published online: 12 February ...
Oecologia (2009) 160:49–61 DOI 10.1007/s00442-009-1282-4
P O P U L A T IO N E CO L O G Y - O R I G I N A L P A PE R
Spatial and temporal patterns in the contribution of Wsh from their nursery habitats Paul M. Chittaro · Rachel J. Finley · Phillip S. Levin
Abstract Because anthropogenic inXuences threaten the degradation of many ecosystems, determining where organisms live during early life-history stages and the extent to which diVerent areas contribute individuals to adult populations is critical for the management and conservation of a species. Working in Puget Sound, Washington State in the United States, and using a common XatWsh (English sole, Parophrys vetulus), we sought to establish (using otolith chemistry) which areas contribute age-0 Wsh to age-1 population(s), the extent to which this pattern was consistent between two years, and whether this spatial pattern of contribution coincides with surveys of age-0 Wsh and/or the available area of nearshore habitat. Our study indicated completely diVerent spatial patterns of Wsh nursery use between the two years of sampling. We highlight that the contribution of individuals from nursery areas is not related to density of recently settled English sole or the available area of nearshore habitat (depth
