Asymmetric competition drives lake use of coexisting salmonids

To what degree are population differences in resource use caused by competition and the occupation of adjacent positions along environmental gradients evidence of competition? Habitat use may be the result of a competitive lottery, or restricted by competition. We tested to what extent population differences in habitat use of two salmonids, cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarki) and Dolly Varden charr (Salvelinus malma) were influenced by interspecific competition. We hypothesized that the depth distribution of Dolly Varden charr would be affected by competition from the more littoral and surface-oriented cutthroat trout, and that the depth distribution of cutthroat trout would be little affected by competition from Dolly Varden charr. Sympatric populations of cutthroat trout and Dolly Varden charr were created by reciprocal transfers of previously allopatric populations in two experimental lakes. We found evidence of asymmetric competition, as Dolly Varden charr were displaced from littoral habitats when sympatric with cutthroat trout, whereas cutthroat trout remained unaffected by the presence of Dolly Varden charr. Evolved differences between the species, and differences between experimental lakes, also contributed to population differences in habitat use, but asymmetric competition remained as the main driver of different depth distributions in sympatry.