Individual variation in the habitat selection of upstream migrating fish near a barrier

Mawer, Rachel; Bruneel, Stijn P.; Pauwels, Ine S.; Elings, Jelger; Pickholtz, Eliezer; Pickholtz, Renanel; Schneider, Matthias; Coeck, Johan; M., Peter L.

doi:10.1186/s40462-023-00414-0

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Individual variation in the habitat selection of upstream migrating fish near a barrier

Rachel Mawer

, Stijn P. Bruneel, Ine S. Pauwels, Jelger Elings, Eliezer Pickholtz, Renanel Pickholtz, Matthias Schneider, Johan Coeck, Peter L. M. Goethals

Movement Ecology, Volume: 11, Issue: 1

Swansea University Author: Rachel Mawer

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DOI (Published version): 10.1186/s40462-023-00414-0

Abstract

Background: Migration is a vital element of the life cycle of many freshwater fish species but is increasingly hampered globally by riverine barriers. Fish passes are a common approach to enable migration past barriers but are often ineffective. More knowledge is required on fish behaviour as they a...

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Published in:	Movement Ecology
ISSN:	2051-3933
Published:	Springer Science and Business Media LLC 2023
Online Access:	Check full text
URI:	https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa71546

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Methods: We evaluate the habitat selection of two upstream migrating fish species, barbel Barbus barbus and grayling Thymallus thymallus, at a hydropower plant in southern Germany, considering individual variation and population trends. Fish were tracked via fine-scale 2D acoustic telemetry in 2018 during their spawning migration. Step selection functions were used to evaluate selection of hydraulic parameters by the fish for a time step of 20 s. Exploratory models were built via model selection for each individual fish, to evaluate the extent of individual variation in model structure. A population model was developed for each species by averaging coefficients from individual models to describe general trends. The extent of individual variation was determined and confidence intervals for the population model coefficients were calculated. Results: Fish varied greatly in individual model structure though common terms were apparent in both species, such as depth, flow velocity, the angular difference between fish and velocity, and the logarithm of the step length. Final population models for barbel included several parameters describing habitat selection and displacement. Barbel selected for faster flows, deeper water, and higher spatial velocity gradients. In addition, they selected to move more with the flow than against. Interactions were also present between habitat parameters, suggesting selection is context dependent. Barbel movement speed also changed with depth, flow velocity and spatial velocity gradient. With grayling, terms often had contrasting effects among individuals and thus general trends could not be distinguished for most terms. Conclusion: Our findings demonstrate habitat selection by upstream migrating fish approaching a fish pass and differences in individual selection which may have an impact on barrier management. 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spelling	2026-04-09T16:14:24.2228762 v2 71546 2026-03-04 Individual variation in the habitat selection of upstream migrating fish near a barrier b326ca8a689948f5f72cea5d46cf2194 0009-0003-0114-9691 Rachel Mawer Rachel Mawer true false 2026-03-04 BGPS Background: Migration is a vital element of the life cycle of many freshwater fish species but is increasingly hampered globally by riverine barriers. Fish passes are a common approach to enable migration past barriers but are often ineffective. More knowledge is required on fish behaviour as they approach barriers such as habitat preferences. Methods: We evaluate the habitat selection of two upstream migrating fish species, barbel Barbus barbus and grayling Thymallus thymallus, at a hydropower plant in southern Germany, considering individual variation and population trends. Fish were tracked via fine-scale 2D acoustic telemetry in 2018 during their spawning migration. Step selection functions were used to evaluate selection of hydraulic parameters by the fish for a time step of 20 s. Exploratory models were built via model selection for each individual fish, to evaluate the extent of individual variation in model structure. A population model was developed for each species by averaging coefficients from individual models to describe general trends. The extent of individual variation was determined and confidence intervals for the population model coefficients were calculated. Results: Fish varied greatly in individual model structure though common terms were apparent in both species, such as depth, flow velocity, the angular difference between fish and velocity, and the logarithm of the step length. Final population models for barbel included several parameters describing habitat selection and displacement. Barbel selected for faster flows, deeper water, and higher spatial velocity gradients. In addition, they selected to move more with the flow than against. Interactions were also present between habitat parameters, suggesting selection is context dependent. Barbel movement speed also changed with depth, flow velocity and spatial velocity gradient. With grayling, terms often had contrasting effects among individuals and thus general trends could not be distinguished for most terms. Conclusion: Our findings demonstrate habitat selection by upstream migrating fish approaching a fish pass and differences in individual selection which may have an impact on barrier management. Step selection functions are a promising approach and can provide useful insight into habitat selection and movement by migrating freshwater fish in an altered river system. Journal Article Movement Ecology 11 1 Springer Science and Business Media LLC 2051-3933 Fish migration; Step selection functions; Fine-scale telemetry; 2D acoustic telemetry; Fish passage 7 8 2023 2023-08-07 10.1186/s40462-023-00414-0 COLLEGE NANME Biosciences Geography and Physics School COLLEGE CODE BGPS Swansea University Another institution paid the OA fee The project has received funding from the European Union Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions, Grant Agreement No. 860800. The study setup and data collection were funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 (H2020) research and innovation program FITHydro (https://www.fithydro.wiki/index.php), under Grant Agreement No. 727830. 2026-04-09T16:14:24.2228762 2026-03-04T14:34:31.5839047 Faculty of Science and Engineering School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences Rachel Mawer 0009-0003-0114-9691 1 Stijn P. Bruneel 2 Ine S. Pauwels 3 Jelger Elings 4 Eliezer Pickholtz 5 Renanel Pickholtz 6 Matthias Schneider 7 Johan Coeck 8 Peter L. M. Goethals 9 71546__36487__886b2fea09624b6ea3b849beb5b6b03d.pdf 71546.VoR.pdf 2026-04-09T16:13:02.8516675 Output 3632050 application/pdf Version of Record true © The Author(s) 2023. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. true eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
title	Individual variation in the habitat selection of upstream migrating fish near a barrier
spellingShingle	Individual variation in the habitat selection of upstream migrating fish near a barrier Rachel Mawer
title_short	Individual variation in the habitat selection of upstream migrating fish near a barrier
title_full	Individual variation in the habitat selection of upstream migrating fish near a barrier
title_fullStr	Individual variation in the habitat selection of upstream migrating fish near a barrier
title_full_unstemmed	Individual variation in the habitat selection of upstream migrating fish near a barrier
title_sort	Individual variation in the habitat selection of upstream migrating fish near a barrier
author_id_str_mv	b326ca8a689948f5f72cea5d46cf2194
author_id_fullname_str_mv	b326ca8a689948f5f72cea5d46cf2194_***_Rachel Mawer
author	Rachel Mawer
author2	Rachel Mawer Stijn P. Bruneel Ine S. Pauwels Jelger Elings Eliezer Pickholtz Renanel Pickholtz Matthias Schneider Johan Coeck Peter L. M. Goethals
format	Journal article
container_title	Movement Ecology
container_volume	11
container_issue	1
publishDate	2023
institution	Swansea University
issn	2051-3933
doi_str_mv	10.1186/s40462-023-00414-0
publisher	Springer Science and Business Media LLC
college_str	Faculty of Science and Engineering
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department_str	School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Science and Engineering{{{_:::_}}}School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences
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description	Background: Migration is a vital element of the life cycle of many freshwater fish species but is increasingly hampered globally by riverine barriers. Fish passes are a common approach to enable migration past barriers but are often ineffective. More knowledge is required on fish behaviour as they approach barriers such as habitat preferences. Methods: We evaluate the habitat selection of two upstream migrating fish species, barbel Barbus barbus and grayling Thymallus thymallus, at a hydropower plant in southern Germany, considering individual variation and population trends. Fish were tracked via fine-scale 2D acoustic telemetry in 2018 during their spawning migration. Step selection functions were used to evaluate selection of hydraulic parameters by the fish for a time step of 20 s. Exploratory models were built via model selection for each individual fish, to evaluate the extent of individual variation in model structure. A population model was developed for each species by averaging coefficients from individual models to describe general trends. The extent of individual variation was determined and confidence intervals for the population model coefficients were calculated. Results: Fish varied greatly in individual model structure though common terms were apparent in both species, such as depth, flow velocity, the angular difference between fish and velocity, and the logarithm of the step length. Final population models for barbel included several parameters describing habitat selection and displacement. Barbel selected for faster flows, deeper water, and higher spatial velocity gradients. In addition, they selected to move more with the flow than against. Interactions were also present between habitat parameters, suggesting selection is context dependent. Barbel movement speed also changed with depth, flow velocity and spatial velocity gradient. With grayling, terms often had contrasting effects among individuals and thus general trends could not be distinguished for most terms. Conclusion: Our findings demonstrate habitat selection by upstream migrating fish approaching a fish pass and differences in individual selection which may have an impact on barrier management. Step selection functions are a promising approach and can provide useful insight into habitat selection and movement by migrating freshwater fish in an altered river system.
published_date	2023-08-07T05:51:50Z
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Individual variation in the habitat selection of upstream migrating fish near a barrier

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