Native and Introduced Populations of Smallmouth Bass Differ in the Concordance Between Climate and Somatic Growth

Dunlop, E.S. & Shuter, B.J. (2006). Native and Introduced Populations of Smallmouth Bass Differ in the Concordance Between Climate and Somatic Growth. IIASA Interim Report. IIASA, Laxenburg, Austria: IR-06-031

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Abstract

We characterized the association between climate and somatic growth in 125 North American populations of smallmouth bass, Micropterus dolomieu. Using multivariate techniques (i.e., principal components and Procrustes analyses), we found an overall significant concordance between 8 climate variables (cloud cover, frost frequency, precipitation, mean air temperature, minimum air temperature, maximum air temperature, mean summer air temperature, and growing degree days above 10 degrees Celsius) and 4 growth variables (body length increments for ages 1 to 4). Bivariate linear regressions revealed that there was a significant positive relationship between air temperature variables and early growth while growth at later ages was generally less influenced by climate. Given that the geographical range of smallmouth bass has been rapidly expanding over the past century, we also examined how the climate-growth relationships differed in populations that have been introduced outside the native distribution. Analysis of residuals from the Procrustes test indicated that the concordance between climate and growth was likely higher for populations within the native range and lower for introduced populations. Mechanisms that might generate this pattern include the possibility that the introduced populations have not had time to adapt to their new environments and the possibility that growth might respond atypically to the more extreme climates experienced outside the native range of the species.

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