Population persistence across broad spatial scales (e.g., watersheds) can depend on asynchronous dynamics among populations at finer scales (e.g., streams or habitats). We applied a von Bertalanffy growth model and closed N‐mixture abundance model in a hierarchical Bayesian framework to examine effects of fine‐scale variability in temperature and density dependence on growth and abundance as well as within‐ versus among‐stream variability in growth and abundance of Rio Grande Cutthroat Trout Oncorhynchus clarkii virginalis (RGCT) in northern New Mexico streams. An accumulation of degree‐days positively influenced instantaneous growth rates and, to a lesser extent, negatively affected asymptotic body length. A nonlinear response of abundance to temperature was also observed, suggesting that RGCT productivity along the temperature continuum was affected by physiological limitations (e.g., optimal growth temperatures). Variability in RGCT abundance and the asymptotic size parameter could not be distinguished with certainty between spatial scales but was greatest at the stream level for the rate at which asymptotic size was reached. In total, our results suggested that RGCT productivity in our study streams was influenced by mechanisms operating at multiple spatial scales. Management actions should consider processes not only at the stream scale but within streams for improving the likelihood of future population persistence.

中文翻译：

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温度和空间尺度对里约格特河鳟鱼生长和丰度的影响。

跨广泛的空间尺度（例如分水岭）的人口持久性可能取决于较小尺度（例如河流或栖息地）的人口之间的异步动态。我们在分层贝叶斯框架中应用了von Bertalanffy增长模型和封闭的N混合丰度模型，以检验温度和密度的细尺度变异性对生长和丰度的影响以及流内和流中差异对生长和丰度的影响里奥格兰德残酷鳟鱼Oncorhynchus clarkii virginalis（RGCT）在新墨西哥州北部的溪流中。天数的累积对瞬时增长率产生积极影响，而在较小程度上对渐近体长产生负面影响。还观察到了丰度对温度的非线性响应，这表明沿温度连续性的RGCT生产率受到生理限制（例如，最佳生长温度）的影响。RGCT丰度和渐近大小参数的可变性无法在空间尺度之间确定地区分，但是对于达到渐近大小的速率，在流级别最大。总体而言，我们的研究结果表明，研究流中的RGCT生产率受到在多个空间尺度上运行的机制的影响。