Abiotic and biotic variables that determine somatic growth rates can exert strong control on population dynamics of animal populations. This study of rain- bow trout was conducted in the Colorado River in the Glen, Marble, and east- ern Grand Canyons, located downstream of Glen Canyon Dam. Variation in turbidity, prey availability, trout density, and water temperature over seasons, five years, and five reaches had strong effects on somatic growth rates of trout and ultimately led to a population collapse due to reduced survival and recruit- ment. Reductions in abundance were most severe in reaches showing the great- est reductions in growth.
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