The Cost of Catching Up: Increased Winter Mortality Following Structural Growth Compensation in the Wild

Although laboratory and observational studies suggest that many animals are capable of compensatory growth after periods of food shortage, few field experiments have demonstrated structural growth compensation in the wild. Here, we addressed the hypotheses that (i) food restriction can induce structural compensatory growth in free-living animals, (ii) that compensation is proportional to the level of body size retardation and (iii) that compensation induces mortality costs. To test these, wild brown trout (Salmo trutta) yearlings were brought to the lab, tagged individually, subjected to four levels of food deprivation (including a control), released back into the native stream and recaptured after one, five and ten months. Brown trout fully restored condition and partially restored mass within a month, whereas compensation in structure (i.e. body length) was not evident until after five months, supporting hypothesis 1. As the level of growth compensation was similar among the three deprived groups, hypothesis 2 was not supported. A final recapture after winter revealed delayed mortality, apparently induced by the compensatory response in the deprived groups, which is consistent with hypothesis 3. To our knowledge, this is the first field experiment demonstrating structural compensatory growth and associated costs in a wild animal population.