Animals experience seasonally changing conditions in temperate regions, thus population vital rates change seasonally. However, knowledge is lacking on patterns of seasonal correlation between growth and survival in sympatric ectotherms, and this knowledge gap limits our understanding of environmental change impacts on animal populations and communities. Here, we investigated sub-seasonal (2-month intervals) correlation between growth and survival in three stream fishes (bluehead chub Nocomis leptocephalus, creek chub Semotilus atromaculatus, and mottled sculpin Cottus bairdii) in South Carolina, USA, via a mark-recapture survey over 28 months. 

We found that the patterns of temporal correlation between growth and survival differed among the sympatric species. Growth increased and survival decreased with water temperature in two eurythermal species (bluehead chub and creek chub), resulting in a negative correlation between growth and survival. Growth peaked in sub-seasons with an intermediate water temperature range in a third stenothermal species (mottled sculpin), while survival decreased with water temperature for this species too. Consequently, there was no significant negative or positive correlation between sub-seasonal growth and survival in the stenothermal species. 

Negative correlation among population vital rates stabilizes population size over time and buffers animal populations from environmental change because the vital rates are not affected simultaneously in the same direction, indicating some degree of resiliency in the face of climate changes in the two eurythermal species. However, such a demographic mechanism of resiliency could be maintained so long as climate warming does not exceed optimal growth temperature, above which a negative correlation between growth and survival may no longer be maintained.

We conducted mark-recapture sampling in the 740m study area of Indian Creek, South Carolina, USA, between November 2015 and March 2018 at an interval of two months (mean = 61 days [range = 48-70]). An average window of 4 days was required for each sampling occasion (range = 1-10 days). The study area was divided into 20-m sections, which were sampled in an upstream direction on each sampling occasion by backpack electrofishing units (Smith Root Model LR-24; and Halltech Aquatic Research Inc. Model HT-2000) using a two-pass depletion approach. 

We marked all captured fish ≥ 60 mm in total length (TL) for bluehead chub and creek chub and ≥ 50 mm TL for mottled sculpin with 8-mm passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags (Oregon RFID; Biomark). We measured TL (mm) of all marked and recaptured fish before they were returned to the section of capture alive. Across 15 sampling occasions between November 2015 and March 2018, we uniquely tagged a total of 429 individuals of bluehead chub, 664 individuals of creek chub, and 928 individuals of mottled sculpin. 

Our data set includes a capture histority of 2,201 individuals of the three fish species used in Cormack-Jolly-Seber models.

Please contact Yoichiro Kanno (yoichiro.kanno@colostate.edu) when this data set is used for research, teaching, and outreach activities.