Salvelinus species are one of the most thoroughly studied groups of
fishes. Many reasons explain this intense interest in charr biology.
Charrs have a Holarctic distribution encompassing many Asian, North
American, and European countries and occupy diverse marine and
freshwater environments. Furthermore, the current distribution of charr
includes areas that were directly influenced by climate and topographic
change associated with the many Pleistocene glaciations. Undoubtedly,
these conditions have promoted much of the tremendous morphological,
ecological, and genetic variability and plasticity within Salvelinus
species and they make charr very good models to study evolutionary
processes 'in action'. Many charr species also exhibit demographic
characteristics such as slow growth, late maturity, and life in extreme
environments, that may increase their susceptibility to extinction from
habitat changes and overexploitation, especially in depauperate aquatic
habitats. This vulnerability makes understanding their biology of great
relevance to biodiversity and conservation. Finally, charr are of great
cultural, commercial, and recreational significance to many communities,
and their intimate linkage with human societies has stimulated much
interest in this enigmatic genus. This volume comprises a selection of
papers presented at the fourth International Charr Symposium held in
Trois-Rivières (Québec, Canada), from 26 June to 1 July 2000. It
includes 31 papers on ecological interactions and behaviour, trophic
polymorphism, movement and migration, ecophysiology and evolutionary
genetics, ecological parasitology, environmental stress and
conservation. These studies cannot cover all recent developments in the
ecology, behaviour and conservation of Salvelinus species, but
collecting them into a special volume should bring attention to current
research on this important genus and stimulate further work on
Salvelinus species.
