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The temperature–productivity squeeze: constraints on brook trout growth along an Appalachian river continuum

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Abstract

We tested the hypothesis that brook trout growth rates are controlled by a complex interaction of food availability, water temperature, and competitor density. We quantified trout diet, growth, and consumption in small headwater tributaries characterized as cold with low food and high trout density, larger tributaries characterized as cold with moderate food and moderate trout density, and large main stems characterized as warm with high food and low trout density. Brook trout consumption was highest in the main stem where diets shifted from insects in headwaters to fishes and crayfish in larger streams. Despite high water temperatures, trout growth rates also were consistently highest in the main stem, likely due to competitively dominant trout monopolizing thermal refugia. Temporal changes in trout density had a direct negative effect on brook trout growth rates. Our results suggest that competition for food constrains brook trout growth in small streams, but access to thermal refugia in productive main stem habitats enables dominant trout to supplement growth at a watershed scale. Brook trout conservation in this region should seek to relieve the “temperature–productivity squeeze,” whereby brook trout productivity is constrained by access to habitats that provide both suitable water temperature and sufficient prey.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the U.S. Geological Survey and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for financial support for this study. Comments from Kyle Hartman greatly improved earlier versions of this manuscript. We also thank Mike Shingleton and Steve Brown from the WVDNR for sharing their expertise and ideas. As always, we are grateful to Becky Nestor for her administrative support of this project. Use of trade names does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.

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  1. David Thorne

    Present address: West Virginia Division of Natural Resources, Elkins, WV, 26241, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Forestry and Natural Resources, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, 26506, USA

    J. Todd Petty, David Thorne & Brock M. Huntsman

  2. U.S. Geological Survey, WV Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, 26506, USA

    Patricia M. Mazik

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Petty, J.T., Thorne, D., Huntsman, B.M. et al. The temperature–productivity squeeze: constraints on brook trout growth along an Appalachian river continuum. Hydrobiologia 727, 151–166 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-013-1794-0

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