UNDERSTANDING POPULATION RESISTANCE AND RESILIENCE OF BROOK TROUT: LONG TERM STUDIES OF FORESTED HEADWATER STREAMS

• Sponsoring Institution: National Institute of Food and Agriculture
• Project Status: COMPLETE
• Funding Source: MCINTIRE-STENNIS
• Reporting Frequency: Annual
• Accession No.: 1002945
• Project Start Date: Jul 21, 2014
• Project End Date: Jun 30, 2019
• Program Code: [(N/A)]- (N/A)

Recipient Organization
WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY
886 CHESTNUT RIDGE RD RM 202
MORGANTOWN,WV 26505-2742

Performing Department
Forestry

Non Technical Summary
Brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) are the only native salmonid to the Appalachian Mountains and their populations and distributions have declined through habitat degradation and in some areas such as the Smoky Mountains, through possible competition with exotic salmonids. A better understanding of critical habitat requirements of brook trout and a better understanding of brook trout population dynamics in relation to stream habitat is needed to improve management recommendations for both aquatic managers and land-use managers such as the timber industry. To gain this understanding requires long-term studies of the population responses of brook trout across a variety of streams under a range of environmental conditions and land use changes. This study builds upon earlier work by developing long-term study of the spatial and temporal variability of stream habitat and brook trout populations in the Central Appalachian Mountains of West Virginia. Long-term studies are needed to identify limiting and controlling factors of brook trout in this region and the relative impacts of each upon overall population resilience. Knowledge of these factors within the context of land-use practices and determination of the habitat attributes controlling the abundance of all life stages of brook trout will enable better land-use and restoration guidelines to be established for the region. Major goals of this research are to: (1) establish science-based goals for brook trout restoration and conservation in the Appalachians, (2) determine population resistance and resilience following perturbations, and (3) to develop mechanistic models to predict brook trout response to changes in landscape/land use and climate change. This research program will be conducted collaboratively between federal (USDA Forest Service), state (WV DNR and WVU), and private stakeholders (Penn Virginia Corp.) making this a unique research partnership.

Animal Health Component

65%

Research Effort Categories

Basic

35%

Applied

65%

Developmental

(N/A)

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
135	0899	1070	100%

Knowledge Area
135 - Aquatic and Terrestrial Wildlife;

Subject Of Investigation
0899 - Wildlife and natural fisheries, general/other;

Field Of Science
1070 - Ecology;

Keywords

brook trout

headwater stream

climate change

population resilience

native fish

recruitment

Goals / Objectives
The objective of this research is to determine habitat components governing brook trout population dynamics in the central Appalachians at both large spatial and temporal scales. Large spatial scales (i.e. many streams) allow greater statistical power in analyzing typically highly variable stream habitat data and large temporal scales (i.e. several years of study) will allow incorporation of habitat-independent factors affecting brook trout population dynamics. Also, a long-term study could show the interaction between stream habitat and population recovery from extreme environmental conditions (drought and flood). Coupled within this long-term framework, manipulative studies may further elucidate relations between fish and streamside management. The result of these studies may be adjustments to Best Management Practices within streamside management zones that favor both forest yield and brook trout populations.

Project Methods
The overall framework of the proposed study is to continue a long-term study of the factors controlling and regulating Appalachian brook trout. Within this framework will be short-term studies that answer questions that can be addressed on a shorter time horizon. To do this we conduct the long-term studies using primarily graduate research assistants. Although their individual tenure with the study will only be 2-4 years as they complete their Master's or Doctorate degrees, they will conduct the long-term studies and at the same time carry out short-duration studies that address stream ecology questions that can be completed within the M.S. or Ph.D. degree time frame. The short-term studies will change over time as additional questions are answered and new questions are derived based upon these studies and the needs and issues of the members of the research partnership (USFS, Monongahela National Forest; USFS, Northeast Experiment Station; and WV DNR).The basic long-term study will involve careful statistical analysis of relationships between stream habitat and watershed characteristics and resulting brook trout population demographics and reproductive success. Such a study involves onsite habitat delineation and population assessments, and will be conducted over a longer time horizon than has traditionally been done--10 to 20 years in this case--to permit differentiation between the influence of periodic and episodic events upon habitats and population resiliency. At this time we have completed approximately 10 years of this study.Study sites (streams) for the long-term studies were chosen during spring of 2003. Streams used in the study were restricted to those ? 3rd order with all having the presence of a naturally reproducing population of brook trout. Streams are distributed among the Westvaco Ecosystem Research Forest, the FERNOW, and Monongahela National Forest. We stratified selected streams by grouping according to dominant bedrock types within West Virginia with 5 streams in each of Pottsville, Mauch Chunk, Chemung, and Hampshire bedrock types representing a wide range of acid buffering capabilities (Welsh and Perry 1997). Additionally, 5 streams are located in Pottsville bedrock type, but they currently receive the addition of limestone fines to buffer acidity. The total number of long-term streams is 25, with fish and substrate samples completed in all streams during fall 2003-2013 (Tables 1-3).Habitat assessments have been completed in each stream every other year from 2003-2008 and annually from 2009-2013. At the time of this proposal each stream had been surveyed for habitat eight times. Stream habitat and brook trout populations will be monitored on this subset of streams for a minimum of 20 years and hopefully this will lead to a long term ecological research study funded by external federal funds (e.g. NSF).Stream Habitat MethodologyHabitat assessments are broken into two major categories based upon whether they are derived by topographic maps or remotely sensed data or by direct field observation. Remotely sensed data will be those that can be derived from topographical maps and/or GIS applications including stream order, watershed area above the site, distance to potential sources of immigrating brook trout (tributaries and larger streams), stream slope, dominant vegetative communities, percentage of watershed area with recent timber harvest activity (e.g. < 1 year; < 5 years, < 20 years) and the type of harvest activity, number of road crossings above the site, proximity to the nearest parallel road, and percent road area within the watershed. We will also note the presence and location of any mining impacts (i.e. acid mine drainage entering the stream).Directly observed habitat components are assessed with a modified basinwide habitat assessment technique (BVET) (Doloff et al. 1997; Hankin and Reeves 1988; Herger et al. 1996; Simonson et al. 1994) conducted under baseflow conditions during summer. Individual habitat units are classified as pools, riffles, runs, or cascades according to criteria outlined in Arend (1999). If the habitat unit is a pool, the pool-forming mechanism will also be noted as boulder scour, LWD scour, bank scour, or freeform (Rosenfeld et al. 2000). Physical features we measure in each unit include length, wetted width, and water depths. These measures are taken at the visually determined average for the unit, although maximum pool depth is also recorded. The proportion of each habitat unit that is covered by undercut bank, overhead cover, or woody debris is estimated visually. The area of each habitat unit is then calculated as the product of the unit length and average width. Habitat unit areas are summed by unit type to obtain an estimate of the total area of each unit type. Areas of each unit type are standardized to facilitate comparisons between streams by dividing the total unit type area by the total length of the site.Several other habitat features are inventoried within each basin. Percent canopy cover and riparian vegetation composition and basal area (described by methods in Mills and Stevenson 1999) are estimated using a point and point-quarter method along the stream thalweg Stream temperature is monitored daily by temperature loggers deployed in each site recording hourly temperatures. Water quality is measured seasonally coincident to habitat and fish sampling, with parameters such as pH, specific conductivity, and dissolved oxygen.Stream substrate (within riffles) will be characterized by two methods. Pebble counts (Bain 1999) will be used to characterize overall substrate composition in each site and will be conducted at the same time as other habitat assessments. Substrate samples, which will be used as predictors of brook trout spawning success, will be collected as in Hakala (2000).Brook trout populationsBrook trout populations will be sampled during the pre-spawn period during September and early October with a two-pass electrofishing method over three sites within each stream. Sites will be 100 m in length extending downstream from the head of pools. Sampling during the early fall will allow estimation of adult spawning stock and evaluation of the previous years spawning success and overall survival of young-of-the-year (YOY). Spawning success will be indexed as the ratio of YOY in year n to the number of adult females in year n-1 (Hakala 2000). Population estimates of adults and YOY will then be determined though methods outlined in Jones and Stockwell (1995).

Progress 10/01/18 to 06/30/19

Outputs
Target Audience:Our target audience is a combination of scientists, land managers and biologists in the Appalachian Mountains who regularly interact with streams and their biota. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The project has contributed to the training of several young scientists at the national and international level. In 2018, the project graduatedPhD candidate Ross Andrews. Ph.D. student Chris Schwinghammer began in 2017 and his dissertation research is part of this project. Both Ph.D. students are participating in the writing and development of the NSF-LTREB proposal noted above under #1. M.S. student Cory Hartman completed and defended histhesis research on individual variation in brook trout growth performance. These students have presented research findings and participated in international scientific conferences as part of their training. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results have been disseminated to fisheries professionals and forest managers through progress reports, professional presentations and the publications listed in that section. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?This is a completion report for this project.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? One major impact of this project will be the realization of the potential for headwater streams in West Virginia to support and sustain brook trout populations based on landscape and other variables. Towards that goal the project now has over 16years of data on the habitat and brook trout populations in 25 different streams in 5 different geological types. Numerous journal articles have been published stemming from this project. These include a journal articleexamining the potential influence of angling upon Brook Trout populations in central Appalachian headwater streams. A new paper was recently published (see Products) that examined seasonal changes in the condition of Appalachian Brook Trout and another that examined how riparian disturbance influenced diets of young Brook Trout. Ongoing work by the graduate student is documenting changes in the streams and fish populations related to the natural disturbance of superstorm Sandy. The "long-term" database is currently being used to submit a proposal to NSF's LTREB program in 2020predicting and verifying Brook Trout population variables based upon remotely sensed data and predicting and verifying habitat and fish response to climate change and habitat restoration. The project also leveraged funding in 2019-2022 from the WVDNR to support two graduate students over 3-years.

Publications

• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: 2. Carlson, A.K., W.W. Taylor, M.T. Kinnison, A.M.P. Sullivan, M.J. weber, R.T. Melstrom, P.A. Venturelli, M.R. Weuellner, R.M. Newman, K.J. Hartman, G.B. Zydlewski, D.R. Devries, S.M. Gray, D.M. Infante, M.A. Pegg, and R.M. Harrell. 2019. Threats to freshwater fisheries in the United States: Perspectives and investments of state fisheries administrators and agricultural experiment station directors. Fisheries 44(6):276-287. https://doi.org/10.1002/fsh.10238
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: 3. Hartman, K.J., R.G. Andrew, C.W. Schwinghamer, D.W. Thorne, and J.S. Webster. 2019. Springtime exploitation of Brook Trout by anglers in remote headwater streams of central Appalachia. North American Journal of Fisheries Management 39:403-411. DOI: 10.1002/nafm.10280.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2019 Citation: Variation in thermal performance of four populations of central Appalachian Brook Trout. 2019 Joint Annual Conference of the American Fisheries Society and the Wildlife Society. 02 October, 2019. Reno. NV. (Presented by C.M. Hartman).
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2019 Citation: Individual variation in Brook Trout response to a changing climate 2019 Joint Annual Conference of the American Fisheries Society and the Wildlife Society. 02 October, 2019. Reno. NV.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2019 Citation: Using long term population and climate data to assess variability in abundance and body condition of Brook Trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) in Central Appalachia. 2019 Joint Annual Conference of the American Fisheries Society and the Wildlife Society. 03 October, 2019. Reno. NV. (Presented by R. Andrew).
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2019 Citation: Using sex ratios of Brook Trout to identify population resilience and spawning adult size structure. 2019 Joint Annual Conference of the American Fisheries Society and the Wildlife Society. 03 October, 2019. Reno. NV. (Presented by B. Wager).
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2019 Citation: Evidence of mating system and sex-based life history characteristics of central Appalachian Brook Trout. 2019 Joint Annual Conference of the American Fisheries Society and the Wildlife Society. 03 October, 2019. Reno. NV. (Presented by C.W. Schwinghamer).

Progress 07/21/14 to 06/30/19

Outputs
Target Audience:Our target audience is a combination of scientists, land managers and biologists in the Appalachian Mountains who regularly interact with streams and their biota. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?In the life of this project is has trained about a dozen UG students, 4 M.S. and 2 Ph.D. students. The gradute students completed their thesis and dissertation research working on this project and contributed to the peer-reviewed journal articles and professional presentations reported in earlier annual reports. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results have been disseminated to fisheries professionals and forest managers through progress reports, professional presentations and the publications listed in that section. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? The goals of this project have been met by the publication of 8 journal articles, 40 professional presentations at international conferences, and the traininig of dozens of UG students, 2 MS and 2 PhD students.

Publications

Progress 10/01/17 to 09/30/18

Outputs
Target Audience:Our target audience is a combination of scientists, land managers and biologists in the Appalachian Mountains who regularly interact with streams and their biota. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The project has contributed to the training of several young scientists at the national and international level. In 2018, Ross Andrew successfully defended his dissertation and moved into a Post-doc position on this project. Ph.D. student Chris Schwinghamer began his research associated with the project during 2018. M.S. student Cory Hartman is conducting his thesis research on individual variation in brook trout growth performance. These students have presented research findings and participated in international scientific conferences as part of their training. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results have been disseminated to fisheries professionals and forest managers through progress reports, professional presentations and the publications listed in that section. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We anticipate several new publications and talks at professional conferences during the next year. We expect that one or two new graduate students will also join the project in 2019.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? One major impact of this project will be the realization of the potential for headwater streams in West Virginia to support and sustain brook trout populations based on landscape and other variables. Towards that goal the project now has 15 years of data on the habitat and brook trout populations in 25 different streams in 5 different geological types. We have submitted two new papers to journals that we expect to have published in 2019. One paper examines the potential role of angling in structuring Brook Trout populations. The other article looks at synchrony in Brook Trout populations across the 25 streams. Ongoing work by the current Ph.D. student looks at genetic structure of Brook Trout populations. The M.S. student's thesis research examines individual variation in thermal performance in light of climate change. A new paper was recently published (see Products) that examined seasonal changes in the condition of Appalachian Brook Trout and another that examined how riparian disturbance influenced diets of young Brook Trout. The "long-term" database is currently being used to support the submission of an NSF proposal in 2019 aimed at predicting and verifying Brook Trout population variables based upon remotely sensed data and predicting and verifying habitat and fish response to climate change and habitat restoration. The project has leveraged funding in 2018 from the WVDNR to support two graduate students over 3-years.

Publications

• Type: Book Chapters Status: Awaiting Publication Year Published: 2019 Citation: Hartman, K. J. and M. K. Kaller. Influence of logging on stream food webs and fish bioenergetics and growth. Chapter, In: Reflections on Forest Management; Can Fish and Fiber Coexist? C. A. Dolloff, and R.J. Danehy, editors. American Fisheries Society, Bethesda, Maryland.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Under Review Year Published: 2019 Citation: Hartman, K.J., R.G. Andrew, C.W. Schwinghamer, D.W. Thorne, and J.S. Webster. Springtime Exploitation of Brook Trout by Anglers in Remote Headwater Streams of Central Appalachia. North American Journal of Fisheries Management.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Under Review Year Published: 2019 Citation: Hartman, K.J., and M.K. Cox. Is compensatory growth in Brook Trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) all wet? Journal of Freshwater Ecology.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Under Review Year Published: 2019 Citation: Andrew, R. and K.J. Hartman. Brook Trout Population Growth and Synchrony in the Central Appalachians. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences.
• Type: Theses/Dissertations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2018 Citation: Andrew, R.G. 2018. Examination and Characterization of Brook Trout Ecology Before and After a Broad Scale 1 Disturbance Event in Headwater Streams of West Virginia, USA. PhD Dissertation. West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV. 132 pp.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2018 Citation: Hartman, K.J., R.G. Andrew, and C.W. Schwinghamer. 2018. Estimating angling impacts on remote fisheries: An angler use and preference study in the central Appalachian Mountains, USA. 9th International Conference on Monitoring and Management of Visitors in Recreational and Protected Areas, 28-31 August 2018, Bordeaux, France.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2018 Citation: Schwinghamer, C.W. and K.J. Hartman. 2018. Evaluating the Resiliency of Brook Trout in West Virginia Headwater Streams Using Yield per Recruit Modeling. The 148th Annual Meeting of the American Fisheries Society, 19-23 August 2018, Atlantic City, NJ (Presented by Chris Schwinghamer).
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2018 Citation: Schwinghamer, C.W. and K.J. Hartman. 2018. Evaluating the Resiliency of Brook Trout in West Virginia Headwater Streams Using Yield per Recruit Modeling. The 2018 Spring Meeting of the Southern Division of the American Fisheries Society, 7-11 March 2018, San Juan, Puerto Rico (Presented by Chris Schwinghamer).
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2018 Citation: Hartman, K.J., R.G. Andrew, and C.W. Schwinghamer. 2018. Harvest in remote headwater streams alters native Brook Trout populations. The 2018 Spring Meeting of the Southern Division of the American Fisheries Society, 7-11 March 2018, San Juan, Puerto Rico.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2018 Citation: Andrew, R.G. and K.J. Hartman. 2018. Brook Trout Population Growth and Asynchrony in the Central Appalachians. The 2018 Spring Meeting of the Southern Division of the American Fisheries Society, 10 March 2018, San Juan, Puerto Rico (Presented by R. Andrew).
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2018 Citation: Schwinghamer, C.W., and K.J. Hartman. 2018. Evaluating the Resiliency of Brook Trout in West Virginia Headwater Streams Using Yield per Recruit Modeling. The Annual Meeting of the West Virginia Chapter of the American Fisheries Society, 19 April 2018, Morgantown, WV (Presented by Chris Schwinghamer).
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2018 Citation: Hartman, K.J., R.G. Andrew, C.W. Schwinghamer, and D. Thorne. 2018. How might angling influence native Brook Trout populations in the central Appalachians? The Annual Meeting of the West Virginia Chapter of the American Fisheries Society, 19 April 2018, Morgantown, WV.

Progress 10/01/16 to 09/30/17

Outputs
Target Audience:Our target audience is a combination of scientists, land managers and biologists in the Appalachian Mountains who regularly interact with streams and their biota. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The project has contributed to the training of several young scientists at the national and international level. Currently, PhD candidate Ross Andrews is receiving training and research opportunities through his doctoral research associated with the project. Also, Ph.D. student Chris Schwinghammer began in 2017 and will be doing his dissertation research as part of this project. Both Ph.D. students are participating in the writing and development of the NSF-LTREB proposal noted above under #1. M.S. student Cory Hartman is conducting his thesis research on individual variation in brook trout growth performance. These students have presented research findings and participated in international scientific conferences as part of their training. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results have been disseminated to fisheries professionals and forest managers through progress reports, professional presentations and the publications listed in that section. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We anticipate several new publications and talks at professional conferences during the next year.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? One major impact of this project will be the realization of the potential for headwater streams in West Virginia to support and sustain brook trout populations based on landscape and other variables. Towards that goal the project now has over 10 years of data on the habitat and brook trout populations in 25 different streams in 5 different geological types. A new paper was recently published (see Products) that examined seasonal changes in the condition of Appalachian Brook Trout and another that examined how riparian disturbance influenced diets of young Brook Trout. Ongoing work by the graduate student is documenting changes in the streams and fish populations related to the natural disturbance of superstorm Sandy. The "long-term" database is currently being used to submit a proposal to NSF's LTREB program in 2018 predicting and verifying Brook Trout population variables based upon remotely sensed data and predicting and verifying habitat and fish response to climate change and habitat restoration. The project has leveraged funding in 2018 from the WVDNR to support two graduate students over 3-years.

Publications

• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Studinski, J., A. Hafs, J. Niles, and K. Hartman. Accepted. The effects of riparian disturbance on the condition and summer diets of age-0 brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) in three central Appalachian streams. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 74(7):980-986.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Hafs, A., and K.J. Hartman. 2017. Seasonal changes in condition of Appalachian Brook Trout. North American Journal of Fisheries Management 37:196-206.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Other Year Published: 2018 Citation: Niles, J.M. and K.J. Hartman. (In 2nd review). Riparian timber harvest intensity affects diets of Appalachian Brook Trout (Salvelinus fontinalis). North American Journal of Fisheries Management.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Estimating the percent based proximate composition of Brown Trout (Salmo trutta) through the use of bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA). 21 August 2017, Poster presented at the 2017 Annual Meeting of the American Fisheries Society, Tampa, Florida. (Presented by C.M. Hartman).
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Harvest in remote headwater streams alters native Brook Trout populations. 21 July 2017, Talk presented at the 2017 World Recreational Fishing Conference, Victoria, British Columbia.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Estimating the percent based proximate composition of Brown Trout (Salmo trutta) through the use of bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA). 2017 WV-PA Chapters of American Fisheries Society, 9-10 February 2017, California, Pennsylvania (Presented by C.M. Hartman).
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Brook Trout Population Growth and Synchrony in the Central Appalachians. 2017 WV-PA Chapters of American Fisheries Society, 9-10 February 2017, California, Pennsylvania (Presented by R. Andrew).

Progress 10/01/15 to 09/30/16

Outputs
Target Audience:Our target audience is a combination of scientists, land managers and biologists in the Appalachian Mountains who regularly interact with streams and their biota. Changes/Problems:NOTHING TO REPORT What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The project has contributed to the training of several young scientists at the national and international level. Erin Thayer (MS) graduated in 2016 and currently studying for her Ph.D. at LSU. Currently, PhD student Ross Andrews is receiving training and research opportunities through his doctoral research associated with the project. These students have presented research findings and participated in international scientific conferences as part of their training. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results have been disseminated to fisheries professionals and forest managers through progress reports, professional presentations and the publications listed in that section. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We anticipate several new publications and talks at professional conferences during the next year. We will also work towards preparing and submitting an NSF pre-proposal based on the Long-term dataset.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? One major impact of this project will be the realization of the potential for headwater streams in West Virginia to support and sustain brook trout populations based on landscape and other variables. Towards that goal the project now has over 10 years of data on the habitat and brook trout populations in 25 different streams in 5 different geological types. A new paper was recently published (see Products) that examined seasonal changes in the condition of Appalachian Brook Trout and another that examined how riparian disturbance influenced diets of young Brook Trout. Ongoing work by the graduate student is documenting changes in the streams and fish populations related to the natural disturbance of superstorm Sandy. The "long-term" database is currently being used to submit a pre-proposal to NSF's LTREB program in 2017 predicting and verifying Brook Trout population variables based upon remotely sensed data.

Publications

• Type: Journal Articles Status: Awaiting Publication Year Published: 2016 Citation: Studinski, J., A. Hafs, J. Niles, and K. Hartman. Accepted. The effects of riparian disturbance on the condition and summer diets of age-0 brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) in three central Appalachian streams. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 74:000-000.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Awaiting Publication Year Published: 2016 Citation: Hafs, A., and K.J. Hartman. Accepted. Seasonal changes in condition of Appalachian Brook Trout. North American Journal of Fisheries Management 36:000-000.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2016 Citation: Can we develop generic BIA models of fish composition? 146th Annual Meeting of the American Fisheries Society, 21-25 August 2016, Kansas City, Missouri (Presented by K.J. Hartman, co-authored with C. Hartman and A. Hafs).
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2016 Citation: Brook Trout Preference of Terrestrial Versus Aquatic Prey Across Two Seasons in Appalachian Head-Water Streams. 2016 Spring Meeting of the Southern Division of the American Fisheries Society, 18-21 February 2016, Wheeling, West Virginia (Co-author with Erin Thayer- presenter).
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2016 Citation: Using Local and Catchment-Level Variables to Explain Differences in Bia-Predicted Body Composition of Brook Trout in Headwater Streams of West Virginia. 2016 Spring Meeting of the Southern Division of the American Fisheries Society, 18-21 February 2016, Wheeling, West Virginia (Co-author with Ross Andrew- presenter).
• Type: Theses/Dissertations Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Brook Trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) preference of aquatic versus terrestrial prey in Appalachian Headwater Streams. thayer, Erin E., M.S., WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY, 2016, 77 pages; 10110238

Progress 10/01/14 to 09/30/15

Outputs
Target Audience:Our target audience is a combination of scientists, land managers and biologists in the Appalachian Mountains who regularly interact with streams and their biota. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The project has contributed to the training of several young scientists at the national and international level. Mike Porto (MS) graduated in 2012 and currently works as a fisheries biologist for the state of Indiana. Paola Reale (MS) graduated in 2013 and currently works in fisheries for the World bank. Currently, PhD student Ross Andrews is receiving training and research opportunities through his doctoral research associated with the project. Erin Thayer will complete her M.S. degree working on this project during 2016. All of these students have presented research findings and participated in international scientific conferences as part of their training. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results have been disseminated to fisheries professionals and forest managers through progress reports, professional presentations and the publications listed in that section. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We anticipate several new publications and talks at professional conferences during the next year.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? One major impact of this project will be the realization of the potential for headwater streams in West Virginia to support and sustain brook trout populations based on landscape and other variables. Towards that goal the project now has over 10 years of data on the habitat and brook trout populations in 25 different streams in 5 different geological types. A new paper was recently published (see Products) that evaluated the impact of Super Storm Sandy on large woody debris in these 25 streams. This database is currently the long-term dataset we used to submit a pre-proposal to NSF's LTREB program in 2015 that was not accepted. We plan to revise and resubmit bas3ed on reviewers comments in the 2016-17 funding cycle.

Publications

• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Hartman, K.J., F.J. Margraf, A,W, Hafs, and M.K. Cox. 2015. Bioelectrical impedance analysis: a new tool for assessing fish condition. Fisheries 40(12):590-600.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Andrew, R.G. and K.J. Hartman. 2015. Uneven inputs of woody debris to Appalachian streams from superstorm Sandy. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 72(1):1-6.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Brook Trout Foraging Behavior: A Combined Field and Laboratory Study Investigating Aquatic Versus Terrestrial Prey Selection. 145th Annual Meeting of the American Fisheries Society, 17 August 2015, Portland, OR USA. (Presented by Erin Thayer).
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Inputs and Fate of Large Woody Debris in Headwater Streams of the Central Appalachians. 30 January 2015. Southern Division of the American Fisheries Society annual spring meeting, Savannah, Georgia. (Presented by Ross Andrew).
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Brook Trout Selection of Aquatic Versus Terrestrial Origin Prey in Four Head Water Streams. 30 January 2015. Southern Division of the American Fisheries Society annual spring meeting, Savannah, Georgia. (Presented by Erin Thayer).
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Hafs, A. W., and K. J. Hartman. 2015. Development of temperature correction equations for bioelectrical impedance analysis models for brook trout. Journal of Fish Biology 86(1):304-316.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Using Local and Catchment-Level Variables to Explain Differences in Bia-Predicted Body Composition of Brook Trout in Headwater Streams of West Virginia, USA. 145th Annual Meeting of the American Fisheries Society, 17 August 2015, Portland, OR USA. (Presented by Ross Andrew).

Progress 07/21/14 to 09/30/14

Outputs
Target Audience: Our target audience is a combination of scientists, land managers and biologists in the Appalachian Mountains who regularly interact with streams and their biota. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? The project has contributed to the training of several young scientists at the national and international level. Mike Porto (MS) graduated in 2012 and currently works as a fisheries biologist for the state of Indiana. Paola Reale (MS) graduated in 2013 and currently works in fisheries for the World bank. Currently, PhD student Ross Andrews is receiving training and research opportunities through his doctoral research associated with the project. All of these students have presented research findings and participated in international scientific conferences as part of their training. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Results have been disseminated to fisheries professionals and forest managers through progress reports, professional presentations and the publications listed in that section. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? We anticipate several new publications and talks at professional conferences during the next year.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? One major impact of this project will be the realization of the potential for headwater streams in West Virginia to support and sustain brook trout populations based on landscape and other variables. Towards that goal the project now has over 10 years of data on the habitat and brook trout populations in 25 different streams in 5 different geological types. A new paper was recently published (see Products) that evaluated the impact of Super Storm Sandy on large woody debris in these 25 streams. This database is currently the long-term dataset we are using to submit a pre-proposal to NSF’s LTREB program in 2015.

Publications

• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Hafs, A.W. and K.J. Hartman. 2014. Influence of electrode type and location upon bioelectrical impedance measurements of brook trout. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 140:1290-1297.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Hafs, A.W. and K.J. Hartman. 2014. Developing bioelectrical impedance analysis methods for age-0 brook trout. Fisheries Management and Ecology 21:366-373.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Studinski, J. and K.J. Hartman. 2014. The effects of riparian logging on terrestrial invertebrate inputs into forested headwater streams. Hydrobiologia 743:189-198.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Andrew, R.G. and K.J. Hartman. In press. Uneven inputs of woody debris to Appalachian streams from superstorm Sandy. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Hafs, A. W., and K. J. Hartman. In press. Development of temperature correction equations for bioelectrical impedance analysis models for brook trout. Journal of Fish Biology.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2014 Citation: Factors Influencing Brook Trout Population Synchrony in the Central Appalachians. 144th Annual Meeting of the American Fisheries Society, 18 August 2014, Quebec City, Quebec Canada. (Presented by Ross Andrew).