Forest Fish Project

Objectives

Our overall objective is to link topographically-derived hydrological models of forested sub-watersheds with the spatial distribution of brook trout in lake and stream ecosystems. This objective is an explicit recognition that a watershed approach to timber management guidelines is both possible and practical. Possible in the sense that the locations of brook trout spawning and young-of-year rearing habitat are tied to hydrological processes on the landscape which we believe are identifiable in a Geographic Information System (GIS) approach. Practical in the sense that protected areas can be placed in locations that really matter for the conservation of brook trout as opposed to the uninformed application of simple protection zones around lakes and streams.

This project has addressed a number of specific research questions in order to achieve this objective, including:

1. What is the spatial distribution of brook trout in selected stream and lake ecosystems and does this distribution match models of hydrological processes on the landscape?
   
   
2. How many sub-watersheds are used by brook trout for spawning and rearing in stream and lake ecosystems?
   
   
3. Do these sub-watersheds used by brook trout have attributes that distinguish them from the other watersheds within a forest landscape?
   
   
4. What areas are needed for protection of hydrological processes upon which brook trout depend?
   
   
5. What automated GIS procedure can be developed to transfer this watershed approach to forest planning?