We directly measured paired air and
water temperatures in watersheds (N = 77) containing reproducing populations of brook trout in
Virginia. We found that paired air and water temperature relationships are highly variable among
patches but are a useful dataset to classify sensitivity and vulnerability of existing brook trout
patches. We developed a classification system using sensitivity and vulnerability metrics that
classified sampled brook trout habitats into four categories (High Sensitivity- High Vulnerability
(51.9%); High Sensitivity-Low Vulnerability (10.4%); Low Sensitivity-High Vulnerability (7.8%);
Low Sensitivity-Low Vulnerability (29.9%). Our direct measurement approach identified potential
refugia for brook trout at lower elevations and with higher air temperatures than previous larger
scale modeling efforts.
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Science and Data
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Brook Trout Related Publications