Dec. 8, 2020

By Jennifer A. Smith

While it’s not news to avid anglers, many Wisconsinites may be unaware that the Badger State has over 13,000 miles of coldwater streams that support many world-class fisheries for brook trout and brown trout.

Bryan Maitland snaps a photo with his black lab, Brook, on a hike in the Snowy Mountains near Laramie, Wyoming. (Submitted photo)

Coldwater streams are flowing waters with maximum summer temperatures under 72 degrees Fahrenheit. Trout living in these streams not only play an important role in ecosystems, but also represent significant economic value to the state. For example, according to research done by retired University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Professor Donna Anderson, trout fishing in Wisconsin’s Driftless region had an economic impact of $1.6 billion in 2015.

But these brook and brown trout face challenges. Two leading ones are climate change (and the resulting shifts in precipitation patterns and flood frequency) and high-capacity wells in the state, as those wells draw groundwater that might otherwise replenish streams.

Here to better understand these challenges—and ultimately help natural resource managers make decisions related to trout populations—is Bryan Maitland, a new Wisconsin Water Science-Policy Fellow whose position is jointly supported by the University of Wisconsin Water Resources Institute (WRI) and the Bureau of Fisheries Management at the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

Maitland, who recently completed his doctorate in ecology at the University of Wyoming in Laramie, began his fellowship Sept. 1. He also holds a master’s degree in conservation biology from the University of Alberta in Canada. The fellowship is a one-year commitment with a possibility for a second year.

During this time, he’ll focus on building computer models that illuminate how long-term changes in hydrology across the state are affecting trout populations. “The flip side of this,” he said, “is the conservation and management side, translating it into some type of decision support tool that decision-makers can use to inform policy in the state.”

As Maitland elaborated, climate change has brought shifting precipitation patterns that have altered Wisconsin’s hydrology. Increased precipitation–and particularly the frequency of intense precipitation events–has triggered floods in rivers and streams statewide. Depending on their timing and severity, these floods can threaten the emergence of trout fry or the survival of juvenile trout.

For example, a big winter flood can “scour out these little trout eggs that are growing under the stream in the substrate” that time of year, said Maitland. As a result, that year class of fish could be wiped out since eggs will not hatch in the spring. “That age-zero year class is really important for long-term trout population dynamics, because if you don’t have a good age-zero cohort, you can have very depressed populations in the stream for multiple years after that,” he noted.

At the same time, some high-capacity wells have the potential to deplete groundwater levels, thereby reducing input into nearby streams.

“The reason we have 13,000 miles of streams is because we have really good groundwater here in Wisconsin and good input into streams, which helps keep these streams colder in the summer and a little warmer in winter,” said Maitland, creating a favorable environment for brook and brown trout.

Maitland shows off his first fish caught in Wisconsin—a common shiner from the Blue River near Dodgeville, where he was fishing for trout. (Photo: Alex Latzka)

Maitland’s modeling work will pull together these two large-scale factors, and their interplay, to see how trout populations have been influenced over the past 26 years. Fish data collected from 1994 to 2020 are being used to inform the computer models to investigate how stream flow, precipitation and water temperature drive trout population numbers. Looking to the future, Maitland and collaborators will examine how increases or decreases in stream flow are likely to affect trout populations, with an eye to guiding a management framework for things like high-capacity well permits.

While economic considerations like the value of Wisconsin’s recreational trout fishery are outside the scope of his work, this effort could set the stage for other researchers to pursue this topic.

Maitland is an angler himself, which explains part of the appeal of this topic for him. Yet another draw is the chance to work with an array of other fellows and with permanent staff at the Wisconsin DNR. His collaborators at the DNR include former WRI fellow Alex Latzka, now a fisheries systems biologist there, and Lori Tate, section chief at the Fisheries Management Bureau and a member of Wisconsin Sea Grant’s Advisory Board. His efforts will intersect with that of other current fellows like Carolyn Voter and Dana Lapides.

“I think science and policy are team sports,” said Maitland. “To join such a big group of researchers and managers working on these big-picture issues in Wisconsin is very exciting.”

The post WRI Fellow looks at what’s ahead for brook and brown trout amid Wisconsin’s changing hydrology first appeared on WRI.

Original Article

News Release – WRI

News Release – WRI

https://www.wri.wisc.edu/news/wri-fellow-looks-at-whats-ahead-for-brook-and-brown-trout/

Jennifer Smith

As participants in the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Undergraduate Research Scholars (URS) program know, it’s never too soon to gain exposure to the kind of research that goes on at a large university.

The URS program is designed as a two-semester course aimed at first- and second-year students. Participants take a weekly seminar and are paired with a research mentor who guides them as they conduct an original research project. Near the conclusion of the academic year, students present their research at a symposium.

While the COVID-19 pandemic meant that students finished out this spring semester at their permanent homes rather than on campus—and that the typical in-person symposium was replaced by virtual presentations—it still proved to be a valuable experience for two students mentored by Wisconsin Sea Grant Assistant Director for Extension David Hart.

Rykia Amos of Washington, D.C., and Celeste Gunderson of Milwaukee each zeroed in on challenging topics. We checked in with both to hear about their experiences.

Rykia Amos

Topic: A process to prioritize where to plant trees to decrease future stream temperatures to protect brook trout in the Black Earth Creek watershed

Rykia Amos (Submitted photo)

A wildlife ecology major, Amos went into her trout project as someone more focused on mammals. Yet, she said, “I realized I was a lot more interested in looking at fish than I expected.”

Trout fishing is a popular activity that also carries significant economic value in Wisconsin. Yet climate change projections and warming streams are worrisome. Said Amos, “They’re (brook trout) a very vulnerable species because most of them currently live in cold-water conditions.”

If the climate continues to warm as current scientific projections say, what will that mean for fish like the brook trout and brown trout?

Amos focused on the role played by tree cover and whether that can help mitigate warming temperatures in certain stream segments, to the benefit of the fish. “Data shows that tree planting is a cost-efficient and effective way to help temperatures decrease,” said Amos.

She used data from a U.S. Geological Survey program called FishVis to populate a spreadsheet of stream segments in the Black Earth Creek watershed, located west of Madison. She looked at both present conditions and projected conditions for the period 2046-2065.

Important variables that she considered were where the stream was projected to change from a colder to warmer temperature regime and where brook trout populations were being replaced by brown trout, which can tolerate warmer temperatures. She concluded by assessing the existing tree canopy and developing a formula to prioritize the variables.

At semester’s end, Amos presented her research first to Hart and Sea Grant Fisheries Specialist Titus Seilheimer. She then gave a separate presentation to Matt Mitro, a research scientist with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. Mitro had given input earlier in the semester, suggesting to Amos that she compare brook and brown trout.

Even though she’d prefer to focus on hands-on fieldwork in the future, Amos said, the computer modeling she undertook for her research gave her a window into a real-life challenge posed by climate change in our region. This work has relevance for the protection of ecosystems as well as the recreational fishing that many Wisconsinites love.

Said Hart, “I think there’s a lot of promise for this prioritization of the areas where you could plant tree cover and it would make a difference to decrease stream temperatures. As far as methods went, it was a great proof of concept.”

Going forward, this work could be expanded upon by adding more variables to the modeling, such as land ownership (which could impact the feasibility of tree planting). Hart has begun to look into a tool for constructing 3D tree canopy models from LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) data and thinking about how that could come into play. “I wouldn’t have thought of this if I hadn’t worked with Rykia on this project,” he said.

Celeste Gunderson

Topic: Geodesign to guide green infrastructure practices for stormwater management in a changing climate

Celeste Gunderson (Submitted photo)

Gunderson, a resident of Milwaukee’s east side, examined an issue that is literally close to home for her: the impacts of climate change on residents of Great Lakes communities, and how increased precipitation events and severe weather affect lives and property.

It’s an issue her family faced in 2008, when Milwaukee endured widespread flooding caused by heavy precipitation. “It had a lot of effects on the foundation of our house,” said Gunderson, “and we had to get construction done… We’ve already felt the effects of increased precipitation and severe weather events.”

Gunderson is double majoring in environmental studies and people-environment geography. She explored mitigation strategies using a tool called GeoPlanner for ArcGIS, a geographic information systems product that allows users to create and analyze various planning scenarios.

With guidance from Hart and graduate project assistant Kayla Wandsnider, said Gunderson, “We looked at how geodesign—which is a process using GIS technology to look at different planning scenarios—could be used to then guide green infrastructure practices for stormwater management” in the part of the UW-Madison campus that drains to Willow Creek, specifically with an increase in precipitation.

She gave her stakeholder presentation to UW-Madison’s Rhonda James, a senior landscape architect, and Aaron Williams, an assistant planner and zoning coordinator. Both are with the campus Division of Facilities Planning and Management.

Gunderson will continue working on this topic over the summer as a Wisconsin Sea Grant intern.

Said Hart, “Celeste will be a real help. She made a great connection with Kayla, and together they will be able to bounce ideas off of each other and it will also magnify Kayla’s work” as a graduate student with a double focus on urban and regional planning and water resources management. “I think that the methods developed out of this [project] will be really useful for coastal communities.”

Continuing to focus on this area will also be gratifying for the Milwaukeean. Concluded Gunderson, “Sometimes you learn the science behind climate change, and this project explores the direct impacts and ways we’re going to have to adapt in the future… It felt very relevant and important, and that made it a very fulfilling experience.”

Original Article

News Releases – Wisconsin Sea Grant

News Releases – Wisconsin Sea Grant

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/undergraduate-research-scholars-tackle-issues-relevant-to-great-lakes-communities/

Jennifer Smith