WELLS CREEK TROUT HABITAT STUDY

Kristen Blann and Julia A. Frost.  Conservation Biology Program, University of
Minnesota, 200 Hodson Hall,  1987 Folwell, Ave. St. Paul MN, 55108.

Wells Creek is a small tributary to the Mississippi River that has, in the past, had
naturally reproducing Brook Trout populations.   With the hope of restoring these
populations, the Wells Creek partnership and Minnesota DNR are interested to
learn how riparian land management is affecting trout habitat and temperature
regimes in the creek.  In this study we examined some potential agricultural
management scenarios as they affected trout.   Physical habitat variables such as
percent fine material, width the depth ratio,  bare bank, percent riffle, and percent
cover for fish were correlated with land management in the watershed.   We also
used the US Fish and Wildlife Stream Network Temperature Model (SNTEMP) to
predict the relationship between riparian cover and temperature.   Would changing
current riparian corridors along much of the creek effectively lower the
temperature?   Because Wells Creek is characterized by significant groundwater
inputs, it was unclear that an increase in riparian shading would contribute to a
significant decrease in the average temperature during a normal year.   In the
warmest weeks of the summer, the model predicted that shaded reaches would
remain slightly cooler than unshaded reaches, however the magnitude of these
average differences was usually small.  In the hottest weeks of some summers,
differences in weekly maximum temperatures could be as great as 5-10 degrees F.

Keywords: Brook Trout, riparian management, temperature model, Minnesota.  


Kristen Blann* and Julia A. Frost
Conservation Biology Program, University of Minnesota, 200 Hodson Hall,  1987 
Folwell, Ave. St. Paul MN, 55108; 612/603-1224; Fax 612/625-5299;
klb@fw.umn,edu , and jaf@fw.umn,edu)