Testing of Habitat Assessment Models for Small Trout Streams in the Medicine Bow National Forest, Wyoming

Abstract
We tested the applicability of four habitat assessment models to small trout streams in the Medicine Bow National Forest. All models yielded predictions of trout standing stocks or ratings of trout cover that were correlated with measured trout standing stocks; however, the predicted and measured standing stocks were not directly proportional, and not all model variables appeared to contribute to the predictions or ratings derived from the models. Among the habitat variables included in the four models, those most highly correlated with trout standing stocks were width-to-depth ratio, abundance of overhead bank cover, average stream width, and level of late-summer streamflow. We hypothesize that much of the variation in measured habitat and model predictions among our study reaches was due to natural variation in habitat features associated with stream size and reach gradient. Our results identify the habitat features that appear to drive the habitat models when applied to small trout streams tha...

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