How Tight Is the Linkage between Trees and Trout?

2 Assistant Professor of Aquatic Ecology, University of Maryland, Frostburg, Maryland. Abstract: This paper explores the tightness of the linkage between stream-dwelling salmonids and riparian vegetation. Comparison of original distributions of salmonid species with that of vegetation types shows that distribution within a given salmonid species is not limited to a specific vegetation type, and that different salmonid species co-occur within a given vegetation type. Examination of reported differences in trout production among streams appear to be related to differences in riparian setting only indirectly and insofar as these reflect differences in prey availability and, to a lesser extent, differences in habitat features. Variability in trout production estimates are minimized when comparisons are species-specific and normalized for temperature differences among streams. Within a riparian vegetation type, the relationship between trout production and successional age of the streamside vegetation is often inverse.