USFS > SRS > RWU 4353 Blacksburg
- The Forest Service is an agency within the Department of Agriculture. It contains approximately 37,000 employees across 3 broad areas: (1) the National Forest System, responsible for management of the Nation's national forests, (2) Forest and Rangeland Research, conducts research on a broad range of forest and rangeland issues and transfers resulting technologies to users, and (3) State and Private Forestry, provides collaborative stewardship of our Nation's forests with other public and private organizations.
- Within Forest Service Research there are 6 regional research stations and the Forest Products Laboratory. The Southern Research Station has laboratories and research work units located across the southern U.S. from Texas to Virginia and south to Florida. Research is conducted on a wide variety of forest-related topics, including fisheries and wildlife, economic and social impacts, wood utilization and harvesting, silviculture, and ecosystem processes.
- Research Work Unit 4353 of the Southern Research Station, located on the Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg Virginia, is devoted to research on coldwater streams and trout habitat in the southern Appalachians. The mission of the unit is to acquire new knowledge about factors that influence the distribution, abundance, and production of trout and other coldwater fish in the southern Appalachians and to provide the technical basis for protecting, enhancing and restoring coldwater streams and their fauna.
Areas of Research
- RWU 4353 Blacksburg performs research in the area of coldwater stream integrity and trout biology. Ultimately, this research provides land managers with guidelines on how to maintain, recover, or increase the quantity and quality of trout and other native fishes both for their contributions to biotic integrity and for the benefit of anglers and other recreationists. As part of their research, the unit focuses on the following 3 problem areas:
Problem Area 1
Determine how the distribution, abundance and production of trout in the southern Appalachians are influenced by various environmental factors.
- Research is building on past unit studies that have focused on identifying trout and habitat relationships at scales ranging from landscapes to individual streams and habitats. Results published by the unit demonstrated that the distribution and abundance of trout is highly variable both within and among watersheds and across ecoregions and that the regional distribution patterns for the three trout species are associated with latitude and elevation, which are surrogates for temperature. Research by the unit has produced or modified guidelines for sampling of fish habitat and fish populations and has led to the development of models of fish distribution and habitat relations. Other research found different Coarse Woody Debris (CWD) loadings in old-growth vs second-growth forests, and correlated trout distribution with CWD in pools and riffles. Manipulative experiments to confirm these correlations and to determine the mechanisms of the CWD-trout connection are underway. These and other studies have identified probable limiting factors for fish production in the southern Appalachians. New studies are expanding the scope of this research to address specific habitat relationships and establish direct linkages to forest and fisheries management practices. New studies focus on determining the impact of physical and chemical disturbances on population persistence and resilience and on the development of new sampling techniques and protocols. Population studies describe annual and seasonal population dynamics, including reproduction, growth, survival, and age and size distribution in relation to both natural and human-caused disturbance. Habitat studies describe patterns of habitat selection and movements for the different age/size classes and species of trout and other coldwater species such as blacknose dace. Behavioral studies are being conducted both in natural and experimental settings to examine how resources are partitioned among trout and other potential competitors as well as how the behavior or population dynamics of one species is influenced by factors such as the presence of other fish species, loading of CWD, acidity, and habitat complexity. Additional new studies are using GIS and other spatial tools to examine how landscape-scale attributes influence trout and macroinvertebrate production.
Planned Future Accomplishments
Problem Area 2
Expand our knowledge of the sublethal or chronic effects of impaired water quality on fish and macroinvertebrates in coldwater streams. Research in this problem area is determining the biological consequences of water quality degradation and establish guidelines for evaluating impacts to coldwater resources.
- Results will yield new methods and measurement endpoints for monitoring and assessment of sublethal effects and recovery trajectories for sedimentation and acidification impacts to macroinvertebrates and fish in southern Appalachian aquatic habitats and wetlands.
Planned Future Accomplishments
Problem Area 3
Develop and test techniques for restoration of aquatic and streamside habitats.
- Previous work by the RWU has established the historical context for CWD, analyzed loadings of CWD in wilderness and old-growth watersheds, and begun experimental manipulations of CWD in several Appalachian streams. Other published RWU research demonstrated that fish distribution and relative abundance in a southern mountain watershed were relatively unaffected by floods and CWD loading associated with Hurricane Hugo despite significant changes in habitat. New research is expanding the scope and geographic distribution of experimental manipulations and addressing specific cause and effect relationships linking CWD to fish and macroinvertebrates. Research with other RWUs and cooperators (i.e. FIA, SRS-4351, National Forest System, Virginia Tech, University of Georgia, state Wildlife and Fisheries agencies) is examining CWD recruitment processes and strategies for restoring historic rates of CWD recruitment from riparian areas. Additional new research in this problem area will yield techniques and strategies to restore or enhance fish populations and instream habitats by manipulating the physical, chemical or biological structure of both instream and riparian areas. For example: research is addressing the applicability of chemical restoration (liming) to restore or slow the deterioration of water quality in acid sensitive mountain streams. This RWU will continue research on the Wine Spring Creek Ecosystem Management project with an emphasis on integrating the response of stream biota to physical changes induced by experimental manipulations.