Seasonal Variation in Foraging and Competitive Behaviors in Coastal Cutthroat Trout

In general, we know very little about winter ecology, and this is especially true in stream ecosystems where there are many challenges that confront ecologists hoping to study fish throughout the year. This has resulted in few studies of fish ecology in non-summer months, particularly in the winter. The past few years have seen an increase in interest in the winter ecology of fish, but most studies are still limited to looking at fish survival and changes to body condition. The goal of this study was to determine how the foraging and competitive interactions of coastal cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii) change throughout the course of the year. I will present results from infrared underwater cameras that were used to capture trout behavior and will discuss how differences in time of day, water temperature, flow, and food availability predict changes in cutthroat behavior and place these results in the broader context of climate change.