Trout Stream Assessments 2009 report

Trout require streams with excellent water quality that are fed by groundwaters that keep streams cold in summer but ice-free in winter. Minnesota has more than 680 designated trout streams that represent a valuable natural resource having high economic, sport, and habitat importance. However, over the long term this resource is under threat from climate change, which will likely increase stream temperatures and could detrimentally impact trout behavior, reproduction success, and food sources, particularly the cold-adapted aquatic insects that are essential in winter diets of trout. This appropriation is enabling University of Minnesota's Department of Entomology to study the health of trout streams in southeastern Minnesota and how changes in stream temperatures could impact the diets and growth of trout populations.