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<br />montane stream in 1967 prior to restocking with 50 pure greenback cutthroat ' <br />trout, which later established a reproducing population. However, in 1973, <br />two brook trout were found above the barrier, and by 1977, electrofishing for <br />more than one mile above the barrier produced only brook trout (Behnke 1976, <br /> <br />1979). ' <br />The mechanism by which brook trout displace greenbacks is not thoroughly <br />understood. However, in colder habitats, it probably includes an advantage <br />gained through a one year earlier sexual maturation by brook trout and through <br />larger brook trout young-of-the-year (YOY). Brook trout spawn in the fall. <br />Their fry emerge from the redds much earlier in the year than do the spring <br />spawning greenbacks, and the YOY brook trout can be 30 mm longer than YOY <br /> <br />greenbacks by their first October. In Hidden Valley Creek, Rocky Mountain ' <br />National Park (RMNP), YOX brook trout (65 mm) and YOY greenbacks (35 mm) are <br />usually found in the shallow stream habitat by October and appear to compete <br />for food and space during winter minimum flows. Fausch and Cummings (1986), <br />found brook trout juveniles to occupy more energetically favorable positions ' <br />than greenbacks in stream habitats when the two were found in sympatry within <br />Hidden Valley Creek, RMNP, and indicated that brook trout juveniles were <br />dominant over juvenile greenbacks (probably due to their larger size). . <br />However, Fausch and Cummings found aggression between adult (>150 mm) brook ' <br />trout and greenbacks to be minimal. <br />Although brook trout dominate greenbacks and represent 60~-90$ of the fish <br />population in Black Hollow and Hidden Valley Creeks, greenback hybrids and <br />Colorado River cutthroats have successfully co-existed for over 40 years <br />and/or dominate (50~ to 90$ of fish numbers) over brook trout within Lake-of- <br />Glass, Thunder Lake and Willow Creek, Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP). <br />Greenbacks have also demonstrated that they can invade dense brook trout <br /> <br />populations in some circumstances, such as in the North Fork of the Big ' <br />Thompson River. Greenbacks were introduced into a fishless habitat above an <br />un-named falls on the upper North Fork of the Big Thompson River, RMNP in <br />1970, and established a reproducing population. By 1986, greenbacks had <br />drifted downstream, and represented 14.5 percent of the fish over 50 mm in <br />length in the stream section from Lost Falls to the unnamed falls. In this <br />section, brook trout did not exceed 280 mm in length, though greenbacks <br />reached 304 mm. <br />Arkansas River greenbacks in Lytle Pond (U.S. Army, Ft. Carson) successfully <br />coexist with brook trout, with brook trout numbers declining. However, <br />spawning habitat at Lytle pond is less favorable in the fall than in the <br />spring, and may provide greenbacks with a competitive advantage over brook <br />trout at this location. <br />Brown trout. Wang (1989) observed the behavior and competition of <br />yearling South Platte greenbacks and brown trout in an indoor stream aquarium. <br />Brawn trout were found to be more aggressive than equal-sized greenbacks. <br />Brown trout even outcompeted greenbacks that were 1.27 times longer and 1.69 <br />times heavier. Slow current combined with dim light significantly increased ' <br />attack frequency of brown trout on greenbacks. Few greenback restoration <br />projects involve former brown trout habitat. However, the dominance of brown <br />trout over greenbacks (as indicated by Wang's study) is evident in George and <br />Cornelius Creeks, where brown trout appear to be displacing greenbacks (Steve <br />Puttmann, Colorado Division of Wildlife, pers. comm., 1991). <br />Angler Harvest. The removal of adult greenbacks by anglers, may have had a <br />negative impact upon greenbacks, especially when exotic salmonids were , <br />present. Cutthroat trout are more easily caught than other species. Removal <br />of the older, larger greenbacks might favor brook trout, which reproduce at <br />smaller sizes and younger ages. Changes in fishing regulations in effect <br />since 1982 within RMNP that limited the harvest of non-native cutthroats and , <br />Colorado River cutthroat to two fish over 250 mm, and catch-and-release only <br /> <br /> <br />