Alternative forms of brook trout nest site selection alter modeled offspring thermal experience and emergence phenology in groundwater-influenced streambeds

Although incubation temperature strongly influences salmonid phenotypic variation, few studies have considered the effect of competition on nest site selection and the resultant embryonic thermal experience. We combined field observations and simulations of brook trout spawning across a groundwater-induced thermal mosaic to assess whether habitat selection could alter spawning patch-level offspring thermal experience. We first assessed whether wild brook trout exhibited spawning behaviors consistent with competition for limited habitat. Given a fixed thermal habitat template, we then simulated offspring incubation temperature and temperature-dependent emergence timing following random, observed, and purely size-structured habitat selection scenarios. Brook trout generally selected warmer nest locations, but temperatures varied widely (1.8 – 8.1°C) due in part to competition-related behaviors: minimum nest temperatures declined as breeder density increased, larger fish used warmer nests,..., , , # Alternative forms of brook trout nest site selection alter modeled offspring thermal experience and emergence phenology in groundwater-influenced streambeds

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.4f4qrfjnx](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.4f4qrfjnx)

## Description of the data and file structure

These files provide 1) observational field data that relate the timing, body size, and competitive interactions of spawning female brook trout to the habitat variables of their used nests (streambed temperature), and 2) simulated data on the temperature-dependent emergence timing of offspring brook trout, based on modeled scenarios of alternative forms of brook trout nest site selection behavior. Datafile header descriptions are provided in the file \"FritschieandCottinghamCJFAS_Metadata for all data files.xls\". Some attributes contain empty cells that were not populated with NAs to minimize errors running scripts; the meaning of these empty cells or any NAs are provided for each relevant attribute in ...,