Threatened by warming waters, brook trout may be able to adapt to hotter weather

Brook trout may have a genetic trick up their scales when it comes to adapting, with limitations, to heatwaves that threaten their existence. Scientists have known for years that brook trout — an iconic coldwater fish species native to streams and lakes in the eastern United States and Canada — are extremely vulnerable to warming temperatures, with more than half of their habitats characterized as highly sensitive and highly vulnerable to such changes by U.S. Forest Service researchers in 2010. Now, a novel study suggests that brook trout are capable of mounting a protective genetic response to thermal stress that can be passed on from one generation to the next.