Headwater stream flow, climate variation, and riparian buffers with thinning in western Oregon

Abstract

Headwater streams and adjacent riparian areas provide reproductive, foraging, and dispersal habitat for many forest-dependent species, especially amphibians. Although previous studies have shown that the composition of aquatic and riparian animal communities is associated with spatial and temporal patterns of stream fl ow, the relationships among stream fl ow, climate, and thinning are not well known. We characterized stream flow conditions associated with 78 headwater reaches in 13 managed forest sites in the Coast Range and western Cascade Range, Oregon, USA, tracked periodically over a 16-year period. Then, we retrospectively examined relationships among riparian buffers, stream fl ow characteristics, and climate variables over time. We tested the hypotheses that: 1) warmer and drier years would be associated with a shrinking of headwater streams (i.e., increased proportion of stream length in dry channels); and 2) such eff ects are associated with thinning upslope of riparian buff ers, due to the eff ect of thinning to reduce interception and water uptake from the soil.

Parent Publication

• Density management in the 21st century: west side story

Citation

Burton, Julia I.; Olson, Deanna H.; Puettmann, Klaus J. 2013. Headwater stream flow, climate variation, and riparian buffers with thinning in western Oregon. In: Anderson, P.D.; Ronnenberg, K.L., eds. Density management in the 21st century: west side story. Gen. Tech. Rep. PNW-GTR-880. Portland, OR: US Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station: 239-239.