Forest practices and streamflow in western Oregon

Forest practices and streamflow in western Oregon
Author: Robert Dennis Harr
Publisher:
Total Pages: 24
Release: 1976
Genre: Forest roads
ISBN:

Forest management activities, including roadbuilding, clearcut logging, and broadcast burning, can change certain portions of the forest hydrologic cycle. Watershed studies and other hydrologic research in the Coast and western Cascade Ranges of Oregon have shown that these changes may increase annual water yield up to 62 centimeters, double minimum flows in summer, and increase fall peak flows up to 200 percent and small winter peak flows up to 45 percent in small watersheds. Changes in streamflow resulting from clearcut logging had little effect on either onsite damage to stream channels and hydraulic structures or downstream flooding when yarding caused only light disturbance of soil. By increasing the size of larger peak flows, roadbuilding and soil compaction may cause onsite damage in small, headwater basins. Increases in annual yield and minimum flows may be substantial on small watersheds that are clearcut; under sustained yield forest management, such increases are masked in large, parent watersheds by unaltered streamflow from unlogged watersheds.

Forest practices and streamflow in western Oregon

Forest practices and streamflow in western Oregon
Author: Robert Dennis Harr
Publisher:
Total Pages: 24
Release: 1976
Genre: Forest roads
ISBN:

Forest management activities, including roadbuilding, clearcut logging, and broadcast burning, can change certain portions of the forest hydrologic cycle. Watershed studies and other hydrologic research in the Coast and western Cascade Ranges of Oregon have shown that these changes may increase annual water yield up to 62 centimeters, double minimum flows in summer, and increase fall peak flows up to 200 percent and small winter peak flows up to 45 percent in small watersheds. Changes in streamflow resulting from clearcut logging had little effect on either onsite damage to stream channels and hydraulic structures or downstream flooding when yarding caused only light disturbance of soil. By increasing the size of larger peak flows, roadbuilding and soil compaction may cause onsite damage in small, headwater basins. Increases in annual yield and minimum flows may be substantial on small watersheds that are clearcut; under sustained yield forest management, such increases are masked in large, parent watersheds by unaltered streamflow from unlogged watersheds.

Hydrological and Biological Responses to Forest Practices

Hydrological and Biological Responses to Forest Practices
Author: John D. Stednick
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 321
Release: 2007-12-03
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 0387690360

The Alsea Logging and Aquatic Resources Study, commissioned by the Oregon Legislature in 1959, marked the beginning of four decades of research in the Pacific Northwest devoted to understanding the impacts of forest practices on water quality, water quantity, aquatic habitat, and aquatic organism popu- tions. While earlier watershed research examined changes in runoff and erosion from various land uses, this study was the first watershed experiment to focus so heavily on aquatic habitat and organism response to forest practices. The Alsea Watershed Study, as it came to be known, extended over 15 years with seven years of pretreatment calibration measurements, a year of treatment, and seven years of post-treatment monitoring. The research was a cooperative effort with scientists from Oregon State University, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, the U.S. Geological Survey, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Cooperating landowners included the Georgia-Pacific Corporation, the U.S. Forest Service, and a local rancher. It was a remarkable 15-year partnership marked by excellent cooperation among the participants and outstanding coordination among the scientists, many of whom participated actively for the entire period.

Hydrology of Small Forest Streams in Western Oregon

Hydrology of Small Forest Streams in Western Oregon
Author: Robert Dennis Harr
Publisher:
Total Pages: 20
Release: 1976
Genre: Hydrology
ISBN:

The hydrology of small forest streams in western Oregon varies by time and space in terms of both streamflow and channel hydraulics. Overland flow rarely occurs on undisturbed soils. Instead, water is transmitted rapidly through soils to stream channels by displacement of stored soil water. Drainage networks expand and contract according to the interaction between precipitation characteristics and soil's capability to store and transmit water. Drainage networks are more extensive in winter than in summer. Streamflow may he 1,000 to 5,000 times greater during winter storms than during summer low flow. A stream's kinetic energy varies along with streamflow. Channel width and depth, heterogeneity of bed materials, and the accumulation of large, organic debris affects the dissipation of kinetic energy. Clearcutting can increase relatively small peak flows, but forest roads and extensive areas of soil compacted by other means may increase larger peak flows. Both roadbuilding and clearcutting can cause soil mass movements, which can drastically alter a stream's channel hydraulics by adding debris or scouring the charnel to bedrock. Removal of naturally occurring organic debris that has become part of a stable channel can accelerate bed and bank erosion.

Forest Hydrology

Forest Hydrology
Author: Mingteh Chang
Publisher: CRC Press
Total Pages: 601
Release: 2012-11-01
Genre: Science
ISBN: 143987994X

Due to its height, density, and thickness of crown canopy; fluffy forest floor; large root system; and horizontal distribution; forest is the most distinguished type of vegetation on the earth. In the U.S., forests occupy about 30 percent of the total territory. Yet this 30 percent of land area produces about 60 percent of total surface runoff, the major water resource area of the country. Any human activity in forested areas will inevitably disturb forest floors and destroy forest canopies, consequently affecting the quantity, quality, and timing of water resources. Thoroughly updated and expanded, Forest Hydrology: An Introduction to Water and Forests, Third Edition discusses the concepts, principles, and processes of forest and forest activity impacts on the occurrence, distribution, and circulation of water and the aquatic environment. Brings water resources and forest-water relations into a single, comprehensive textbook Focuses on the concepts, processes, and general principles in forest hydrology Covers functions, properties, and science of water; water distribution; forests and precipitation, vaporization, stream flow, and stream sediment Discusses watershed management planning and practical applications of forest hydrology in resource management In a single textbook, Forest Hydrology: An Introduction to Water and Forests, Third Edition comprehensively covers water and water resources issues, forest characteristics relevant to the environment, forest impacts in the hydrological cycle, watershed research, watershed management planning, and hydrologic measurements. With the addition of new chapters, new issues, and appendices, this new edition is a valuable resource for upper-level undergraduates in forest hydrology courses as well as professionals involved in water resources management and decision-making in forested watersheds.

USDA Forest Service Experimental Forests and Ranges

USDA Forest Service Experimental Forests and Ranges
Author: Deborah C. Hayes
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 666
Release: 2014-07-22
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1461418186

USDA Forest Service Experimental Forests and Ranges (EFRs) are scientific treasures, providing secure, protected research sites where complex and diverse ecological processes are studied over the long term. This book offers several examples of the dynamic interactions among questions of public concern or policy, EFR research, and natural resource management practices and policies. Often, trends observed – or expected -- in the early years of a research program are contradicted or confounded as the research record extends over decades. The EFRs are among the few areas in the US where such long-term research has been carried out by teams of scientists. Changes in society’s needs and values can also redirect research programs. Each chapter of this book reflects the interplay between the ecological results that emerge from a long-term research project and the social forces that influence questions asked and resources invested in ecological research. While these stories include summaries and syntheses of traditional research results, they offer a distinctly new perspective, a larger and more complete picture than that provided by a more typical 5-year study. They also provide examples of long-term research on EFRs that have provided answers for questions not even imagined at the time the study was installed.

Bioenergy from Sustainable Forestry

Bioenergy from Sustainable Forestry
Author: J. Richardson
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 353
Release: 2005-12-30
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 0306475197

Bioenergy from Sustainable Forestry synthesizes information needed to design or implement sustainable forest management systems for production of biomass for energy in conjunction with other forest products. It is organized around the criteria for sustainable forest management: productivity, environment, social issues, economics, and legal and institutional framework. More than 25 international experts from 10 countries have brought together available ecological, physical, operational, social and economic information and identified gaps in knowledge related to biomass production and harvesting systems. This is the first time that such comprehensive information has been brought together under one cover, using an integrated, holistic approach. Guiding principles and state of the art knowledge are emphasized. The book will enable forest resource managers and planners to evaluate the ability of specific forest regions to sustainably meet bioenergy production demands.