A Synthesis Of The Hydrological Consequences Of Large Scale Mountain Pine Beetle Disturbance

The current synthesis is a review of research examining the effects of large-scale mountain pine beetle (MPB)-related disturbance conducted predominantly over the past five years. The emphasis is on research that explicitly examines the impact of beetle kill (or biotic disturbance in general) and the cumulative effects of large scale salvage harvesting operations in response to beetle kill. In general, forest disturbance has been found to increase snow accumulation and melt, reduce interception loss and evaporation, and increase runoff and stream flow.--Document.

This document provides a synthesis of recently completed studies to assess the ecological consequences of forest management after attack by mountain pine beetle or other large-scale disturbances. Studies are assessed for their contributions to gaps in knowledge previously identified in the Mountain Pine Beetle Initiative Working Paper "Evaluating effects of large scale salvage logging for mountain pine beetle on terrestrial and aquatic vertebrates," which was published in 2004. This report focuses on studies developed through the federal Mountain Pine Beetle Initiative, the federal Mountain Pine Beetle Program, and the complementary BC Forest Science Program. Relevant information from other jurisdictions is sometimes included to augment those studies. Topics examined are: the impacts of beetle kill and salvage operations on habitat attributes; the impacts of beetle kill and salvage operations on attendant processes, such as snag fall rates, light interception, and snow accumulation; and the wildlife response to large-scale beetle outbreaks and management strategies. For each of these three topics, we provide a summary of: research to date; pertinent findings to date; and gaps in research.

Water does not come from the river. It comes to the river. Heart Waters takes us to the sources of that water - and into the living beauty, human stories and future possibilities that also arise from the green slopes and valleys of Alberta's Eastern Slopes where the Bow River is born. For more than a century ago the foothills and Front Range mountains of western Alberta have been recognized vital to the future water supply for Canada's prairies. Virtually all the water that sustains communities, ecosystems and the economy of prairie Canada comes from this narrow strip of land arrayed along the Continental Divide. For all its importance, however, water management decisions have ignored the importance of land health and focused almost exclusively on building dams. The result, as the author points out, is that the Bow River's annual flows have decreased by more than a tenth, even while spring floods become more frequent and more destructive. The solutions to prairie Canada's water challenges lie in healing the wounded landscapes of our headwaters. Heart Waters delves deeply into the history and ecology of a landscape whose critical value as a watershed is matched by its sheer beauty and diversity. A rich array of stunning photographic imagery by Jasper-based photographer Brian Van Tighem complements the author's well-researched explorations of the stories whispered by the living waters that drain from Banff National Park, Kananaskis Country and the famous ranchlands of the Bow River watershed. Heart Waters is a deep exploration of place, and an invitation to recognize that our water future depends upon knowing our headwaters better and caring for them more passionately - as our heart waters. "We could belong here too," the book concludes. "We could be like the bull trout, the willows, the wary horses: like the river that continually arises from these fine green places where the waters are born. We could find our best selves in the stories of those living waters and the river that gathers them together."

The mountain pine beetle (MPB) epidemic is creating disturbances with unprecedented values of equivalent cut area over larger watersheds. While the effect of these disturbances on the watershed hydrologic response could be significant, it cannot be inferred from the current literature. The present knowledge of hydrologic changes resulting from forest disturbances is based on experiments conducted either at the stand level or on small watersheds less than few square kilometres. The main objective of this study is to predict the magnitude of the impact of MPB infestations and treatments by salvage logging on the water yield and peak flow regimes and the subsequent implications on channel geomorphology at multiple scales.--Document.

This study is part of a series of research papers that explore the biological, social, and economic aspects of British Columbia's mountain pine beetle (MPB) epidemic. The objective of this report was to determine watershed-scale impacts of mountain pine beetles by comparing channel conditions and the woody debris budget in watersheds infested by the MPB with those from similar old-growth forests with pre-infestation channel and riparian data. The use of a woody debris budget directly links large-scale lodgepole pine mortality to stream challen and piparian processes and conditions at the landscape level. Eighteen watersheds in the Sub-Boreal Spruce and Sub-Boreal--Pine Spruce biogeoclimatic zones were considered. The results are used to generate regionally and locally relevant best management practices that will guide operational planning in landscapes impacted by the MPB.--Includes text from Government of Canada publications site and from document.

The objectives of this study were to: 1. compare the key environmental variables between blocks (elevational effect) and treatments (clearcut and irregular group shelterwood with whole-tree harvesting partial cut), and between microsites within partial cut openings (north and south edges and centre); and 2. examine temporal changes occurring to environmental variables in the context of the changing biological environment. This document includes an introduction, methods, results and discussion, and a summary.--Includes text from document.

This project was developed to identify a set of risk indicators to predict the risk of summer-ground loss at the watershed level within the Vanderhoof Forest District (VFD) and others, subsequent to the mountain pine beetle (MPB) infestation of lodgepole pine stands. This report was done in relation to the VFD annual cut of stands, and the following difficultings that operators found in running their equipment in wet versus dry soils in harvest years. Risk indicators were selected from available GIS information, aerial photographs, and local knowledge. The most effective indicators for predicting the risk of wet-ground areas at the watershed level were found to be lodgepole pine content, understorey, drainage density, sensitive soils, and the topographic index, all of whose values are available from provincial databases. The work includes information on materials and methods, results and discussion, the authors' conclusions, as well as recommendations.--Includes text from document.

"This book presents a synthesis of published information on mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins [Coleoptera: Scolytidae]) biology and management with an emphasis on lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta Dougl. ex Loud. var. latifolia Engelm.) forests of western Canada. Intended as a reference for researchers as well as forest managers, the book covers three main subject areas: mountain pine beetle biology, management, and socioeconomic concerns. The chapters on biology cover taxonomy, life history and habits, distribution, insect-host tree interactions, development and survival, epidemiology, and outbreak history. The management section covers management strategy, survey and detection, proactive and preventive management, and decision support tools. The chapters on socioeconomic aspects include an economic examination of management programs and the utilization of post-beetle salvage timber in solid wood, panelboard, pulp and paper products."--Publisher's description.