Effects Of Pine Beetle Infestations And Treatments On Hydrology And Geomorphology

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 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.

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 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.

"This study examines the impact of mountain pine beetle infestation on forest canopy structure on the Nechako Plateau, and the resulting impacts on snow accumulation and ablation under varied climatic conditions. Stand-scale results were used to drive a physically-based, distributed hydrological model of the Van Tine Creek watershed and assess watershed-scale hydrologic response to four harvesting/infestation scenarios."--Document.

The Itcha-Ilgachuz Research Project was initiated in the west Chilcotin region of central British Columbia to test variants of group selection and irregular group shelterwood silvicultural systems for managing lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta var. latifolia) forests for timber and northern caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou Gmelin, northern ecotype) winter habitat. The results presented in this report are from three assessments that have been completed since the start of the mountain pine beetle outbreak, and are provided in context with the results from the earlier natural regeneration study. The results provide insight into how successfully the study sites and surrounding forests, which have sustained variable levels of mortality, regenerate naturally.--Includes text from document.