ETD RECORD
Measuring and modeling hydrologic responses to timber harvest in a continental/maritime mountainous environment
Citation
Hubbart, Jason A.. (2007). Measuring and modeling hydrologic responses to timber harvest in a continental/maritime mountainous environment. Theses and Dissertations Collection, University of Idaho Library Digital Collections. https://www.lib.uidaho.edu/digital/etd/items/etd_108.html
- Title:
- Measuring and modeling hydrologic responses to timber harvest in a continental/maritime mountainous environment
- Author:
- Hubbart, Jason A.
- Date:
- 2007
- Keywords:
- Logging--Environmental aspects--Northwest Pacific Hydrology--Effect of logging on--Northwest Pacific
- Program:
- Natural Resources
- Abstract:
- The inland Pacific Northwest of the United States is influenced by both maritime and continental climates. There are limited studies of hydrologic impacts resulting from contemporary timber harvest in this region. Streamflow data were collected since 1991 at the Mica Creek Experimental Watershed (MCEW) located in northern Idaho. Treatments isolated the effects of road construction and harvest practices. Water yield increased more than 270 and 140 mm/yr (p <0.01) following clearcut and 50% partial cut harvesting respectively. Evapotranspiration was reduced by 35% and 14% following clearcut and partial cut harvest, respectively, and monthly and seasonal analyses revealed the largest impacts of harvest practices on water yield during the snow deposition and melt season from November through June. Microclimate and snowpack dynamics were profoundly affected by canopy removal. Peak snow water equivalent (SWE) was approximately 57, 30, 17, and 34 cm in the clearcuts, partial cuts, undisturbed full and valley bottom forest, respectively. Daily melt was 1.1, 0.67, 0.94. and 0.50 cm/day in the clearcuts, partial cuts, undisturbed full and valley bottom forest, respectively. Estimates of snow interception losses were approximately 43, 60. and 32% of annual snow deposition in the partial cut, undisturbed full forest, and valley bottom sites respectively.;Driving the Water Erosion Prediction Project (WEPP) snowmelt processes with custom climates and adjusted canopy cover indices yielded the closest observed versus modeled relationships between snow accumulation, peak SWE, melt rate, and snow pack depletion date. Peak SWE and total days to depletion was underestimated by approximately 1, 34, and 40% and 11, 15, and 45 days in the clearcut, partial cut, and full forest respectively. Average snowmelt per day was overestimated for the clearcut and fully forested sites by approximately 29, and 68% respectively, but was equal to observed for the partial cut site. Observed vs. modeled SWE yielded Nash-Sutcliffe (NS) values that were 0.98, 0.67 for clearcut, partial cut, and fully forested sites respectively. This work improves current understanding of the relationships between canopy removal, water yield, and snowpack dynamics in the Inland Northwest, and exemplifies the need to better understand the relationships between canopy alteration, microclimate, and snow hydrology in complex forested mountainous ecosystems.
- Description:
- Thesis (Ph. D., Natural Resources)--University of Idaho, July 16, 2007.
- Major Professor:
- Timothy E. Link.
- Defense Date:
- July 16, 2007.
- Type:
- Text
- Format Original:
- xvi, 154 leaves :ill., maps ;29 cm.
- Format:
- record
Rights
- Rights:
- In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted. For more information, please contact University of Idaho Library Special Collections and Archives Department at libspec@uidaho.edu.
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