Stream temperature responses to forest harvest and debris flows in western Cascades, Oregon

Abstract

Stream temperature controls the rates of many biotic and abiotic processes and is influenced by changes in streamside land use practices. We compiled historic stream temperature data and reestablished study sites in three small basins in the H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest in the western Cascades, Oregon, to reexamine the effects on and recovery of stream temperatures following removal of riparian vegetation. Maximum stream temperatures increased 7°C and occurred earlier in the summer after clear-cutting and burning in one basin and after debris flows and patch-cutting in another. Diurnal fluctuations in June increased from approximately 2 to 8°C. Stream temperatures in both basins gradually returned to preharvest levels after 15 years. The influence of the primary factor controlling stream temperatures, shortwave solar radiation, was amplified following removal of riparian vegetation, and conduction between stream water and nearby soils or substrates also appeared to be an important factor. Shifts in the timing of summer maxima and greater increases in early summer stream temperatures could impact sensitive stages of aquatic biota.