Forest management activities in a second order drainage basin increased suspended sediment yields 7.7 fold in the first year following road construction, and two-fold following logging in the second year. Sediment supply limitations resulted in poor correlations between sediment concentrations with discharge. Sediment transport was strongly hysteretic, with the highest sediment concentrations occurring on the rising limbs of snowmelt hydrographs and individual peaks. In addition to discharge, hydrograph characteristics such as limb, dQ/dt, and the product of dQ/dt and limb aided in explaining variability of observed sediment concentrations. Sedimentturbidity relationships were strongly discharge dependent, reflecting the changing composition of the suspended load with stream power and sediment supplies.(KEY TERMS: suspended sediment; sediment transport; turbidity; water quality; sedimentation; watershed management; forest management.)
Longitudinal profiles, riparian and in-channel debris loads, and sediment storage were measured in eight reaches of first- to third-order, snowmelt-dominated, intermittent, and perennial streams in western Montana. Low-order channels tended to concentrate debris. Organic matter providedover 60% of total sediment storage in all study reaches. We suggest that Streamside Management Zones (SMZs) be extended to include intermittent channels and possibly the lowest portions of ephemeral channels in anticipation of their activation. Predisturbance appraisal of downed woody fuelsin these SMZs is recommended to provide a target debris loading during site preparation, thus ensuring a steady-state supply of organic materials to maintain channel stabdity following timber harvest. West. J. Appl. For. 5(1):25-28.
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