Summary1. Temperate forests managed to maximize sustainable yield of wood products can reduce the availability of dead wood on the forest floor and in adjacent streams, which in turn can impair ecological processes such as retention and transformation of organic matter. Lack of tools to link ecological processes with their effects on human well-being leads forest managers to ignore the cost on other services from terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. 2. We examine how adding dead wood to restore stream channel complexity affects the provision and value of selected ecosystem services, mainly related to the retention and transformation of matter and cycling of nutrients, as well as to the effects on aquatic biota. Specifically, we evaluated the cost-effectiveness of stream restoration through a comparative analysis of four reach-scale projects in streams flowing through temperate forest and into a drinking water reservoir and two scenarios of active and passive restoration at the basin scale. 3. Results indicate that the lack of dead wood in streams has an important economic cost because of the effects on fish provisioning, opportunities for recreation and tourism, water purification and erosion control. Active reach-scale restoration resulted in a 10-to 100-fold increase in the monetary benefits provided by streams, accounting as much as 1Á8 € per metre of restored river length each year. Results of the reach-scale cost-benefit analyses estimated that the time required to recover the active restoration investment ranged from 15 to 20 years in low-to middle-order streams. 4. Synthesis and applications. Our study showed that restoration of natural wood loading in streams greatly increases the ecosystem services they provide. The benefits in terms of the analysed services surpass the costs of active restoration over realistic timeframes, whereas this was not the case for passive restoration. Inclusion of other ecosystem services such as conservation of biodiversity might make restoration more economically profitable. Overall, our study provides a decision framework for managing temperate riparian forests in the context of ecological services.
Riparian forest management plans for numerous regions throughout the world must consider long-term supply of wood to streams. The simulation model OSU STREAM-WOOD was used to evaluate the potential effects of riparian management scenarios on the standing stock of wood in a hypothetical stream in the Pacific Northwest, USA. OSU STREAMWOOD simulates riparian forest growth, tree entry (including breakage), and inchannel processes (log breakage, movement, and decomposition). Results of three simulation scenarios are reported. The first scenario assessed total wood volume in the channel from Douglas-fir plantations clearcut to the stream bank using three rotation periods (60, 90, and 120 yr). Without a forested riparian management zone, accumulation of wood in the channel was minimal and did not increase through time. In the second scenario, response of total wood volume to forested riparian management zones of widths between 6 m and 75 m was evaluated. Total wood volume associated with the 6 m wide nonharvested forest for forest ages Ն240 yr was 32% of the standing stock associated with a nonharvested forest buffer one potential tree height in width. Maximum standing stock associated with the channel for nonharvested riparian forests Ն30 m required 500-yr-old forests. In the third scenario, contribution of wood from forest plantations beyond nonharvested forests of various widths was explored. Forest plantations associated with nonharvested riparian buffers with widths Ͼ10 m contributed minimal amounts of wood volume to the stream. These results suggest that forest age and width of the nonharvested buffers are more important than the rotation age of plantation forests in providing long-term supplies of wood to streams.
action is increasingly being taken in New Zealand and elsewhere to restore ecological function to streams through planting of riparian zones. We used simulation modelling to explore the relative performance of three strategies to restore the riparian zone of a pastoral stream to native forest by: (1) passive regeneration; (2) planting then abandonment of a Pinus radiata plantation; and (3) active restoration by planting selected native trees. We linked the forest model liNkNZ with a shade and temperature model (sWaioRa), and a wood model (oSu_STReaMWooD) to simulate recovery trajectories for key forest stream attributes in hypothetical streams (1.3-14.0 m channel width) in the central North island, New Zealand. both active restoration strategies outperformed passive regeneration in shade, temperature and stream wood volume for most of the simulation time (800 years). although the abandoned pine plantation provided greatest shade initially (<100 years), active native planting provided the greatest benefits overall. In general, recovery of stream shade (and temperature) is expected within decades, is accelerated by deliberate planting, and is fastest in small streams in which thermal stress from sunlight exposure is greatest. However, full recovery of stream and riparian function may take centuries, being dependent on large trees providing wood to structure the channel.
We surveyed the amount and geomorphic role of wood in 18 pristine native forest streams (channel width: 3-6 m) throughout New Zealand, and quantified the characteristics associated with piece stability and geomorphic effect. Wood piece numbers (18-66 per 100 m) and volumes (85-470 m 3 ha -1) were similar to or greater than found in many streams throughout the world. Forest type and geographic location had no discernable influence on wood abundance at a particular site, possibly due to the confounding influences of local features (e.g., tree fall regime) and methodology ('snap-shot' survey of a dynamic system). Half the pieces that were geomorphically active had moved, suggesting that stable pieces did not necessarily dominate geomorphic activity. Tree ferns were an important contributor to wood abundance in many of the streams studied. IntroductionNumerous studies have characterized the amount (volume, density, or biomass) (HAR- MON et al., 1986;HERING et al., 2000) and role of wood in stream (TRISKA and CROMACK, 1980;BILBY and BISSON, 1998). Initially, much of this research was conducted in the Pacific Northwest of North America (LAMMEL, 1972;FROEHLICH, 1973; see GREGORY, 2003 for a review), but has since been conducted in other regions in the USA (e.g., New England, BILBY and LIKENS, 1980; Georgia, WALLACE and BENKE, 1984; Wyoming, YOUNG, 1994; Colorado, RICHMOND and FAUSCH, 1995), and throughout the world (e.g., New Zealand, MOSLEY, 1981; Australia, GIPPEL et al., 1996; France and the United Kingdom, PIEGAY and GURNELL, 1997; Central Europe, HERING et al., 2000). A conclusion common to many of these studies is that wood is an important component of forest stream ecosystems. Wood in streams can influence channel morphology, hydraulics and sedimentation patterns, which in turn influence nutrient dynamics and habitat for aquatic organisms (BISSON et al., 1987; see GREGORY et al., 2003a for a recent review).The abundance and functional importance of wood appears to vary by region, possibly due to characteristics of the riparian forest species (e.g., maximum tree height) and regional hydrology (GURNELL et al., 2002). For example, streams located in the redwood-dominated forests of northern California contain large volumes of wood (up to 4360 m 3 ha -1) that exert tremendous influence on channel morphology (KELLER and TALLY, 1979;KELLER et al., 1995). In contrast, streams in the coniferous forests of central Sierra Nevada, California (only 400 km southeast of the redwood study streams) have relatively low amounts of wood (up to 89 m 3 ha -1), which exerted only a minor influence on stream morphology (BERG et al., 1998).
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