Advances in Canadian Forest Hydrology, 2003-2007

Abstract

Recent research in forest hydrology in Canada is reviewed, with a focus on studies of hydrological and hydrochemical processes in natural and disturbed forest landscapes during the 2003-2007 period. The value of hydrologic classification schemes for understanding these processes and guiding effective forest management practices is highlighted, as are the spatially and temporally extensive hydrologic datasets needed to test these classifications. Studies of hydrologic response to natural and anthropogenic forest disturbance are reviewed, and the strengths and limitations of paired-basin experiments for assessing forest disturbance effects on watershed processes are evaluated. Recent shifts in the context of forest hydrology research in Canada are presented, such as issues of climate warming, the mismatch between experimental and management scales, and the increasing need to address cumulative effects of both natural and anthropogenic forest disturbance.Résumé : Les recherches récentes en hydrologie des forêts sont examinées, l'accent étant mis sur l'étude des processus hydrologiques et hydrochimiques dans les paysages forestiers naturels et perturbés de 2003 à 2007. La valeur des plans de classification hydrologique pour la compréhension de ces processus et pour l'orientation des pratiques de gestion efficace des forêts est mise en relief, tout comme les ensembles de données extensives, spatiales et temporelles, nécessaires pour tester ces classifications. Les études de la réponse hydrologique aux perturbations naturelles et anthropiques de la forêt sont examinées. Sont également évaluées les forces et les limitations des expériences entourant les bassins jumelés pour l'analyse des effets de la perturbation des forêts sur les processus liés aux bassins hydrographiques. Sont aussi abordés les changements récents touchant les recherches en hydrologie des forêts au Canada, notamment le problème du changement climatique, le décalage entre l'échelle expérimentale et l'échelle de gestion, et le besoin croissant de s'attaquer aux effets cumulatifs de la perturbation des forêts, d'origine naturelle ou anthropique. 114Canadian Water Resources Journal/Revue canadienne des ressources hydriques

Soil thickness effect on hydrological and erosion characteristics under sloping lands: A hydropedological perspective

“…This implies that the primary factors influencing the amount of subsurface flow are rainfall intensity and rock fragment content below plow layer. In studies carried out at hillslope and catchment scale, many published results emphasized that the soil thickness exerts a strong control on the type and relative importance of various runoff processes (Buttle et al, 2000;Meerveld and Weiler, 2008;Van Wesemael et al, 2000). Our study carried out at plot scale and also found that soil thickness was the principal factor causing different runoff generation mechanisms and redistribution of rainfall.…”

“…Buttle et al (2000) concluded that soil thickness exerted a strong function on controlling the types of various runoff processes and was considered a decisive factor affecting them on the Precambrian Shield. The water inputted to the slope surface of thin soil reached the bedrock as preferential flow through soil macropores, and the slope runoff appeared to occur as subsurface stormflow.…”

Effects of upland clearcutting and riparian partial harvesting on leaf pack breakdown and aquatic invertebrates in boreal forest streams

“…Tree harvesting, associated ground disturbance and logging road networks can alter hydrological regimes and increase water yields (Buttle, Creed & Pomeroy, 2000). Concomitant effects can occur in biogeochemical processes in forest soils and subsequent nutrient availability and export to streams (Kreutzweiser, Hazlett & Gunn, 2008a), and can result in increased fine sediment deposition on stream beds (Croke & Hairsine, 2006).…”

Incorporating hydrologic dynamics into buffer strip design on the sub-humid Boreal Plain of Alberta

“…Such activities may have a range of impacts on aquatic systems including alteration of water, sediment, and nutrient fluxes from disturbed sites to surface waters and blockage of amphibian and/or fish migration corridors. While considerable effort has focused on assessing the effects of these disturbances on aquatic systems (Carignan et al, 2000;Prepas et al, 2001), coherent models are lacking that provide an understanding of the hydrological processes that control water, sediment, and/or nutrient transport from forested areas and the implications of disturbances on these processes (Buttle et al, 2000(Buttle et al, , 2005. Devito et al (2000) presented a hierarchy of landscape features that control the range in natural variation in the nutrient status among boreal lakes and the potential susceptibility of the nutrient status of these lakes to disturbance.…”