Sediment production following severe wildfire and post-fire salvage logging in the Rocky Mountain headwaters of the Oldman River Basin, Alberta

Silins, U.; Stone, M.; Emelko, Monica B.; Bladon, Kevin D.

doi:10.1016/j.catena.2009.04.001

Cited by 117 publications

(101 citation statements)

References 26 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…A large amount of sediment-associated phosphorus has been transported downstream and is stored in stream and river beds which continue to be a source of phosphorus (Allin et al 2012); • Summer stream temperatures were only 1°C-3°C warmer in the burned and salvage-logged streams compared to unburned streams despite extensive disturbance to riparian canopies within the burn , Wagner et al 2014. Stream temperature in this region is more strongly regulated by in-stream upwelling of cold groundwater than by impacts of riparian canopy loss on stream shading; • Sediment production was elevated in burned and salvagelogged watersheds (nine and 37 times greater, respectively) compared to unburned catchments (Silins et al 2009). This effect was greatest during spring runoff and spring/summer rainstorms, and has also shown no recovery since the fire; and, • Trace elements and some metals such as aluminum, man- ganese, cobalt, molybdenum, lead, and nickel were greater in burned and salvage-logged watersheds for five years after the fire.…”

Section: Water Qualitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Southern Rockies Watershed Project

Silins

Anderson

Bladon

et al. 2016

The Forestry Chronicle

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The Southern Rockies Watershed Project was initiated in 2003 to describe the impacts of severe natural disturbance by wildfire on a broad range of headwaters, larger river basin scale, and downstream water resources (Phase I). This watershed research is unique in that trans-disciplinary linkages between hydrology, biogeochemistry, aquatic ecology, downstream river basin processes, implications for human water use, and economic implications are providing broad insights into wildfire effects on water. A second phase of the research (Phase II) focuses on evaluating the effects of several alternative forest harvesting practices on these same water resource "values". Collectively, this research is providing comprehensive information on watershed function after forest disturbance in Rocky Mountain watersheds. RÉSUMÉLe Projet du bassin hydrographique du Sud des Rocheuses a été lancé en 2003 pour décrire les effets des grandes perturbations naturelles occasionnées par les feux de forêt sur une gamme variée d' eaux d'amont, de bassins versants à grande échelle et de ressources hydriques en aval (Phase 1). Cette étude de bassin versant est unique du fait de ses liens interdisciplinaires entre l'hydrologie, la bio-géochimie, l' écologie aquatique, les processus d' écoulement en aval, les implications relatives à l'usage par l'homme de l' eau et leurs conséquences économiques qui permettent d'avoir une perspective globale sur les effets des feux de forêt sur l' eau. Une deuxième phase du projet (Phase II) porte sur l' évaluation des effets de diverses techniques d' exploitation alternatives sur les « valeurs » de cette même ressource-eau. Dans son ensemble, cette étude apporte une vaste gamme de renseignements sur la fonction des bassins versants après une perturbation forestière dans les bassins versants des Rocheuses.

show abstract

Section: Water Qualitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Southern Rockies Watershed Project

Silins

Anderson

Bladon

et al. 2016

The Forestry Chronicle

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The discharge of rivers that originate in these high mountain environments is strongly influenced by the annual snow pack (Pederson et al, 2011). Many of these source water regions are wholly or partially forested and susceptible to forest fires which can alter nutrient and sediment supply to the river (Silins et al, 2008). Because of the high energy conditions in many of these river systems, river beds predominantly consist of coarse gravel (Wohl, 1962).…”

Section: Problem Statementmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effect of coarse gravel on cohesive sediment entrapment in an annular flume

Glasbergen¹,

Stone²,

Krishnappan³

et al. 2015

Proc. IAHS

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. While cohesive sediment generally represents a small fraction (<0.5%) of the total sediment mass stored in gravel-bed rivers, it can strongly influence physical and biogeochemical processes in the hyporheic zone and alter aquatic habitat. This research was conducted to examine mechanisms governing the interaction of cohesive sediments with gravel beds in the Elbow River, Alberta, Canada. A series of erosion and deposition experiments with and without a gravel bed were conducted in a 5-m diameter annular flume. The critical shear stress for deposition and erosion of cohesive sediment without gravel was 0.115 Pa and 0.212 Pa, respectively. In experiments with a gravel bed, cohesive sediment moved from the water column into the gravel bed via the coupling of surface and pore water flow. Once in the gravel bed, cohesive sediments were not mobilized under the maximum applied shear stresses (1.11 Pa) used in the experiment. The gravel bed had an entrapment coefficient (ratio between the entrapment flux and the settling flux) of 0.2. Accordingly, when flow conditions are sufficient to produce a shear stress that will mobilize the armour layer of the gravel bed (>16 Pa), cohesive materials trapped within the gravel bed will be entrained and transported into the Glenmore Reservoir, where sediment-associated nutrients may pose treatment challenges to the drinking water supply.

show abstract

“…To date, most studies have been concerned with monitoring sediment and chemical fluxes, and have focused on either (1) soil erosion and hillslope transport, or (2) fluxes within stream channels (e.g. Cerda and Lasanta 2005;Silins et al 2009;Ryan et al 2011). Fewer studies have focused on documenting changes in the sources of the material following wildfires, thereby linking hillslope processes to channel impacts.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Determining the effects of wildfire on sediment sources using 137Cs and unsupported 210Pb: the role of landscape disturbances and driving forces

et al. 2012

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Purpose Wildfires represent one of the major natural disturbances within forested landscapes and have potential implications for the quality and function of downstream aquatic ecosystems. This study aimed to determine if a wildfire in a mountainous, forested watershed in British Columbia, Canada, caused a change in the dominant sediment source in the immediate 1-2 years following the wildfire, and if the sediment sources changed over the medium term (3-7 years) as the landscape recovered. Materials and methods Source materials (surface soil, subsurface soil and channel bank material) and fluvial (suspended and channel bed) sediment samples were collected over the period 2004 to 2010 from a watershed burnt by a wildfire in 2003, and from an adjacent watershed that was not impacted (FRNs) caesium-137 ( 137 Cs) and unsupported lead-210 ( 210 Pb un ). An unmixing model was used to calculate the relative source contributions of the fluvial sediment samples. Results and discussion 137 Cs and 210 Pb un were concentrated in the upper layers of surface soils in both watersheds and were statistically different to concentrations in subsurface and channel bank material. In the burnt watershed, FRN concentrations were greatest in the ash layer. Sediment sources as determined by the unmixing model were 100% subsurface/channel bank material in the unburnt watershed, while in the burnt watershed 8.5±2.5% was derived from surface soils. In both watersheds, there were no major changes in the relative contributions from surface soil and from subsurface/channel bank material over the period 2004 to 2010. Thus, while the wildfire did cause a change in sediment sources, it was fairly subtle and did not conform to the effects following wildfire described for other studies in contrasting environments, which typically document a major increase in hillslope contributions relative to channel bank sources. Conclusions There was a limited response in terms of finegrained sediment sources (and also sediment fluxes) in the burnt watershed. The reason for this muted response to a severe wildfire is likely to be the lack of precipitation, especially winter precipitation and the associated snowmelt, in the first year following the wildfire. Thus while the landscape was primed for erosion and sediment transport, the lack of a driving force meant that there was a limited immediate postfire sediment response.Keywords Caesium-137 . Wildfire . Disturbance response . Fallout radionuclides . Sediment sources . Unsupported lead-210

show abstract

Sediment production following severe wildfire and post-fire salvage logging in the Rocky Mountain headwaters of the Oldman River Basin, Alberta

Cited by 117 publications

References 26 publications

Southern Rockies Watershed Project

Southern Rockies Watershed Project

The effect of coarse gravel on cohesive sediment entrapment in an annular flume

Determining the effects of wildfire on sediment sources using 137Cs and unsupported 210Pb: the role of landscape disturbances and driving forces

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About