Sustainability of UK forestry: contemporary issues for the protection of freshwaters, a conclusion

Neal, Colin; Ormerod, Stephen James; Langan, Simon; Nisbet, Tom; Roberts, Jennifer D.

doi:10.5194/hess-8-589-2004

Cited by 15 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…The protection of freshwater systems is an essential requirement of sustainable plantation forest (Neal et al, 2004). Therefore, information on the downstream persistence of impact on benthic macroinvertebrates communities is required to inform and develop guidelines for sustainable forestry and measures that can improve ecological health.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Longitudinal extent of acidification effects of plantation forest on benthic macroinvertebrate communities in soft water streams: evidence for localised impact and temporal ecological recovery

et al. 2011

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Plantation conifer forest can increase the risk of acidification in acid-sensitive catchments with consequences for macroinvertebrates and ecosystem functioning. This study compared headwater streams in forested and non-forested catchments to appraise the distance required for the acid effect on macroinvertebrates to diminish downstream. Strict criteria were followed in the selection of paired streams, including similarities in elevation, aspect, stream order, geographical proximity, geology and soil type, with no inflowing tributaries in the first 2.5 km and no major land-use other than plantation forest and moorland. Consequently two headwater streams (one forested, one non-forested) drained Ordovician sedimentary geology and two headwater streams (one forested, one non-forested) drained Old Red Sandstone (ORS) were selected. All streams drained peaty soils. Up to six sites at 500 m intervals were sampled in triplicate by multihabitat kick sampling. Ecological impact and recovery from acid effects involved the entire macroinvertebrate community, but varied between seasons.Acid-sensitive Ephemeroptera revealed marked effects of episodic acidification, with Baetis rhodani and Rhithrogena semicolorata found to be transient between seasons. The increase in acid-sensitive ephemeropteran species with increasing distance downstream indicates the finite effects of forest mediated acidification on soft water streams in Ireland. Ecological impact appears, therefore, to be localised within the catchment, with ecological recovery occurring a short distance downstream. This is the first study to have reported such results.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Longitudinal extent of acidification effects of plantation forest on benthic macroinvertebrate communities in soft water streams: evidence for localised impact and temporal ecological recovery

et al. 2011

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“…In particular, in the early to mid parts of the twentieth century conifer plantations were extensively introduced onto acidic and acid sensitive upland moorland. Now many of the plantations have reached maturity, widespread felling is affecting water quality (Hudson et al 1997;Neal et al 2004). The main focus on upland water quality has been on those components directly linked to acidification and forestry rotation cycles such as pH, inorganic aluminium and strong acid anions (chloride, sulphate and nitrate).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Increasing Iron Concentrations in UK Upland Waters

et al. 2008

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Iron distributions in rainfall, streams, soils and groundwaters are described for the Upper River Severn catchment of mid-Wales. Iron is mainly supplied from withincatchment sources with highest concentrations occurring under reducing conditions. Iron concentrations have doubled over the past 20 years (*5.0 lg yr -1 for the forest and *3.7 lg yr -1 for the moorland). For the forested sites, the gradients are particularly high post-1993. UK rivers/lakes monitored by the UK Acid Waters Monitoring Network show similar increases. Generally, Fe correlates with dissolved organic carbon (DOC). The greatest rates of Fe increase coincide with those for DOC. Thermodynamic modelling using WHAM/Model VI indicates that Fe(III) is mainly in microparticulate form (probably oxyhydroxides) apart from under reducing conditions. It is proposed that Fe increases for surface waters are associated with increased microparticulate Fe(III) due to stabilisation against aggregation by binding of DOM to its surface. The results relate to acidification declines and deforestation leading to land disturbance and wetter conditions within the soil. There will be greater acidification reversal following tree harvesting due to lowering of atmospheric SO x scavenging and this may have resulted in the greater increase in Fe in the later years of the study.

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“…This is probably the case in this study, as the area of riparian zone felled was small in comparison to both the catchments as a whole and the forest area. Generally, it has now been accepted that phased felling (rather than clear felling) of coniferous forestry offers the best hope of minimising long term detrimental impacts on aquatic biota (Neal et al 2004). This study indicates that felling an area in the order of 2-6 hectares immediately adjacent to streams is unlikely to have severe lasting impacts on the aquatic biota.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Riparian Zone Creation in Established Coniferous Forests in Irish Upland Peat Catchments: Physical, Chemical and Biological Implications

Ryder¹,

Eyto²,

Gormally³

et al. 2011

Biology & Environment: Proceedings of the Royal Irish Acade

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Plantation forests were established on western Irish peatlands before it became apparent that riparian buffer zones were essential for the health of important salmonid habitats and aquatic ecosystems. The option to retrofit a riparian buffer zone several years prior to the clearfelling of the main plantation may lessen the possible effect of the clearfelling on receiving waters and provide some protection against sediment and nutrient runoff. The option to create a RBZ can only be considered if it can be shown that clearfelling this zone of coniferous forestry along the stream does not pose a significant risk to the water bodies in the short term. To assess this risk, the hydrology, water chemistry and biota at three locations in western peatland catchments within mature, harvestable-age forestry plantations were studied prior to, during and immediately after riparian buffer zones were created. Results indicate that water discharge and suspended sediment increased significantly at two experimental sites post-felling. Maximum and minimum daily temperature and pH also increased significantly at two of the sites. The biological results from macroinvertebrate analysis indicated some significant changes in richness and abundance of species post-felling. The juvenile trout (Salmo trutta L.) densities remained stable over the sampling period and appeared unaffected by the clearfelling operations.

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Sustainability of UK forestry: contemporary issues for the protection of freshwaters, a conclusion

Cited by 15 publications

References 40 publications

Longitudinal extent of acidification effects of plantation forest on benthic macroinvertebrate communities in soft water streams: evidence for localised impact and temporal ecological recovery

Longitudinal extent of acidification effects of plantation forest on benthic macroinvertebrate communities in soft water streams: evidence for localised impact and temporal ecological recovery

Increasing Iron Concentrations in UK Upland Waters

Riparian Zone Creation in Established Coniferous Forests in Irish Upland Peat Catchments: Physical, Chemical and Biological Implications

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