Chuck Rhoades
Research Biogeochemist at the Fort Collins Laboratory

e-mail: crhoades[at]fs.fed.us
phone:970-498-1250

Personal Research Program

Recent Publications

Science Delivery Products

Posters

• Biogeochemistry | Atmospheric Deposition | Water & Watershed Processes | Climate Change
  • Watershed Biogeochemistry Research examines the atmospheric, terrestrial, and aquatic processes that regulate soil and water quality and that sustain forest productivity.
    -In snow-dominated watersheds of the central Rockies, the biogeochemical consequences of climate change, wildfire and insect outbreak are poorly understood. Research evaluate the elemental links between atmospheric deposition, vegetation and soil nutrient retention and transformation, and streamwater export. Study findings increase understanding of the natural range of variability in watershed processes and support efforts to monitor the consequences of management manipulations and assess the success of restoration treatments. Such work is also integral to long-term monitoring of Fraser Experimental Forest watersheds. Specific studies consider the influence of:
    • Bark beetle outbreak on water quality and nutrient export
    • Headwater springs on basin-scale streamwater chemistry
    • Atmospheric dust deposition on snowpack chemistry
    • Snow redistribution on alpine biogeochemistry
    • Wildfire severity on streamwater chemistry

  • Research Supporting Sound Resource Management
    Efforts to improve the health of western forests by reducing hazardous fuel loads, decommissioning roads or treating insect infestations will benefit from better understanding of the interplay between natural ecosystem dynamics and management actions. Biogeochemical research helps land managers evaluate how well watershed conservation practices protect water quality and other aquatic resources. Specific studies assess:

    • The effectiveness of riparian buffers at reducing water quality degradation caused by sediment and nutrient movement during timber harvesting operations.
    • How recovery of soil nitrogen cycling processes regulates post-harvest nutrient retention and leaching in subalpine forests.
    • The consequences of post-beetle outbreak salvage logging on soil and forest productivity.
    • How mechanical fuel reduction alters water quality, soil productivity and forest regeneration.

Long-term Water Quality and Stream Nutrient Responses to Forest Harvest and Disturbance at US Forest Service Experimental Forests and Ranges. Johnson, S. L.; Sebestyen, S. D.; Adams, M.; Amatya, D. M.; Bailey, S. W.; Jones, J. B.; Knoepp, J. D.; McCaughey, W.; McDowell, W. H.; McGuire, K. J.; Rhoades, C. C.; Wohlgemuth, P. M. American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2008, abstract #H13C-0926. 

Streamwater Nitrogen During Mountain Pine Beetle Infestation of Subalpine Watersheds at the US Forest Service, Fraser Experimental Forest. Chuck Rhoades, Kelly Elder, Rob Hubbard, Mark Dixon. American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2008. 

Chemical composition of stream water in mixed alpine & subalpine watersheds at the Fraser Experimental Forest, Colorado. C. Rhoades, J. Norman III, E. Kelly and K. Elder. July 2008. CUASHI Biennial Colloquim on Hydrologic Science and Engineering, Boulder, CO. 

A Striking Profile - Soils Knowledge Applied to Restoration Science. Rhoades, C.C., Miller, S.P. Callaham, Jr., M.A. and L. Heneghan, December 2006. Soil Ecology Restoration Workshop, DePaul University, Chicago, IL.  

The Influence of a Dust Event on Snow Chemistry. C. Rhoades, K. Elder and E. Greene. October 2006. International Snow Science Workshop, Telluride, CO.  

Assessing biogeochemical & hydrologic change during incipient bark beetle outbreak in managed and unmanaged subalpine watersheds. C. Rhoades, K. Elder, R. Hubbard and M. Dixon. July 2006. Advances in Threat Assessment and their application to forest and range management. Boulder, CO. 

Soil nitrogen turnover and release 25 & 50 years after harvesting subalpine forests in the Rocky Mountains of central Colorado. C. Rhoades, R. Hubbard, B. Starr and M. Ryan. October 2005. Soil Science Society of America Annual Meeting, Salt Lake City, UT.  

The Influence of Hillside Springs on Subalpine Streamwater. Rhoades, C.C., Quiet, N., Dwire, K.A. and K. Brewer. September 2005. Forest Service Watershed Research Meeting, Fraser Experimental Forest, Fraser, CO.  

Landscape-scale patterns in N biogeochemistry of high elevation ridges: Preliminary findings and hypothesized controls. Rhoades, C.C., E.F. Kelly, M. Stromberger, R.L. Sandford, Jr. August 2005. Ecological Society of America, Montreal, Ontario, Canada. 

Streamwater chemistry and sediment responses to wildfire in the Colorado Front Range. C. Rhoades, D. Entwistle, D. Butler and B. Starr. December 2004. American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting, San Francisco, CA.

Research Scientists