Aquatic
and Riparian Ecosystems
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RWU4352 (970) 498-1302 |
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RWU4352 - Rocky Mountain Research Station
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Consequences of land management and natural disturbance to water quality and quantity across the aquatic, riparian, and upland continuum.Key Accomplishments, Products, and Publications
- Inland subspecies of cutthroat trout have been declining for the past 150 years as a consequence of habitat loss, invasions of nonnative trout, and overharvest. Efforts to conserve and restore populations of greenback cutthroat trout, listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, and Colorado River cutthroat trout, considered a sensitive species in Region 2, have been uderway for over 30 years. In collaboration with the Arapaho-Roosevelt and Medicine Bow-Routt National Forests, unit scientists have been devising new protocols for monitoring the recovery, and have created and validated the first empirically based model to predict population size based on stream length.
- Lack of spatial information on hydrological inputs, such as snowpack distribution, continues to be a critical problem impeding progess in improving forecast models for runoff and water supply. Unit scientists continue to work with NASA, NOAA and DoD scientists to design, test, and launch a satellite that will improve our abilities to measure spatial hydrological information on local, regional and global scales.
- Forest productivity universally declines with forest age. We showed that the decline in forest productivity with forest age was caused by a decline in canopy photosynthesis, and that proper nutrition could slow, but not halt the decline. However, optimal nutrition may lead to lower carbon storage in soils.
- Despite the importance of riparian areas and the recognition of fire as a critical natural disturbance, limited data are available on post-fire growth rates of riparian species and the influence of management activites on streamside plant regeneration. We have characterized recover rates for key shrubs, and the influence of management practices on regrowth following wildland fire. Results will assist in prescribing effective rehabilitation projects following fire, particularly in priority watersheds or along streams that provide critical habitat for rare fish species.
USDA Forest Service - RMRS - RWU4352
Last Modified: Thursday, 14 June 2007 at 17:30:36 EDT
Page Contact: Marian Lathrop