CGRG Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology
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Author : Clarke, K.D.; McCarthy, J.H.; Scruton, D.A.; and Curry, R.A.
Date : 2002.
Title : Assessing the impacts of forest harvesting within a small Newfoundland headwater system: with an evaluation of a 20 meter "no cut" buffer as means to mitigating harmful effects.
Publication : Symposium on Small Stream Channels and Their Riparian Zone: Their Form, Function and Ecological Importance in a Watershed Context. February 19 - 20, 2002 . Vancouver, BC. UBC Forest Sciences Building.
Issue :
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Abstract
The Copper Lake Buffer Zone Study was a multi-year research project initiated to evaluate the effectiveness of a 20 meter 'no-cut' buffer zone in mitigating the detrimental effects of forest harvesting on small headwater streams. The study was initiated in the summer of 1993 with pre-harvest conditions being monitored from 1993 to 1995. A limited clear cut was conducted during the winter of 1995 with harvesting being completed during the summer of 1996. Streams within the watershed were harvested with one of three ÔbufferÕ treatments. Streams were either clear cut to the waters edge, i.e. no buffer, with a 20 meter buffer or with a 100 meter buffer which served as a control. The subsequent two years of the study (1997 and 1998) were intensively monitored for post harvest conditions. Observational and opportunistic sampling has been conducted in the area since 1998 and an evaluation of the buffer condition was conducted in the fall of 2001. This paper gives an overview of observed changes in physical habitat parameters such as large woody debris dynamics, sediment accumulation, water temperature, and water quality within the Copper Lake watershed over the course of the study. These physical changes are discussed with respect to their potential effect on brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) population characteristics (density, biomass, age-class structure, production), incubation habitats and migration patterns. The 20 meter buffer appear to have protected the streams for the most part, however, some questions remain regarding adequate protection during flood conditions, within incubation habitats and in streams that are crossed by resource roads. A preliminary assessment of the buffer strips five years after cutting will also be presented.
Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology