Effects of Timber Harvesting with Best Management Practices on Ecosystem Metabolism of a Low Gradient Stream on the United States Gulf Coastal Plain

Water

Abram DaSilva³  Y. Jun Xu²  George Ice⁴  John Beebe¹ 

[1] National Council for Air & Stream Improvement, Inc., 4601 Campus Drive #A-114, Kalamazoo, MI 49008, USA; E-Mail:;School of Renewable Natural Resources, Louisiana State University Agricultural Center, 227 Highland Road, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA;Southeast Environmental Research Center, Florida International University, Miami, FL 33199, USA; E-Mail:;National Council for Air & Stream Improvement, Inc., P.O. Box 458, Corvallis, OR 97339, USA; E-Mail:

关键词: stream metabolism;    dissolved oxygen;    water quality;    forestry BMPs;    timber harvest;    low-gradient headwaters;   

DOI  :  10.3390/w5020747

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Stream metabolism can be used as a measure of freshwater ecosystem health because of its responsiveness to natural and anthropogenic changes. In this study, we used stream metabolic rates to test for the effects of a timber harvest with Louisiana’s current best management practices (BMPs). The study was conducted from 2006 to 2010 in a loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) stand in north-central Louisiana, USA, 45 ha of which was clear cut harvested in the summer of 2007. Dissolved oxygen (DO), water temperature, and stream depth were recorded at a site upstream (serving as a reference) and a site downstream of the harvested area. Using diurnal DO change and an open-system, single-station method at each site, we quantified rates of net ecosystem productivity (NEP), gross primary productivity (GPP), community respiration (CR), and the GPP/CR ratio. The system was predominately heterotrophic, with a GPP/CR ratio of less than one for 82% of the time at the upstream site. No calculated metabolic rate was significantly changed by the timber harvest (two-way ANOVA with interaction; p < 0.001). Overall, the results suggest that timber harvests of similar intensity with Louisiana’s current BMPs may not significantly impact stream biological conditions.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2013 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.