Canadian Forest Service Publications
Linking stream ecosystem integrity to catchment and reach conditions in an intensively managed forest landscape. 2018. Erdozain, M.; Kidd, K.; Kreutzweiser, D.; Sibley, P. Ecosphere 9(5): e02278.
Year: 2018
Issued by: Great Lakes Forestry Centre
Catalog ID: 39166
Language: English
Availability: PDF (download)
Available from the Journal's Web site. †
DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.2278
† This site may require a fee
Plain Language Summary
The paper reports a large field-based, NSERC-supported research project in which NRCan/CFS was a key player. Working closely with an industrial partner, JD Irving, and on their land, we conducted a comprehensive assessment of water quality and biological endpoints in headwater streams of an intensively managed forest area in New Brunswick. We found that as forest management intensity increased, from partial-harvest deciduous management to clearcut and highly-tended conifer plantations, that various aspects of aquatic habitats decreased in quality. Almost all habitat-related effects were linked to roads or road crossings rather than to the forest management activities themselves. Despite the decreases in water and aquatic habitat quality at intensively managed sites, there was no evidence of biological impairment. The study was unique or incremental to previous work in that it integrated a suite of ecological indicators and was conducted on an intensively managed forest landscape.
