Project 1:

Title: Effects of Meadow Creek Restoration on Stream Habitat and Community Composition at the Stibnite Mine Site

Principal Investigators: David S. Pilliod1, Robert Arkle1

1USGS Centers: Snake River Field Station, Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center (current address). Affiliation at the time of the research and reporting was California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA.

Project Location: Meadow Creek, Krassel Ranger District, Payette National Forest

Project Duration: 2006 - 2008

Project Funding: Payette National Forest

Summary: The goal of this study was to determine the effects and effectiveness of different stream restoration strategies in the Stibnite Mine reclamation area. The first restoration project was completed in 1998 and restored the upstream 1.6 km of Meadow Creek in the Stibnite Mine site. The second project was completed in 2005 and restored a 1.6 km reach of Meadow Creek immediately downstream of the first project. In the summers of 2006 and 2007, we compared the similarity of habitat and biotic conditions in the two restoration reaches (Lower and Upper) to an upstream reference reach (Above) and to a downstream reach (Below) of Meadow Creek. Information indicates the following preliminary findings, which are considered provisional and subject to change during the process of developing a peer-reviewed final report. The habitat conditions within the four reaches of Meadow Creek may be quite different due to past land use and subsequent stream restoration projects. Habitat parameters within the Lower restoration project, which was completed in 2005, may be more similar to the reach downstream (Below reach) of the restoration projects and to the upstream reference reach (Above reach), than to the habitat conditions within the 1998 restoration project (Upper restoration reach). The restoration project completed in 2005 (Lower restoration reach) may be providing high quality tailed frog and macroinvertebrate habitat. Despite 8-9 years of time, the restoration project completed in 1998 (Upper restoration reach), may not be providing good habitat for tailed frog reproduction or macroinvertebrates, but is being used by Columbia spotted frogs.

Final report: A final peer-reviewed report is coming soon.

Project 2:

Title: Effects of Fire on Stream Ecosystems in Western Forests

Principal Investigators: David S. Pilliod, R. Bruce Bury, Paul Stephen Corn, Robert Arkle

USGS Centers: Snake River Field Station, Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center and Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute, Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center

Project Location: Idaho: 2000 Diamond Peak Fire, Krassel RD-Payette NF; Montana: 2000 Bitterroot Valley Fire Complex, Sula RD-Bitterroot NF; Oregon: 2001 Quartz Fire, Applegate RD-Rogue NF; Grayback Mtn-Siskiyou NF; 2002 Biscuit Fire, Grants Pass Resource Area-Medford BLM.

Project Duration: 2001 - 2006

Project Funding: Joint Fire Science Program (65%), USFS R1/R4 National Fire Plan (22%), USGS Amphibian Research and Monitoring Initiative (10%), USGS Fire Science Program (3%), and Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute (1%)

Summary: Initiated in 2001, the goal of this study was to quantify and compare the ecological consequences of (1) unburned forests (fires absent for at least 70 yrs), (2) prescribed understory fire, and (3) stand-replacement fire. To document the range of biotic and abiotic responses to wildland fires, we compared stream amphibian populations, macroinvertebrate communities, and instream habitat conditions in watersheds that burned, at varying intensities, to streams in unburned forests (fires absent for at least 70 yrs). This study focused on short- to intermediate-term (1-4 years) responses to wildland fires in ponderosa pine and mixed conifer forests and was replicated in Idaho, Montana, and Oregon. To determine whether prescription burning mimics the ecological function of wildland fire in ponderosa pine and Douglas-fir forests, we monitored stream biota and habitat conditions 3 years before and 3 years after a spring broadcast burn treatment in the South Fork River Subbasin in Idaho. Using a before-after-control-impact design, we compared tailed frog (Ascaphus montanus) tadpole densities and benthic macroinvertebrate communities in the treatment stream and 4 unburned reference streams over the same time periods.

Products:

Pilliod, D.S., R.B. Bury, P.S. Corn, J.S. Evans, and T.B. Jain. In prep. Effects of burn severity on stream amphibian reproduction in the Northwest, USA. To be submitted summer 2008.

Arkle, R.S., D.S. Pilliod, and K. Strickler. In review. The ecological complexity of terrestrial-aquatic linkages: disturbance interactions and dynamic equilibrium in aquatic macroinvertebrate communities. Submitted to Ecology.

Arkle, R.S., D.S. Pilliod, and K. Strickler. In review. The effects of prescribed fire on community and ecosystem dynamics in a second-order Idaho stream. To be submitted spring 2008.

Bury, R.B., D.S. Pilliod, R.S. Arkle, S. Wessell, E. Hyde, D. DeGross, and P.S. Corn. In prep. Stream habitat differences between burned and unburned forest watersheds in the western U.S. To be submitted fall 2008.

Bury, R.B. and D.S. Pilliod. In prep. Stream amphibian responses to habitat differences between burned and unburned forest watersheds in the western U.S. To be submitted fall 2008.

Project 3

Title: Post-fire Recovery of Riparian Forests

Principal Investigators: David S. Pilliod1 and Robert Arkle1

1USGS Centers: Snake River Field Station, Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center (current address). Affiliation at the time of the research and reporting was California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA.

Project Location: Big Creek Watershed, Krassel Ranger District, Payette National Forest

Project Duration: 2006

Project Funding: Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute

Summary: The goal of this study is to quantify post-fire recovery of stream amphibians, benthic macroinvertebrates, and riparian vegetation in a federally designated wilderness. To examine linkages between upland, riparian, and instream post-fire recovery patterns, we compared habitat and biotic conditions in several burned watersheds two and six years post-fire. Information indicates the following preliminary findings, which are considered provisional and subject to change during the process of developing a peer-reviewed final report.

Six years after the Diamond Peak Fire Complex of 2000, apparently many habitat characteristics within the burned watersheds did not exhibit a trend towards recovery. Remotely sensed reflectance values showed some watershed-level vegetation recovery one year post-fire, but little subsequent change from two to six years post-fire. From two to six years post-fire, upland litter, moss, grass, and shrubs increased significantly, whereas tree densities decreased substantially within vegetation plots. No tree seedling or sapling recruits were observed in vegetation plots two or six years post-fire. Possibly either the seed bank was consumed during the wildland fire, or that post-fire conditions were not suitable for seed germination. Riparian canopy cover over streams increased and water temperatures decreased significantly between two and six years after the fire. Instream large wood debris did not change between years, but in three of five streams, small organic debris decreased from 2002 levels. Most streams exhibited an increase in average substrate particle size and a decrease in average substrate embeddedness. Current velocity, discharge, and the annual peak streamflow were significantly higher in 2006 than in 2002, possibly as a result of different weather patterns. These high peak streamflows may have been important in influencing habitat and biotic parameters in the post-fire environment. Fish occupancy declined from 2002 to 2006 by 50 percent or more in four of five streams. A similar decline was observed in 2003 after high peak streamflows. Tailed frog larval densities decreased significantly in three of five streams. Much of this decline may be due to a lack of one-year-old individuals. Possible explanations for their absence could be poor reproduction by adults or a reduction in survivorship of first-year larvae in the burned watersheds. Macroinvertebrate community composition in the burned watersheds did not change significantly, but differed significantly from the unburned reference watersheds both two and six years post-fire. Our preliminary results indicate that six years post-fire, apparently little recovery has taken place in the upland vegetation community. Riparian vegetation appears to have regenerated more quickly and may play a role in stabilizing several instream conditions. While some instream habitat characteristics appear to be recovering, other habitat parameters, fish, amphibians, and benthic macroinvertebrates do not appear to have stabilized. These findings support the possibility that although many native species can reestablish or maintain populations following disturbance, environmental variability can continue to affect community dynamics for several years post-fire, making recovery a slow and variable process.

Final report:Post-fire Recovery of Stream Amphibians, Benthic Macroinvertebrates, and Riparian Vegetation in a Federally Designated Wilderness. Available from authors.

Time-lapse photos of the Cliff Creek site.
All photos by D. Pilliod

Looking North

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

Looking South

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

Project 4:

Title: Cumulative effects of fire and fuels management on stream water quality and ecosystem dynamics

Principal Investigators: David S. Pilliod and Robert Arkle

USGS Centers: Snake River Field Station, Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center

Project Location: Big Creek and South Fork Salmon River Watershed, Krassel Ranger District, Payette National Forest

Project Duration: 2008 - 2010

Project Funding: Joint Fire Science Program

Summary: Prescribed fires and wildland fire-use are increasingly important management tools used to reduce fuel loads and restore the ecological integrity of western forests. Although a basic understanding of the effects of fire on aquatic ecosystems exists, the cumulative and possibly synergistic effects of wildfire following prescribed fire are unknown. Wildfires following prescribed fire will likely produce different burn severities and effects on riparian and stream ecosystems than wildfires in fire suppressed forests (e.g., fires absent >70 yrs) or prescribed fires alone. Given the potential for these various burn scenarios to affect water quality, habitat conditions for sensitive species, and costs associated with post-fire rehabilitation, information that can help characterize the effects of different burn scenarios are critically needed. The goal of this study is to quantify and compare the effects of wildland fire on stream ecosystem responses under three fire management practices: (1) wildfire following prescribed fire, (2) wildfire in fire suppressed forests, and (3) wildfire occurring at historic fire return intervals. We are in a unique position to make these comparisons because of seven years of existing pre-fire data (2001-2007) on stream biota and habitat on tributaries of the South Fork Salmon River and Big Creek watersheds in central Idaho. In August and September 2007, two large wildland fires (Cascade Complex and East-Zone Complex) burned across 13 of our study streams. This created a rare opportunity to examine post-fire water quality, stream community, and riparian forest responses to wildfire in streams flowing through watersheds that had been previously burned in a prescribed fire (5 streams) and streams flowing through fire suppressed forests (8 streams). Abiotic and biotic trends in these 13 streams will be compared to 7 streams flowing through an adjacent wilderness area that burned one or more times in the last 20 years under a fairly natural fire regime and which we have sampled annually since 2001. Because stream and riparian communities are inherently dynamic, availability of pre-fire data allows for robust analyses capable of differentiating fire effects from natural variability. In all watersheds, we will resample the same metrics as previously (2001-2007) sampled: riparian- and watershed-level burn severity patterns, riparian forest structure, hydrology, amphibians, aquatic macroinvertebrates, periphyton, and instream habitat (temperature, chemistry, substrate, sedimentation, and large woody debris).

The proposed three years of post-fire sampling will allow us to conduct a before-after-control-impact (BACI) analysis which, along with mean difference approaches, general linear models, and multivariate analyses will provide greater statistical power and inference for possible cause-effect relationships. The proposed research directly addresses RFA Task 5; the re-measurement of recently burned-over experimental sites where extensive pre-fire data are available on fuel treatments, pre-fire riparian stand structure, and stream habitat and biota. The results of this study will provide helpful information for managers to (1) evaluate the immediate and short-term (3 year) effects of alternative fire management activities on stream ecosystems, (2) assess how fire management affects the ecological integrity of aquatic communities, and (3) identify potential opportunities to better manage habitats and food webs supporting Threatened and Endangered aquatic species.