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Project ID: 01-1-3-12

Year: 2001

Date Started: 08/22/2001

Date Completed: 02/07/2007

Title: Effects of Prescribed and Wildland Fire on Aquatic Ecosystems in Western Forests

Project Proposal Abstract: Prescription burning and Fire Management Plan - approved wildland fires are increasingly important management tools used to reduce fuel loads and restore the ecological integrity of western forests. However, the effects of prescribed fires, fire suppression, and stand-replacing fires (= wildland fires) on aquatic ecosystems are not yet understood. The goal of this study is 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. Four primary stream indicators will be used: amphibians, aquatic macroinvertebrates, periphyton, and stream conditions (temperature, chemistry, discharge, sedimentation, and large woody debris). The effects of prescribed fire fuel manipulations will be evaluated in controlled natural experiments in Ponderosa Pine/mixed coniferous forests in watersheds in the South Fork Salmon basin in central Idaho and in mixed coniferous/hardwood forests in the Siskiyou Mountains in southwestern Oregon. The effects of wildland fires (1-15 years old) will be evaluated in paired creeks (burned, unburned) in (1) Big Creek drainage, Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness, central Idaho, (2) Bitteroot River drainage, western Montana, (3) Rogue River, Siskiyou Mountains near the Oregon- California border, (4) Umpqua River, southwestern Oregon, and (5) Wallowa Mountains, northeastern Oregon. The proposed research directly addresses the RFP Task 3 to determine the cumulative effects of fuels manipulation/reduction methods on wildlife population and habitat structure dynamics, and ecosystem health. The results of this study will provide critical information necessary for managers to (1) evaluate the immediate and long-term effects of alternative fire management activities on stream ecosystems, (2) assess how fire management affects the ecological integrity of aquatic ecosystems, and (3) identify potential opportunities to better manage for Threatened and Endangered aquatic species.

Principal Investigator: R. Bruce Bury

Agency/Organization: USGS-Geological Survey

Branch or Dept: FRESC-Corvallis Research Group

Other Project Collaborators

Type	Name	Agency/Organization	Branch or Dept
Co-Principal Investigator	P. Stephen Corn	USGS-Geological Survey	NOROCK-Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute
Co-Principal Investigator	David S. Pilliod	USGS-Geological Survey	BRD-Snake River Field Station
Collaborator/Contributor	George Arnold	BLM-Bureau of Land Management	Medford District Office
Collaborator/Contributor	Tom Atzet	Forest Service	Rogue River-Siskiyou NF-Siskiyou Mountains Ranger District
Collaborator/Contributor	Greg Chandler	BLM-Bureau of Land Management	Medford District Office
Collaborator/Contributor	Raymond J. Davis	Forest Service	Umpqua National Forest
Collaborator/Contributor	Sam Hescock	Forest Service	Payette National Forest
Collaborator/Contributor	Anthony Kerwin	BLM-Bureau of Land Management	Medford District Office
Collaborator/Contributor	Joseph Lint	BLM-Bureau of Land Management	Roseburg District Office
Collaborator/Contributor	Christopher Pearl	USGS-Geological Survey	FRESC-Corvallis Research Group
Collaborator/Contributor	Jim Ramakka	BLM-Bureau of Land Management	Medford District Office
Collaborator/Contributor	Victoria A. Saab	Forest Service	RMRS-Southwest Forest Science Complex
Collaborator/Contributor	Katherine Strickler	University of Idaho	Taylor Wilderness Field Station
Collaborator/Contributor	Lee Webb	Forest Service	Rogue River-Siskiyou NF-Siskiyou Mountains Ranger District
Collaborator/Contributor	Sherry Wollrab	Forest Service	RMRS-Forestry Sciences Lab-Boise
Federal Cooperator	R. Bruce Bury	USGS-Geological Survey	FRESC-Corvallis Research Group
Manager/Coordinator	Erin Hyde	USGS-Geological Survey	FRESC-Corvallis Research Group

Project Locations

Consortium

California

Northern Rockies

Northwest

There are no project locations identified for this project.

Project Deliverables

Final Report ("Results presented in JFSP Final Reports may not have been peer-reviewed and should be interpreted as tentative until published in a peer-reviewed source.")

	ID	Type	Title
	8989	Refereed Publication	Arkle, R.S., D.S. Pilliod, and K. Strickler. 2010. Fire, flow, and dynamic equilibrium in stream macroinvertebrate communities. Freshwater Biology 55:299-314.
	2584	Refereed Publication	Fire and Amphibians in North America
	8990	Refereed Publication	Prescribed Fires as Ecological Surrogates for Wildfires: A Stream and Riparian Perspective

Supporting Documents

The following supporting documents are available for this project.

Brief

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