Water Stewardship Information Sources
| ID | 1577 |
|---|---|
| Citation | Schnorbus, M. 2010. A synthesis of the hydrological consequences of large-scale mountain pine beetle disturbance. Canadian Forest Service, Mountain Pine Beetle Working Paper 2010-01. |
| Organization | Canadian Forest Service |
| URL | http://www.cfs.nrcan.gc.ca/pubwarehouse/pdfs/32211.pdf |
| Abstract/Description or Keywords | The present mountain pine beetle (MPB) outbreak has become the most extensive ever recorded in the province of British Columbia. As of 2010, the cumulative area of provincial Crown forest affected was roughly 16.3 million ha. Due to the widespread abundance and commercial value of lodgepole pine, an aggressive program of salvage harvesting has been initiated, resulting in elevated cut rates in many of the areas affected by the outbreak. The MPB disturbance is located within the British Columbia Interior, an area characterized by a snow-dominated hydrologic regime. Within this regime forests play an important role in regulating the terrestrial water cycle, controlling how rain and snowfall are partitioned between interception, evaporation, snow and soil storage, runoff, and streamflow. Historically, most forest hydrology research into the effects of forest disturbance has been based on the impacts of clearcutting. The distinguishing feature of this MPB epidemic is that, despite its vast and unprecedented size, it is a biotic disturbance that does not necessarily result in complete stand loss. Unlike a stand-replacing disturbance (such as clearcutting or severe wildfire), even pure pine stands can retain a hydrologically functional secondary structure following beetle kill. The presence of such multi-storeyed secondary structure can mitigate the effects of beetle-kill. This issue compels better quantification of the impacts of a non-stand-replacing event on hydrology, and an improved understanding of how the hydrologic cycle is affected along a gradient of canopy loss and tree mortality. |
| Information Type | report |
| Regional Watershed | Okanagan, Thompson, Similkameen, nicola, shuswap |
| Sub-watershed if known | |
| Aquifer # | |
| Comments | |
| Project status | complete |
| Contact Name | Markus Schnorbus |
| Contact Email | [email protected] |