RED ALDER LEAF LITTER AND STREAMWATER QUALITY IN WESTERN OREGON1

ABSTRACT: Streamside red alder (Alnus rubra Bong.) stands are common in western Oregon, and they have been suspected of causing water quality problems in domestic supplies during autumn leaf fall. Studies in the Seaside municipal watershed showed potential water quality effects (particularly increased color) from alder leaves, but stream sampling during 1981–82 revealed no chronic problems. The few observed short-term increases in water color occurred near the onset of storm flows, which suggested a flushing of organic matter storage sites. An extended period of unusually low flows and high leaf fall are probably necessary to produce significant water quality problems in this stream system. Laboratory leaching of alder leaves in filtered stream water indicated a fairly constant release of colored organic matter over time, and running water leached this matter more efficiently than still water. Water color increased linearly with increasing leaf mass added to still water, and for a given leaf mass there appeared to be a limit to the amount of colored matter that could be removed in the first 48 hours of leaching. Other laboratory tests showed that ultraviolet absorbance (254 mm) may provide a reasonable estimate of dissolved organic carbon concentrations in systems dominated by alder leaf inputs.     

RIPARIAN COMMUNITIES ASSOCIATED WITH PACIFIC NORTHWEST HEADWATER STREAMS: ASSEMBLAGES,PROCESSES, AND UNIQUENESS1

Riparian areas of large streams provide important habitat to many species and control many instream processes — but is the same true for the margins of small streams? This review considers riparian areas alongside small streams in forested, mountainous areas of the Pacific Northwest and asks if there are fundamental ecological differences from larger streams and from other regions and if there are consequences for management from any differences. In the moist forests along many small streams of the Pacific Northwest, the contrast between the streamside and upslope forest is not as strong as that found in drier regions. Small streams typically lack floodplains, and the riparian area is often constrained by the hillslope. Nevertheless, riparian‐associated organisms, some unique to headwater areas, are found along small streams. Disturbance of hillslopes and stream channels and microclimatic effects of streams on the riparian area provide great heterogeneity in processes and diversity of habitats. The tight coupling of the terrestrial riparian area with the aquatic system results from the closed canopy and high edge‐to‐area ratio for small streams. Riparian areas of the temperate, conifer dominated forests of the Pacific Northwest provide a unique environment. Forest management guidelines for small streams vary widely, and there has been little evaluation of the local or downstream consequences of forest practices along small streams.     

EFFECTS OF PRESCRIPTIVE RIPARIAN BUFFERS ON LANDSCAPE CHARACTERISTICS IN NORTHERN MINNESOTA,USA1

ABSTRACT: Forest buffers adjacent to water bodies are widely prescribed in forest management to protect ecological functions of riparian systems. To date, buffers have been applied on the landscape uniformly without quantifying their effectiveness or the effects they have on landscape characteristics. Our objective was to quantify landscape characteristics (amount of edge and interior forest) when buffers were applied to water bodies in a 100 by 100 km area of northern Minnesota. We used a Landsat classified image in a geographic information system platform to apply two buffer widths ?28.5 m and 57 m — to water bodies, including nonforested wetlands, intermittent or perennial streams, and lakes. A total of 107,141 ha (18.3 percent) of the forest area was adjacent to and within 28.5 m of these water bodies, while 201,457 ha of forest was within 57 m, representing 34.4 percent of the total forest area. Imposing a 28.5 m buffer on water bodies increased the amount of edge and interior forest in the study area. When water bodies were buffered with a 57 m forest strip, we found a slight increase in forest edge from the current condition, and this buffer width resulted in the largest amount of interior forest. Interior forest increased with the 57 m buffer due to the density of water bodies in this region; adjacent water bodies coalesced when buffers were applied and formed isolated forest islands that contained forest interior habitat. Instead of wholesale application of set width riparian buffers, we suggest that ecological conditions of riparian areas be evaluated on a site level and that areas that currently provide important riparian conditions be maintained on the landscape with appropriate management practices.     

MARSH DEVELOPMENT AT RESTORATION SITES ON THE WHITE MOUNTAIN APACHE RESERVATION,ARIZONA1

ABSTRACT: To prioritize sites for riparian restoration, resource managers need to understand how recovery processes vary within landscapes. Complex relationships between watershed conditions and riparian development make it difficult to predict the outcomes of restoration treatments in the semiarid Southwest. Large floods in 1993 scoured riparian areas in the Carrizo watershed on the White Mountain Apache Reservation in east‐central Arizona. We evaluated recovery at three of these sites using repeated photographs and measurements of channel cross sections and stream‐side vegetation along permanent transects. The sites were mapped as lying on the same soil type, had similar streamside vegetative communities, and were similarly treated through livestock exclusion and supplemental seeding. However, the sites and individual reaches within the sites followed strikingly different development paths. Dramatic recovery occurred at a perennial reach where cover of emergent wetland plants increased from 4.7 percent (standard error = 0.8 percent) in October 1995 to 55.5 percent (standard error = 2.7 percent) in September 2001. At several other reaches, geologic and hydro geomorphic characteristics of the sites limited inputs of fine sediment or surface water, resulting in modest or negligible increases in emergent cover. Recovery efforts for highly valued marshlands in this region should prioritize perennial reaches in low gradient valleys where salty sediments are abundant.     

玛瑙河多环境介质和铜锈环棱螺体内微塑料的赋存特征

微塑料污染对水生态系统及人类健康危害大,为探究微塑料在不同环境介质中的赋存特征,选择长江一级支流玛瑙河为研究区域,通过现场采样、显微镜观察和傅里叶红外光谱测定等,对玛瑙河表层水体、沉积物、河岸带土壤和底栖动物铜锈环棱螺中微塑料的丰度、粒径、形状、颜色和组成类型进行了分析.结果表明,玛瑙河表层水体的微塑料平均丰度为（5.9±0.26）n·L^-1;上层沉积物中微塑料丰度（以干重计）为（1.35±0.1）n·g^-1,下层沉积物中微塑料丰度（以干重计）为（0.93±0.12）n·g^-1;近河岸带土壤中微塑料丰度（以干重计）为（0.68±0.16）n·g^-1,远河岸带土壤中微塑料丰度（以干重计）为（0.69±0.14）n·g^-1;铜锈环棱螺体内微塑料丰度为（2.06±0.25）n·g^-1.分析发现,上层沉积物和下层沉积物中微塑料丰度呈正相关;铜锈环棱螺体内微塑料丰度分别与上、下层沉积物中微塑料丰度呈正相关;近、远河岸带土壤中微塑料丰度具有相关性.各环境介质和铜锈环棱螺体内微塑料粒径大多<0.1mm,主要形态为纤维状和碎片状,颜色以蓝色和黑色为主,成分主要是聚丙烯（PP）和聚乙烯（PE）.研究发现,河岸带土壤中微塑料主要来源于农用塑料薄膜的破碎和分解.通过多环境介质调查和铜锈环棱螺体内微塑料的分析,探明了大型底栖动物体内微塑料的累积效应,可为全面了解微塑料潜在生态风险提供依据.     

A lidar-based assessment of riparian shade and large wood potential in the Skagit River watershed,WA

Wild salmon stocks in the Pacific Northwest are imperiled by a variety of declining habitat factors, including riparian shade and in-channel large wood. In this paper, a relatively simple lidar model of the riparian canopy was used along anadromous streams in the Skagit River watershed in western Washington State, United States, to delineate where riparian trees were most lacking, and where restoration efforts would have the greatest benefit in terms of shade and large wood recruitment potential. Within a 45-m riparian buffer, 61% of riparian zones were currently incapable of delivering large wood to the stream. Current potential for large wood recruitment is greatest adjacent to stream edges and falls off rapidly with distance from the channel. Approximately 99% of large wood recruitment potential lies within 45 m of the channel edge, and 50% of the wood potential is within 9 m. A hypothetical canopy model in which all trees mature to a 100-year height would provide 18% more shade distributed over the entire watershed, and 90% more shade in the tributaries. Most of the potential gains in improved shade and large wood contributions are in agricultural areas, as opposed to forestry or urban land uses. The shade and large wood models were constructed from widely available geographic information system tools and are readily transferable to other watersheds with similar characteristics. Model outputs are intended for use in planning restoration projects, as an input to stream temperature models, and to inform policy on restoration priorities and regulatory buffer widths.     

Precision Measurements from Very-Large Scale Aerial Digital Imagery

Managers need measurements and resource managers need the length/width of a variety of items including that of animals, logs, streams, plant canopies, man-made objects, riparian habitat, vegetation patches and other things important in resource monitoring and land inspection. These types of measurements can now be easily and accurately obtained from very large scale aerial (VLSA) imagery having spatial resolutions as fine as 1 millimeter per pixel by using the three new software programs described here. VLSA images have small fields of view and are used for intermittent sampling across extensive landscapes. Pixel-coverage among images is influenced by small changes in airplane altitude above ground level (AGL) and orientation relative to the ground, as well as by changes in topography. These factors affect the object-to-camera distance used for image-resolution calculations. ‘ImageMeasurement’ offers a user-friendly interface for accounting for pixel-coverage variation among images by utilizing a database. ‘LaserLOG’ records and displays airplane altitude AGL measured from a high frequency laser rangefinder, and displays the vertical velocity. ‘Merge’ sorts through large amounts of data generated by LaserLOG and matches precise airplane altitudes with camera trigger times for input to the ImageMeasurement database. We discuss application of these tools, including error estimates. We found measurements from aerial images (collection resolution: 5–26 mm/pixel as projected on the ground) using ImageMeasurement, LaserLOG, and Merge, were accurate to centimeters with an error less than 10%. We recommend these software packages as a means for expanding the utility of aerial image data.     

香溪河流域不同介质中碳、氮、磷的分布特征及相关性研究

为了解香溪河流域碳、氮、磷的分布情况及水、陆生态系统中这些生源要素间的相互关系,对流域内河岸带土壤、河流水体及沉积物中总有机碳(TOC)、总氮(TN)、总磷(TP)含量进行调查,分析它们在流域内的分布特点,探讨各要素在3种介质间的相关性及随河流级别的变化规律。研究发现,超过60%的样点土壤中TOC、TN含量处于"较丰富"或"丰富"等级,耕地附近样点的TOC、TN和磷矿区附近样点的TP普遍偏高。河流水体及沉积物中各要素的含量都与土壤中的含量紧密相关,但水、陆介质间TP的相关性较TOC、TN强。低级别河流样点土壤中TOC、TN、C/P、N/P值和沉积物中C/P及N/P值整体较高级别河流样点高。结果表明:以磷矿开发和农业施肥为代表的人类活动,对香溪河流域内生源要素的含量及分布产生了显著影响;水体中P元素含量与陆源关系最强,在水体污染控制中应予以重视。     

三峡库区香溪河流域河岸带种子植物区系研究

根据详细的植物群落调查资料,对三峡库区香溪河流域河岸带种子植物区系进行了研究。结果表明：河岸带维管束种类在科级水平上占神农架的65.8％,在属级水平上占47.3％,在种级水平上占26.7％。河岸带植物区系的性质为温带特性,与神农架地区种子植物属的性质相一致。河岸带这一独特自然景观的植物区系在整个区域自然景观中具有相当的代表性。在香溪河流域河岸带中,维管束植物种类较丰富,分布着大量的珍稀濒危植物种类,表明河岸带在生物多样性保护中具有重要的作用。     

Testing a Simple Field Method for Assessing Nitrate Removal in Riparian Zones1

Abstract: Being able to identify riparian sites that function better for nitrate removal from groundwater is critical to using efficiently the riparian zones for water quality management. For this purpose, managers need a method that is quick, inexpensive, and accurate enough to enable effective management decisions. This study assesses the precision and accuracy of a simple method using three ground water wells and one measurement date for determining nitrate removal characteristics of riparian buffer zones. The method is a scaled‐down version of a complex field research method that consists of a large network of wells and piezometers monitored monthly for over two years. Results using the simplified method were compared to those from the reference research method on a date‐by‐date basis on eight sites covering a wide range of hydrogeomorphic settings. The accuracy of the three‐well, 1 day measurement method was relatively good for assessing nitrate concentration depletion across riparian zones, but poor for assessing the distance necessary to achieve a 90% nitrate removal and for estimating water and nitrate fluxes compared to the reference method. The simplified three‐well method provides relatively better estimates of water and nitrate fluxes on sites where ground‐water flow is parallel to the water table through homogeneous aquifer material, but such conditions may not be geographically widespread. Despite limited overall accuracy, some parameters that are estimated using the simplified method may be useful to water resource managers. Nitrate depletion information may be used to assess the adequacy of existing buffers to achieve nitrate concentration goals for runoff. Estimates of field nitrate runoff and buffer removal fluxes may be adequate for prioritizing management toward sites where riparian buffers are likely to have greater impact on stream water quality.