Standardized approaches in effectiveness monitoring programs and regional relevance: lessons from the Bowron River Watershed Riparian Evaluation Project

2008 ◽  
Vol 38 (12) ◽  
pp. 3139-3150 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. J. Nordin ◽  
J. F. Rex ◽  
D. A. Maloney ◽  
P. J. Tschaplinski
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Landscape Heterogeneity ◽  
Bare Soil ◽  
Threshold Values ◽  
Reference Sites ◽  
Watershed Characteristics ◽  
Riparian Management ◽  
Salvage Logging ◽  
River Watershed ◽  
Effectiveness Monitoring

Streams and riparian areas in the Bowron River watershed were assessed using the riparian management routine effectiveness evaluation, a protocol developed for postharvest operational monitoring in British Columbia. Located in the British Columbia interior, the study watershed has had several decades to recover since a period of intensive salvage logging from 1977 to 1987 in response to a spruce beetle ( Dendroctonus rufipennis ) outbreak. Correlations were found with site-specific watershed characteristics and attributes that are used to answer the protocol indicator questions. Channel width was the strongest covariate, exhibiting the most significant relationships with the stream and riparian attributes. Suggestions on how to adjust standard protocols for stream size and landscape heterogeneity are discussed and include the use of appropriate reference sites for baseline data. We used correlations with watershed characteristics and multiple regressions based on regional reference sites to predict upper and lower threshold values by which attribute measurements could be compared. Sites that were assessed above or below threshold values for an attribute were considered to be outside the range of natural variation and were given a failing score. Attributes with the most failures 20–30 years postharvest were disturbed ground, bare soil, undercut banks, and shade.

Analysis of the British Columbia Water Quality Index for Watershed Managers: a Case Study of Two Small Watersheds

1998 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 519-550 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul A. Zandbergen ◽  
Ken J. Hall
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
British Columbia ◽  
Water Quality Index ◽  
Quality Index ◽  
Management Tool ◽  
Research Centre ◽  
Aquatic Life ◽  
River Watershed ◽  
Small Watersheds ◽  
Water Quality Objectives

Abstract The use of indices in ecosystem management is attractive because it allows for the representation of a complex set of information on ecosystem variables in a simple fashion. Recently the British Columbia Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks developed the British Columbia Water Quality Index (BCWQI). As this index is currently being considered as the basis for other provincial indices and a national water quality index, the character of the BCWQI needs to be carefully considered. This study evaluates the performance of the BCWQI and assesses how useful and appropriate it is as a management tool at the watershed level. For this purpose the index is used to express the results of two sampling programs, one by the British Columbia Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks, and the other by the Westwater Research Centre, of two relatively small watersheds in the Greater Vancouver area: the Brunette River watershed, heavily impacted by urbanization, and the Salmon River watershed on the urban-rural fringe. For both watersheds the intended use is the protection of aquatic life and only those water quality objectives are considered. The results indicate that the BCWQI is extremely sensitive to sampling design and highly dependent on the specific application of water quality objectives. A comparison is made with another type of index in widespread use in North America: the National Sanitation Foundation Water Quality Index (NSFWQI). This index appears promising for stream stewardship groups because of its simplicity and ease of use. For watershed managers, an alternative to the BCWQI is suggested, based on exceedance factors for individual objectives. This Simple Water Quality Index (SWQI) recognizes the importance of objectives that are specific to a particular water body, but overcomes some of the limitations of the BCWQI. A presentation format is suggested for objective exceedance factors, with a clear indication of exactly which objectives were included — without this, the final numerical index value is meaningless. This study suggests that the BCWQI in its current form has serious limitations for comparing water bodies and for establishing management priorities. If local watershed managers use the BCWQI in guiding efforts to protect aquatic resources, they should consider these limitations carefully.

scholarly journals Effects of Post-Fire Deadwood Management on Soil Macroarthropod Communities

Forests ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 1046 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos R. Molinas-González ◽  
Jorge Castro ◽  
Adela González-Megías ◽  
Alexandro B. Leverkus
Keyword(s):  
Sierra Nevada ◽  
Dead Wood ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Bare Soil ◽  
Ecosystem Functions ◽  
Higher Plant ◽  
Salvage Logging ◽  
Management Interventions ◽  
Biological Legacies ◽  
Experimental Treatments

Dead wood comprises a vast amount of biological legacies that set the scene for ecological regeneration after wildfires, yet its removal is the most frequent management strategy worldwide. Soil-dwelling organisms are conspicuous, and they provide essential ecosystem functions, but their possible affection by different post-fire management strategies has so far been neglected. We analyzed the abundance, richness, and composition of belowground macroarthropod communities under two contrasting dead-wood management regimes after a large wildfire in the Sierra Nevada Natural and National Park (Southeast Spain). Two plots at different elevation were established, each containing three replicates of two experimental treatments: partial cut, where trees were cut and their branches lopped off and left over the ground, and salvage logging, where all the trees were cut, logs were piled, branches were mechanically masticated, and slash was spread on the ground. Ten years after the application of the treatments, soil cores were extracted from two types of microhabitat created by these treatments: bare-soil (in both treatments) and under-logs (in the partial cut treatment only). Soil macroarthropod assemblages were dominated by Hemiptera and Hymenoptera (mostly ants) and were more abundant and richer in the lowest plot. The differences between dead-wood treatments were most evident at the scale of management interventions: abundance and richness were lowest after salvage logging, even under similar microhabitats (bare-soil). However, there were no significant differences between microhabitat types on abundance and richness within the partial cut treatment. Higher abundance and richness in the partial cut treatment likely resulted from higher resource availability and higher plant diversity after natural regeneration. Our results suggest that belowground macroarthropod communities are sensitive to the manipulation of dead-wood legacies and that management through salvage logging could reduce soil macroarthropod recuperation compared to other treatments with less intense management even a decade after application.

Risk Assessment of Copper-Contaminated Sediments in the Tsolum River Near Courtenay, British Columbia

1996 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 725-740 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Deniseger ◽  
Y.T. John Kwong
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Risk Assessment ◽  
British Columbia ◽  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Dissolved Organic Carbon ◽  
Secondary Source ◽  
Aquatic Life ◽  
Mine Site ◽  
River Watershed ◽  
Copper Contaminated

Abstract Acidic drainage originating from an abandoned copper mine on Mt. Washington has given rise to elevated dissolved copper concentrations that may threaten aquatic life throughout most of the Tsolum River watershed on central Vancouver Island. Only sediments in the upper portion of the watershed near the mine site, however, have tested acutely toxic to the amphipod Hyalella azteca. Despite evidence of mechanical transport of copper up to 18 km down-stream from the mine site, the sediment-bound copper in the lower watershed appear to be highly stable such that the copper-rich sediments are unlikely to become a secondary source of dissolved copper. In addition to copper attenuation through dilution, extensive wetland areas in the lower watershed contribute significant amounts of dissolved organic carbon that form stable complexes with copper and ameliorate the toxic effects of dissolved copper. These observations imply that successful reclamation at the mine site is probably sufficient to assure acceptable water quality farther downstream.

Comparison of models predicting invertebrate assemblages for biomonitoring in the Fraser River catchment, British Columbia

2001 ◽  
Vol 58 (7) ◽  
pp. 1395-1410 ◽  
Author(s):  
T B Reynoldson ◽  
D M Rosenberg ◽  
V H Resh
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Predictive Model ◽  
Function Analysis ◽  
Reference Condition ◽  
Fraser River ◽  
Reference Sites ◽  
River Catchment ◽  
The Family ◽  
Level Model ◽  
Invertebrate Assemblages

A multivariate, predictive model based on the reference-condition approach is described for the Fraser River catchment in British Columbia. Benthic invertebrate assemblages and environmental descriptors were measured at more than 200 sites from 1994 to 1996, including 219 reference sites. Reference sites were classified into groups representing similar invertebrate assemblages. Five such classifications were produced, using three taxonomic levels (family, genus, and species) and species and family multimetrics. For each of the classifications, discriminant function analysis was used, with environmental descriptors, to develop a predictive model for the reference sites. These models predicted from 43.8% (species) to 61.6% (family) of the reference sites to the correct benthic group. Each model was used to assess deviation from reference condition for 21 test sites exposed to either agriculture, logging, or mining. The models were examined with regard to their sensitivity, robustness, usability, temporal variability, predictive performance, and model certainty. The family and family-metric models were ranked best, followed by the species-metric, genus, and species models. The family-level model is recommended for assessment purposes; its overall performance was slightly superior to the family-metric model and it avoids an extra step in calculation of the metrics. However, the species-level model is recommended for conservation or biodiversity issues.

A results-based system for regulating reforestation obligations: Some developments in 2003

2004 ◽  
Vol 80 (2) ◽  
pp. 201-208
Author(s):  
Patrick J Martin ◽  
Shane Browne-Clayton ◽  
Greg Taylor
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Forest Management ◽  
Key Words ◽  
Regulatory Regime ◽  
Threshold Values ◽  
Threshold Levels ◽  
Efficient Management ◽  
Block Approach

In a recent paper, we described a multi-block approach to the regulation and management of reforestation (P.J. Martin, S. Browne-Clayton, and E. McWilliams (2002), "A results-based system for regulating reforestation obligations," Forestry Chronicle 78(4): 492–498). Under the multi-block approach, indicators are devised that portray the degree to which the condition of regeneration on harvested areas is consistent with forest management goals. A population of harvested areas is sampled. The current levels of the indicators are estimated and compared to threshold values. If observed levels exceed threshold levels, the population is considered adequately reforested and all reforestation obligations are met. In this paper, we describe some recent enhancements of this concept and demonstrate how the multi-block approach provides characteristics desirable in a regulatory regime. By shifting the focus of reforestation regulation from the stand level to the level of a population of harvested areas, the multi-block approach provides effective regulation, permits efficient management, and addresses several shortcomings in British Columbia's current reforestation regulations. Key words: reforestation, regulation, British Columbia, indicators, multi-block approach

scholarly journals Geochemical distribution and threshold values determination of heavy metals in stream water in the sub-basins of Vermelho and Sororó rivers, Itacaiúnas River watershed, Eastern Amazon, Brazil

2018 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 180-198 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriel Salomão ◽  
Roberto Dall'Agnol ◽  
Prafulla Sahoo ◽  
Jair Ferreira-Júnior ◽  
Marcio Silva ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Heavy Metals ◽  
Stream Water ◽  
Threshold Values ◽  
River Watershed
Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document