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Landscape-scale carbon storage associated with beaver dams
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Beaver meadows form when beaver dams promote
prolonged overbank flooding and floodplain retention of
sediment and organic matter. Extensive beaver meadows form
in broad, low-gradient valley segments upstream from glacial
terminal moraines. Surveyed sediment volume and total
organic carbon content in beaver meadows on the eastern side
of Rocky Mountain National Park are extrapolated to create a
first-order approximation of landscape-scale carbon storage in
these meadows relative to adjacent uplands. Differences in
total organic carbon between abandoned and active beaver
meadows suggest that valley-bottom carbon storage has
declined substantially as beaver have disappeared and
meadows have dried. Relict beaver meadows represent ~8%
of total carbon storage within the landscape, but the value was
closer to 23% when beaver actively maintained wet meadows.
These changes reflect the general magnitude of cumulative
effects in heterotrophic respiration and organic matter
oxidation associated with historical declines in beaver
populations across the continent
Located in
Resources
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Climate Science Documents
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Landscape-scale Conservation Planning
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A basic overview of the principles and methods for the Appalachian Landscape Conservation Cooperative, including a discussion on the major goals of landscape conservation.
Located in
Conservation Planning
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Conservation Planning Webinars
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Lang 2002.pdf
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Located in
Resources
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TRB Library
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KEF-LAR
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Large in-stream wood studies: a call for common metrics
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During the past decade, research on large in-stream wood has expanded beyond North America’s Pacifi c Northwest
to diverse environments and has shifted toward increasingly holistic perspectives that incorporate processes of wood recruitment,
retention, and loss at scales from channel segments to entire watersheds. Syntheses of this rapidly expanding literature can be
facilitated by agreement on primary variables and methods of measurement. In this paper we address these issues by listing the
variables that we consider fundamental to studies of in-stream wood, discussing the sources of variability in their measurement,
and suggesting more consistency in future studies. We recommend 23 variables for all studies of in-stream wood, as well as
another 12 variables that we suggest for studies with more specifi c objectives. Each of these variables relates either to the size
and characteristics of in-stream wood, to the geomorphic features of the channel and valley, or to the ecological characteristics
of the riparian zone adjacent to the study reach. The variables were derived from an overview of those cited in the literature and
from our collective fi eld experiences.
Located in
Resources
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Climate Science Documents
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Large Woody Debris and Salmonid Habitat in the Anchor River Basin, Alaska
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A widespread and intense spruce beetle outbreak during the 1990s has killed most of the mature white spruce (Picea glauca) trees across many watersheds in south-central Alaska. To investigate the potential habitat impacts in a salmon stream, we characterized the current abundance and species composition of large woody debris (LWD), examined the linkages between LWD and salmonid habitat, and estimated changes in LWD abundance and associated pool habitat over time. LWD abundance was relatively low (97 pieces/km overall) and varied widely according to riparian vegetation typology, ranging from 15 pieces/km at sites with non- forested riparian zones to 170 pieces/km at sites adjacent to cottonwood forest. LWD provided significant fish cover in pools, especially in cottonwood forest stream reaches. LWD-formed pools were relatively rare (15% of total), but LWD abundance explained much of the variation in pool frequency (r2 = 0.86 in spruce forest reaches) and in the proportion of pool habitats (r2 = 0.85 in cottonwood forest reaches). We project the spruce beetle outbreak to result in a substantial net increase in LWD abundance over a 50-year span, peaking with 243% and 179% increases in LWD abundance for spruce forest and cottonwood forest stream reaches, respectively, in the year 2025. Concurrent with the peak in LWD abundance, our estimates show pool frequency in spruce forest reaches to reach 207% of current levels and the proportion of pools in cottonwood forest reaches to reach 167% of current levels, changes that correspond with substantially increased potential habitat for juvenile salmonids.
Located in
Resources
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Climate Science Documents
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Large-leaf grass-of-Parnassus (Parnassia grandiflora)
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large-leaf grass-of-Parnassus_Eleanor_2013.jpg
Located in
Vulnerability
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Climate Change Vulnerability
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Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment Photo Gallery
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Large-leaf grass-of-Parnassus (Parnassia grandiflora)
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large-leaf grass-of-Parnassus_Eleanor_2013.jpg
Located in
Research
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…
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Assessing Vulnerability of Species and Habitats to Large-scale Impacts
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Species and Habitat Vulnerability Assessment Photo Gallery
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LaRocque 1959.pdf
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Located in
Resources
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TRB Library
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KEF-LAR
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LaRocque 1961.pdf
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Located in
Resources
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TRB Library
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KEF-LAR
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LaRocque 1962.pdf
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Located in
Resources
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TRB Library
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LAR-LEW
