Chuck Rhoades, watershed biogeochemistry researcher, talks about the Mountain Pine Beetle (MPB) effects in Colorado lodgepole pine ecosystems, and the research that has been completed in the last ten years at the Fraser Experimental Forest.
Part 1 of 2
Research at this location was focused on understanding the factors that control water supply from high-elevation forests, as it relates to trees, snow and streamflows. In this presentation he focuses on watershed responses & forest recovery, and management alternatives, consequences and challenges. He discusses ecosystem nutrient dynamics after an MPB outbreak, catchment-scale responses vary with management, and examining links between forest and stream responses. He goes on to discuss forest development after treatments, forest composition and treatment outcomes, and on-going considerations.
He explains the various research projects undertaken over the years and the results. For example, it was found that stream nitrate increases in certain watersheds – and these effects vary with species composition, hydro-logic season and basin characteristics. As well, there is an increase in nitrate export that is relatively small as compared to nitrate inputs, uptake and transformations in these ecosystems. This presentation was a part of the Mountain Pine Beetle Information Exchange Forum in April of 2014.
