|
In 1990, Potlatch Corporation initiated
research at the Mica Creek Experimental Watershed (MCEW) to
evaluate the cumulative effects of contemporary timber harvest practices on
water flow, quality, and aquatic ecosystem health. The study consists of
paired and nested experimental watersheds at three scales. Forest
treatments include a 50% clearcut watershed and a 50% partial cut watershed (50%
canopy removal). Watersheds were monitored for a pre-treatment calibration
period of six years, a four year post-road period, and a five year post harvest
+ road phase to separate the effects of road construction from harvest
practices. Monitoring includes basic hydrometeorological variables,
streamflow, stream temperature, sediment, channel characteristics, aquatic
macroinvertebrates, and fish.
In 2002, researchers at the University of
Idaho initiated a partnership with Potlatch Corporation to analyze data
from the core study and to expand the breadth and depth of environmental
monitoring in the watershed. In 2003, a joint venture was initiated with
scientists from the USFS Rocky Mountain Research Station (RMRS) to use data from
the site to improve sediment estimation tools for managers. Also in 2003,
a project funded by the USDA Cooperative State Research, Education, and
Extension Service (CSREES) was awarded to investigate the effects of harvest
practices and climate change on peak flows. In 2004, the UI Collaborative
Working Forests (UI-CWF) project was initiated with a Congressional appropriation to
quantify the specific ecohydrological processes producing the observed watershed
changes, expand riparian ecological investigations within and beyond the
experimental area, and develop a forest operations optimization project.
In 2005, an NSF Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR)
Research Infrastructure Improvement (RII) grant was awarded to initiate
investigations focused on the interactions of the water and carbon cycles.
In 2006, a NSF-funded Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) grant will
initiate 3 years of undergraduate research in the watershed.
Investigations are focusing on the following
research topics:
|
|
1)
Impacts of forest harvest on hydrologic yields and peak flows.
2)
Impacts of forest harvest on stream temperature dynamics
3)
Impacts of harvest on suspended sediment and
channel dynamics.
4) Impacts of forest harvest on macroinvertebrate and fish
populations.
5) Impacts
of forest harvest, small-scale thermal inversions, and climate change on
snowcover processes.
6)
Comparative studies of canopy rainfall interception
dynamics in thinned and unthinned stands.
7)
Watershed-scale soil moisture and sap-flux
dynamics.
8) Interactions of water and carbon component fluxes and
stores.
|
 |
