Abstract
The potential impacts of land use on large woody debris (LWD) were examined in Sourdough Creek Watershed, a rapidly growing area encompassing Bozeman, Montana, USA. We identified six land classes within a 250 m buffer extending on either side of Sourdough Creek and assessed aquatic habitat and geomorphologic variables within each class. All LWD pieces were counted, and we examined 14 other variables, including undercut bank, sinuosity, and substrate composition. LWD numbers were generally low and ranged from 0 to 8.2 pieces per 50 m of stream. Linear regression showed that LWD increased with distance from headwaters, riparian forest width, and sinuosity in four of the six land classes. Statistically significant differences between land classes for many aquatic habitat and geomorphologic variables indicated the impacts of different land uses on stream structure. We also found that practices such as active wood removal played a key role in LWD abundance. This finding suggests that managers should prioritize public education and outreach concerning the importance of in-stream wood, especially in mixed-use watersheds where wood is removed for either aesthetic reasons or to prevent stream flooding.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Beschta RL, Platts WS (1986) Morphological features of small streams: significance and function. Water Resources Bulletin 22:370–379
Beyers WB, Nelson PB (2000) Contemporary development forces in the nonmetropolitan West: new insights from rapidly growing communities. Journal of Rural Studies 16:459–474
Bilby RE, Bisson PA (1998) Function and distribution of large woody debris. In: Naiman RJ, Bilby RE (eds) River ecology and management: lessons from the Pacific coastal ecoregion. Springer-Verlag, New York, pp 324–346
Bilby RE, Ward JW (1989) Changes in characteristics and function of woody debris with increasing size of streams in western Washington. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 118:368–378
Bisson PA, Bilby RE, Bryant MD, Dolloff CA, Grette GB, House RA, Murphy ML, Koski KV, Sedell JR (1987) Large woody debris in forested streams in the Pacific Northwest: past, present, and future. In: Salo EO, Cundy TW (eds) Streamside management: forestry and fisheries interactions. University of Washington Press, Seattle, WA, pp 143–190
Brookes A (1988) Channelized rivers: perspectives for environmental management. John Wiley and Sons, New York
Bryant MD (1983) The role and management of woody debris in West Coast salmonid nursery streams. North American Journal of Fisheries Management 3:322–330
Cairns MA, Lackey RT (1992) Biodiversity and management of natural resources: the issues. Fisheries 17:6–10
Christensen DL, Herwig BR, Schindler DE, Carpenter SR (1996) Impacts of lakeshore residential development on coarse woody debris in north temperate lakes. Ecological Applications 6:1143–1149
Dale VH et al (2001) Ecological guidelines for land use and management. In: Dale VH, Haeuber RH (eds) Applying ecological principles to land management. Springer-Verlag, New York, pp 1–33
Diez JR, Elosegi A, Pozo J (2001) Woody debris in north Iberian streams: influence of geomorphology, vegetation, and management. Environmental Management 28(5):687–698
Dynesius M, Nilsson C (1994) Fragmentation and flow regulation of river systems in the northern third of the world. Science 266:753–782
ESRI, (Environmental Systems Research Institute) (1999) ArcView GIS 3.2. Copyright 1992–1999. Environmental Systems Research Institute, Redlands, CA
Freeman RE, Ray RO (2001) Landscape ecology practice by small scale river conservation groups. Landscape and Urban Planning 56:171–184
Frissell CA, Liss WJ, Gresswell RE, Nawa RK, Ebersole JL (1997) A resource in crisis: changing the measure of salmon management. In: Stouder DJ, Bisson PA, Naiman RJ (eds) Pacific salmon and their ecosystems: status and future options. International Thomson Publishing, New York, pp 411–444
Gregory SV, Swanson FJ, McKee WA, Cummins KW (1991) An ecosystem perspective of riparian zones: focus on links between land and water. BioScience 17:475–483
Gunderson L (1995) Resilience, flexibility, and adaptive management-antidotes for spurious certitude? Conservation Ecology 3(1):7–18
Hansen A, Gallant A, Rotella J, Brown D (2003) Natural and human drivers of biodiversity in the greater yellowstone ecosystem. Available at: http://www.biology.usgs.gov/luhna/cap8.html. Accessed on October 12, 2003
Harmon ME, Franklin JF, Swanson FJ, Sollins P, Gregory SV, Lattin JD, Anderson NH, Cline SP, Aumen NG, Sedell JR, Lienkaemper GW, Cromack K Jr, Cummins KW (1986) Ecology of coarse woody debris in temperate ecosystems. Advances in Ecological Research 15:133–302
Hering D, Kail J, Eckert S, Gerhard M, Meyer EI, Mutz M, Reich M, Weiss I (2000) Coarse woody debris quantity and distribution in Central European streams. International Review of Hydrobiology 85:5–23
Hicks BJ, Hall JD, Bisson PA, Sedell JR (1991) Responses of salmonids to habitat changes. In: Meehan WR (ed) Influences of forest and rangeland on salmonid fishes and their habitat. American Fisheries Society, Special Publication 9, Bethesda, Md, pp 483–518
Hulse DW, Gregory SV (2001) Alternative futures as an integrative framework for riparian restoration of large rivers. In: Dale VH, Haeuber RA (eds) Applying ecological principles to land management. Springer-Verlag, New York, pp 194–211
Hyatt TL, Naiman RJ (2001) The residence time of large woody debris in the Queets River, Washington, USA. Ecological Applications 11:191–202
Kondhoh A, Nishiyama J (2000) Changes in hydrological cycle due to urbanization in suburb of Tokyo metropolitan area, Japan. Advanced Space Resources 26:1173–1176
Maser C, Sedell JR (1994) From the forest to the seas: the ecology of wood in streams, rivers, estuaries, and oceans. St. Lucie Press, Delray Beach, Florida, 200 pp
Nakamura F, Swanson FJ (1994) Distribution of coarse woody debris in a mountain stream, western cascade range, Oregon. Canadian Journal of Forest Resources 24:2395–2403
Opperman JJ (2005) Large woody debris and land management in California’s hardwood-dominated watersheds. Environmental Management 35(3):266–277
Overton CK, Wollrab SP, Roberts BC (1997) R1/R4 (Northern/intermountain regions) fish and fish habitat standard inventory procedures handbook. INT-GTR-346, USDA Forest Service, Ogden, UT, 72 pp
Paul MJ, Meyer JL (2001) Streams in the urban landscape. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 32:333–366
Piegay H, Gurnell AM (1997) Large woody debris and river geomorphological patterns: examples from S.E. France and S. England. Geomophology 19:99–116
Platts WS, Megahan WF, Minshall GW (1982) Methods for evaluating stream, riparian, and biotic communities. United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, and Intermountain Forest and Range Experiment Station, Ogden, UT
Ralph SC, Poole GC, Conquest LL, Naiman RJ (1994) Stream channel morphology and woody debris in logged and unlogged basins of western Washington. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 51:37–51
Spencer CN, Gabel KO, Hauer FR (2003) Wildfire effects on stream food webs and nutrient dynamics in Glacier National Park, USA. Forest Ecology and Management 178:141–153
Stanford JA, Ward JV (1992) Management of aquatic resources in large catchments: recognizing interactions between ecosystem connectivity and environmental disturbance. In: Naiman RJ (ed) Watershed management: balancing sustainability and environmental change. Springer-Verlag, New York, pp 91–112
Stein JL, Stein JA, Nix HA (2002) Spatial analysis of anthropogenic river disturbance at regional and continental scales: identifying the wild rivers of Australia. Landscape and Urban Planning 60:1–25
Story M (2003) R1/R4 Sediment model in Bozeman creek watershed. Unpublished, Gallatin National Forest, USDA, Bozeman, MT, 27 pp
Swanson FJ, Gregory SV, Sedell JR, Campbell AG (1982) Land-water interactions: the riparian zone. In: Edmonds RL (ed) Analysis of coniferous forest ecosystems in the Western United States. Hutchinson Ross Publishing Co., Stroudsburg, PA, pp 267–291
Wing MG, Skaugset A (2002) Relationships of channel characteristics, land ownership, and land use patterns to large woody debris in western Oregon streams. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 59:796–807
Zar JH (1999) Biostatistical analysis, 4th edn. Prentice-Hall, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey
Acknowledgments
This research was supported by the Bonneville Environmental Foundation and the City of Bozeman. Collaborations with the Bozeman Watershed Council, United States Forest Service, and Gallatin Local Water Quality District were essential to completing this project. We are grateful to Molly Pearson, a Patagonia, Inc. environmental intern, who dedicated several weeks to data collection and Jason Kreitler, who helped with GIS analysis. We also thank three reviewers who provided constructive comments on an earlier version of this manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
McIlroy, S.K., Montagne, C., Jones, C.A. et al. Identifying Linkages Between Land Use, Geomorphology, and Aquatic Habitat in a Mixed-Use Watershed. Environmental Management 42, 867–876 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-008-9166-7
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-008-9166-7