Southern
Research Station

• Authors: DaSilva, Abram; Xu, Y. Jun; Ice, George; Beebe, John; Stich, Richard
• Publication Year: 2012
• Publication Series: Paper (invited, offered, keynote)
• Source: In: Butnor, John R., ed. 2012. Proceedings of the 16th biennial southern silvicultural research conference. e-Gen. Tech. Rep. SRS-156. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, Southern Research Station. 82-89.

Abstract

To test effectiveness of Louisiana’s voluntary best management practices (BMPs) at preventing water quality degradation from timber harvesting activities, a study with BACI design was conducted from 2006 through 2010 in the Flat Creek Watershed, north-central Louisiana. Water samples for nutrient analyses and measurements of stream flow and of in-stream dissolved oxygen (DO) were taken monthly at 7 sites: upstream and downstream of three harvested tracts, and at one control site. Harvesting occurred in 2007, with two of the tracts harvested with BMPs and the third without BMPs. One of the BMP-implemented tracts was further analyzed with intensive DO data. Preliminary results show no trend for significant changes in nutrient concentrations from harvests (with or without BMPs), and both monthly and intensive DO measurements show no DO depletion for BMP-implemented harvests. For these harvests occurring in the Flat Creek Watershed, Louisiana’s current BMPs were effective in preventing water quality degradation.

• Citation: DaSilva, Abram; Xu, Y. Jun; Ice, George; Beebe, John; Stich, Richard 2012. Effectiveness of timber harvesting BMPs: monitoring spatial and temporal dynamics of dissolved oxygen, nitrogen, and phosphorus in a low-gradient watershed, Louisiana. In: Butnor, John R., ed. 2012. Proceedings of the 16th biennial southern silvicultural research conference. e-Gen. Tech. Rep. SRS-156. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, Southern Research Station. 82-89.
• Posted Date: August 28, 2012
• Modified Date: August 28, 2012

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