Influences of Wildfire and Channel Reorganization on Spatial and Temporal Variation in Stream Temperature and the Distribution of Fish and Amphibians

Present Effects of Past Wildfires on Leaf Litter Breakdown in Stream Ecosystems

“…One stream, Beaver Creek (our unburned reference stream), has not experienced a wildfire in the past 100 years. Our survey suggested that the characteristics of Beaver Creek were fairly representative of most unburned headwater streams in the basin (Dunham et al 2007, Tuckett 2007. Two other streams, Trapper and Hungarian creeks, were burned in the 1994 Idaho City complex of wild fires (over 28,000 ha consumed by the fire with 85%-100% of each stream's catchment burned; Dunham et al 2007).…”

“…Immediate (0-1-year) and short-term (1-10-year) effects of fire on stream ecosystems have been well documented (Minshall et al 1997, Gresswell 1999, though these effects usually wane within a de cade (Gresswell 1999, Robinson et al 2005. Most research has focused on the stream's pop ulation, community, and physical-chemical re sponses to wildfire at various temporal scales: water chemistry at the immediate timescale (Spencer et al 1991); fish and macroinvertebrate distributions (Mihuc and Minshall 1995, Minshall 2003, Dunham et al 2007) and stream channel response in the short-term timescale (Minshall et al 1997(Minshall et al , 2004. To date, few studies have examined the effect wildfire has on ecosystem-level stream processes at any time range (but see Tuckett 2007).…”

“…Recent studies show that, based on underlying geology, soil type, and burn intensity, some tributaries are prone to massive debris flows and channel reorganization when riparian vegetation is removed by fire (Benda et al 2003, Dwire and Kauffman 2003, Wondzell and King 2003, Dunham et al 2007, Tuckett 2007. Such debris flows may periodically reoccur under moderate to heavy rainfall events.…”

The impact of wildfire on stream fishes in an Atlantic-Mediterranean climate: evidence from an 18-year chronosequence

“…North American salmonids; Propst et al, 1992;Rieman and Clayton, 1997;Cooper et al 2015). However, their comparatively high mobility typically facilitates both impact avoidance and subsequent recolonization (Gresswell, 1999), so they are generally considered to be resilient to wildfire (Rieman and Clayton, 1997;Burton, 2005;Dunham et al, 2007;Sestrich et al, 2011). Although, the trout of these Portuguese streams are potamodromous, their continued absence two years after fire in the BAI survey and, more generally, the lack of a time-related pattern (assumed to represent temporal recovery) in the chronosequence survey suggests their resilience was inhibited in these systems.…”

“…Although, the trout of these Portuguese streams are potamodromous, their continued absence two years after fire in the BAI survey and, more generally, the lack of a time-related pattern (assumed to represent temporal recovery) in the chronosequence survey suggests their resilience was inhibited in these systems. As fire typically passes over the steep-sided, narrow channels of upland Portuguese streams, leaving riparian vegetation intact (unpublished data), impacted streams were unlikely to have suffered from chronic increased temperatures that can be associated with post-fire increases in solar radiation (Dunham et al, 2007;Sestrich et al, 2011;Cooper et al 2015). Considering the typically rapid recovery of benthic macroinvertebrate densities (Minshall, 2003; also observed in these streams, unpublished data) the continued absence of trout suggests difficulties in recolonization rather than non-viable post-fire habitats.…”