Riparian Buffer and Density Management Influences on Microclimate of Young Headwater Forests of Western Oregon

Abstract

Abstract Thinning of 30- to 70-year-old Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii [Mirb.] Franco) stands is a common silvicultural activity on federal forest lands of the Pacific Northwest, United States. Empirical relationships among riparian functions, silvicultural treatments, and different riparian buffer widths are not well documented for small headwater streams. We investigated buffer width and density management effects on riparian microclimates of headwater streams in western Oregon. Spatial variations in stand density, canopy cover, and microclimate were measured along transects extending from stream center upslope into thinned stands, patch openings, or unthinned stands, with riparian buffers ranging from <5 m up to 150 m width. For treated stands, summer mean daily air and soil temperature maxima increased, and mean daily humidity minima decreased with distance from stream. Microclimate gradients were strongest within 10 m of stream center, a distinct area of stream influence within broader riparian areas. Thinning resulted in subtle changes in microclimate as mean air temperature maxima were 1 to 4°C higher than in unthinned stands. With buffers 15 m or greater width, daily maximum air temperature above stream center was less than 1°C greater, and daily minimum relative humidity was less than 5% lower than for unthinned stands. In contrast, air temperatures were significantly warmer within patch openings (+6 to +9°C), and within buffers adjacent to patch openings (+3°C) than within unthinned stands. Buffers of widths defined by the transition from riparian to upland vegetation or topographic slope breaks appear sufficient to mitigate the impacts of upslope thinning on the microclimate above headwater streams.