Standardized approaches in effectiveness monitoring programs and regional relevance: lessons from the Bowron River Watershed Riparian Evaluation Project

Abstract

Streams and riparian areas in the Bowron River watershed were assessed using the riparian management routine effectiveness evaluation, a protocol developed for postharvest operational monitoring in British Columbia. Located in the British Columbia interior, the study watershed has had several decades to recover since a period of intensive salvage logging from 1977 to 1987 in response to a spruce beetle ( Dendroctonus rufipennis ) outbreak. Correlations were found with site-specific watershed characteristics and attributes that are used to answer the protocol indicator questions. Channel width was the strongest covariate, exhibiting the most significant relationships with the stream and riparian attributes. Suggestions on how to adjust standard protocols for stream size and landscape heterogeneity are discussed and include the use of appropriate reference sites for baseline data. We used correlations with watershed characteristics and multiple regressions based on regional reference sites to predict upper and lower threshold values by which attribute measurements could be compared. Sites that were assessed above or below threshold values for an attribute were considered to be outside the range of natural variation and were given a failing score. Attributes with the most failures 20–30 years postharvest were disturbed ground, bare soil, undercut banks, and shade.