Considerations for Rehabilitation of Naturally Disturbed Forests (MPB); Part 1 Watershed Hydrology

Abstract

This extension note is the first of a two-part series involving watershed management considerations for stand rehabilitation activities following large-scale natural disturbances. The note is designed to provide practitioners involved in reforestation of naturally disturbed stands under the Ministry of Forests and Range’s Current Reforestation investment category of the Land-based Investment Program (LBIP) with information to increase the likelihood of a positive effect of stand rehabilitation activities on water and water related resources. Part 1 of this series explores watershed-level considerations when planning stand rehabilitation activities while Part 2 provides a more detailed summary of the effects of different stand-level treatment options on the rate of hydrologic recovery (using stand-level Equivalent Clearcut Area (ECA) as an index) under  a range of pre-treatment forest conditions ( i.e. site index, pine mortality and existing understory regeneration).