Multi-Scale Operational Forestry Research:  Putting the Pieces into the Big Water Quality Picture

Jami Nettles (Presenter), Weyerhaeuser Company

Stephen H. Schoenholtz, Mississippi State University

Weyerhaeuser Company has conducted cooperative water quality research in an operational forestry setting for over 20 years, developing understanding of responses to various silvicultural techniques.  While necessary to develop BMPs and understand operational practices, recent TMDL regulations have demonstrated the low level of understanding of non-point source issues within the regulatory community and the general public, suggesting the need for more synthesis in research.  Defined in the dictionary as “the combining of often diverse conceptions into a coherent whole”, synthesis is viewing the “big picture”:  the overall effect of forestry on water quality and the role of forestry in a landscape.  Synthesis will be a critical need in the future as rapid, region-scale assessments are required for TMDL implementation.

The difficulty of controlling natural variability makes research on individual silvicultural practices attractive; however, synthesis of these individual studies is problematic and watershed-scale approaches are promising.  This presentation will compare and contrast two ongoing watershed-scale projects, describe how each fills knowledge and communications gaps, and present results.  The first project is the Ouachita Mountain Ecosystem study, located north of Hot Springs, AR.  While it has elements of traditional forestry research – a well-defined site and operations plan, comprehensive water sampling, and a long baseline period, a nested monitoring network quantifies multi-scale effects.  The second project is the Mississippi BMP Effectiveness study, which compares water quality and aquatic biology upstream and downstream from as well as before and after treatments on many sites to give added power to a less controlled study.

Workshop VII: Aquatic Ecosystems

Online presentation

Sustaining
Southern
Forests

a conference sponsored by the Southern Forest Resource Assessment