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Hydrologic change in a coast redwood forest, Caspar Creek Experimental Watersheds: implications for salmonid survival

Informally Refereed

Abstract

The 52-year record of streamflow from the Caspar Creek Experimental Watersheds shows a trend toward decreasing rainfall and streamflow during the fall season when coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) migrate upstream to spawn. Rainfall records show a slight declining trend in fall totals and a slight increasing trend in spring totals since 1962, but only November shows a significant decrease in rainfall with year. Mean daily flows between late-October and mid-December declined by about one third. “Fish-passage” flows became less frequent in November. These flows were correlated with adult coho abundance estimates. The first-of-season peak flow, needed to breach the seasonally-formed sandbar at the Caspar Creek estuary and open access to upstream spawning habitat, occurred later. Results were similar on the South Fork (logged 1967-1973) and North Fork (logged 1985-92).

Parent Publication

Citation

Keppeler, Elizabeth. 2016. Hydrologic change in a coast redwood forest, Caspar Creek Experimental Watersheds: implications for salmonid survival.  In: Stringer, Christina E.; Krauss, Ken W.; Latimer, James S., eds. 2016. Headwaters to estuaries: advances in watershed science and management -Proceedings of the Fifth Interagency Conference on Research in the Watersheds. March 2-5, 2015, North Charleston, South Carolina. e-General Technical  Report  SRS-211. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, Southern Research Station. 8 p.
https://www.fs.usda.gov/research/treesearch/50975