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Variable wildfire impacts on the seasonal water temperatures of western US streams: A retrospective study.
Beyene, Mussie T; Leibowitz, Scott G; Snyder, Marcia; Ebersole, Joseph L; Almquist, Vance W.
Afiliación
  • Beyene MT; Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) Post-doc, c/o U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Corvallis, Oregon, United States of America.
  • Leibowitz SG; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Center for Public Health and Environmental Assessment, Corvallis, Oregon, United States of America.
  • Snyder M; U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, Corvallis, Oregon, United States of America.
  • Ebersole JL; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Center for Public Health and Environmental Assessment, Corvallis, Oregon, United States of America.
  • Almquist VW; Soil Health Institute, Corvallis, Oregon, United States of America.
PLoS One ; 17(7): e0268452, 2022.
Article en En | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-35857741
Recent increases in the burn area and severity of wildfires in the western US have raised concerns about the impact on stream water temperature-a key determinant of cold-water fish habitats. However, the effect on seasonal water temperatures of concern, including winter and summer, are not fully understood. In this study, we assessed the impact of wildfire burns at Boulder Creek (Oregon), Elk Creek (Oregon), and Gibbon River (Wyoming) watersheds on the downstream winter and summer water temperatures for the first three post-fire years. To obtain results independent of the choice of the analytical method, we evaluated the consequence of each burn using three different statistical approaches that utilize local water temperature data. Our results from the three approaches indicated that the response of water temperatures to wildfire burns varied across seasons and sites. Wildfire burns were associated with a median increase of up to 0.56°C (Standard Error; S.E. < 0.23°C) in the summer mean water temperatures (MWT) and 62 degree-day Celsius (DDC; S.E. < 20.7 DDC) in the summer accumulated degree days (ADD) for the three subsequent years across studied stream sites. Interestingly, these burns also corresponded to a median decrease of up to 0.49°C (S.E. < 0.45°C) in the winter MWT and 39 DDC (S.E. < 40.5 DDC) in the winter ADD for the same period across sites. Wildfire effects on the downstream water temperatures diminished with increasing site distance from the burn perimeter. Our analyses demonstrated that analytical methods that utilize local watershed data could be applied to evaluate fire effects on downstream water temperatures.
Asunto(s)

Texto completo: 1 Colección: 01-internacional Base de datos: MEDLINE Asunto principal: Quemaduras / Incendios Forestales Tipo de estudio: Observational_studies / Risk_factors_studies Límite: Animals Idioma: En Revista: PLoS One Asunto de la revista: CIENCIA / MEDICINA Año: 2022 Tipo del documento: Article País de afiliación: Estados Unidos Pais de publicación: Estados Unidos

Texto completo: 1 Colección: 01-internacional Base de datos: MEDLINE Asunto principal: Quemaduras / Incendios Forestales Tipo de estudio: Observational_studies / Risk_factors_studies Límite: Animals Idioma: En Revista: PLoS One Asunto de la revista: CIENCIA / MEDICINA Año: 2022 Tipo del documento: Article País de afiliación: Estados Unidos Pais de publicación: Estados Unidos