Streamflow and thermal regime are critical controls on fluvial habitat and aquatic ecology. Both flow and thermal regime can be influenced by changes in land use/land cover and climatic variability and change. Field research is particularly focused on sites at the Malcolm Knapp Research Forest (MKRF), much of which lies in the rain-on-snow zone. Current research is focusing on (a) snowpack dynamics and runoff generation and their response to the interactions between climatic variability and forest management, and (b) winter stream thermal regime and its ecological consequences.

Glaciers throughout western North America have been retreating over the last century, with especially marked shrinkage during the last two to three decades. As glaciers retreat, they are exposing new landscapes, including lakes and streams. The shrinkage of glaciers, in combination with the dynamics and evolution of newly exposed landscapes, will have profound influences on the hydrology and habitat characteristics of downstream aquatic systems. Field research is focusing on Place and Bridge glaciers, as well as other sites in the southern Coast Mountains of British Columbia. This work is a continuation of research begun as part of the Western Canadian Cryospheric Network (WC²N), which was funded by the Canadian Foundation for Climate and Atmospheric Science.

In August 2003, the McLure Fire burned through several watersheds north of Kamloops, including Fishtrap Creek. High fuel loads, dry initial conditions, and strong winds resulted in an extremely high intensity fire that was difficult to contain. The burn of Fishtrap Creek Watershed was extensive, affecting 70% of the catchment and killing almost all of the trees in the riparian area. Since the fire, substantial salvage harvesting has occurred. Research is addressing how the fire has influenced hydrology, geomorphology, water quality and aquatic habitat. Much of the research has been funded by the provincial Forest Investment Account via the Forest Science Program. For more details, see the project web site.

The Cotton Creek Watershed Study combines process based field research with physically based modelling to gain an understanding of the changes in hydrological processes under different forest management scenarios. The research watershed has been instrumented to enable the study of internal processes over various spatial scales. The goal is to provide new insights into how forest disturbance (harvesting, roads, Mountain Pine Beetle) influences catchment hydrogeomorphology. For more information, see the project web site.

This research network is funded through the Sustainable Forest Management Network. We are combining previous and ongoing project data on terrestrial-aquatic linkages across Canada's forest landscapes in order to produce a framework for quantifying hydrologic, geomorphic and ecologic processes of forest landscapes at the national level. Based on this framework, we will define quantitative criteria and indicators for detecting hydroecologic responses to forest management activities. The network is headed by Jim Buttle (Trent U) and also involves F. Beall (CFS), I. Creed (UWO), K. Devito (U of A), C. Mendoza (U of A), A. Plamondon (U Laval) and U. Silins (U of A). For more information, see the project web site.