Effects of a Forest Fire Upon the Benthic Community of a Mountain Stream in Northeast Idaho
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University of Montana ScholarWorks at University of Montana Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers Graduate School 1977 Effects of a forest fire upon the benthic community of a mountain stream in northeast Idaho Deborah Cynthia Stefan The University of Montana Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd Let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Stefan, Deborah Cynthia, "Effects of a forest fire upon the benthic community of a mountain stream in northeast Idaho" (1977). Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers. 6924. https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/6924 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at ScholarWorks at University of Montana. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at University of Montana. For more information, please contact [email protected]. EFFECTS OF A FOREST FIRE UPON THE BENTHIC COMMUNITY OF A MOUNTAIN STREAM IN NORTHEAST IDAHO By g Deborah C. Stefan zo B.S., The Pennsylvania State University, 1971 § y Presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of c Ui < Master of Arts m •g UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA S 1977 Approved by: Chairman, Board of Examiners yT p44 f De^, Graduate School 3y... Jf22. Date Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number: EP37725 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. UMT Owsartation PiiblMhing UMI EP37725 Published by ProQuest LLC (2013). Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code ProjQ^st* ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ABSTRACT Stefan, Deborah C., M.A., 1977 Zoology Effects of a forest fire upon the benthic community of a mountain stream in northeast Idaho. Advisor: Andrew L. Sheldon The purpose of this study which was conducted in 1974 and 1975 was to investigate the effects of the Fitz Creek fire of August, 1973 upon the benthic community of White Cap Creek which was partially surrounded by the bu m . Study sections of White Cap Creek within the burn, below the burn, and above the burn were examined. Taxonomic composition, distribution, density, and relative abundance of benthic invertebrates were compared within and between stream study sections. Effects of the fire upon insect drift, periphyton, detritus, and physical parameters of the stream were also investigated. There were neither sudden nor drastic changes in species composition of benthic invertebrates with the exception of Plecoptera between the burned and unburned stream areas. The uppermost station of the burn area was more similar in relative abundance of macro-invertebrates to stations above the burn than to its more proximal station within the burn. However, there was a sharp contrast in relative abundance of Coleoptera between stations above the burn and all other sites. Plecoptera was the only taxa for which significant differences in numbers in artificial substrates among study sections occurred, whereas significant differences in numbers of four taxa occurred within study sections of White Cap Creek. Diel periodicity and total numbers of subsurface drifting organisms were similar between the burn and below-burn stations. There was a marked increase from 1974 to 1975 in numbers of surface drifting organisms at both burn and below-burn stations. Percentage composition of total drift was similar between stations with surface drift com prising a large percentage of total drift. The above-burn sampling site which was adjacent to the burn had substantially higher amounts of chlorophyll on periphyton samplers than other sites. Slightly higher amounts of chlorophyll on periphyton samplers occurred at the uppermost station above the burn as compared to the burn and below-burn areas. There were no significant differences among study sections in the amounts of detritus accumulated in stations. However, there was a significant difference in the amounts of fine detritus accumulated within above-burn stations. Water temperatures were 0.5° to 1.5° C. higher within the burn as compared to the above-burn area in 1974 and 1975. The fire appeared to have little overall effect on the benthic community of White Cap Creek. ii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT S Sincere appreciation is extended to several individuals who made completion of this thesis possible. I am especially grateful to my major professor. Dr. Andrew Sheldon, for his guidance and support throughout this study. I am also grateful to Dr. George Weisel for his advice and critical review of the manuscript. Words cannot express sufficient gratitude to Judy Jordan for the many hours of field assistance, friendship, encouragement, and understanding. Special thanks are also due to Dale Hoth and Howie Simonin who volunteered field assistance during this study and for their friendship. Sincere gratitude goes to the women of 707 Dickinson who provided advice, moral support. Dr. Thosteson articles, much laughter, friendship, and good memories of graduate school. I am grateful to the personnel of West Fork Ranger Station for their cooperation and use of facilities and to the personnel of the Northern Forest Fire Laboratory . I would especially like to thank Bob Mutch and Bill Fischer for their sincere interest, assistance, support and patience throughout this study. This study was funded by the Forest Service in conjunction with the Northern Forest Fire Laboratory in Missoula, Montana. iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT.............................................................. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.........................................................iii LIST OF FIGURES ...................................................... v LIST OF TABLES......................................................... viii Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION................................................... 1 Primary and Secondary Objectives............................ 4 Study Area Description....................................... 6 Nature of the Fire........................................... 8 II. METHODS AND MATERIALS ......................................... 11 Benthic Macro-invertebrates ................................ 11 Insect Drift.................................................. 15 Periphyton.................................................... 16 Detritus...................................................... 18 Physical Parameters ......................................... 19 111. R E S U L T S ........................................................ 20 Benthic Macro-invertebrates ................................ 20 Insect Drift................................................. 68 Periphyton.................................................... 80 Detritus...................................................... 91 Physical Parameters ......................................... 94 IV. DISCUSSION...................................................... 97 Benthic Macro-invertebrates ................................ 97 Periphyton......................... 101 Detritus.........................................................102 Insect Drift.................................................... 103 Implications to Fire Management...............................104 V. S U M M A R Y ...........................................................106 Benthic Invertebrates ....................................... 107 Insect Drift.................................................... 108 Periphyton...................................................... 109 Detritus....................... 110 Water Temperature.............................................. 110 LITERATURE CITED.........................................................Ill APPENDIX A. BENTHIC MACRO-INVERTEBRATES............................... 117 APPENDIX B. INSECT DRIFT ........................................ 173 APPENDIX C. PHYSICAL PARAMETERS........................................ 194 iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. LIST OF FIGURES Page 1. White Cap Creek study area with location of stations sampled in 1974 and 1975.............................. 9 2. Periphyton sampler with attached glass slides ........... 17 3. Jaccard coefficients for adjacent station comparisons of Ephemeroptera in qualitative samples of White Cap Creek in July 1974, August 1974, and August 1975 ........................ 26 4. Jaccard coefficients for adjacent station comparisons of Plecoptera in qualitative samples of White Cap Creek in July 1974, August 1974, and August 1975 ........................ 28 5. Jaccard coefficients for adjacent station comparisons of Trichoptera in qualitative samples of White Cap Creek in