Studies on Water Resources in Forested East Texas

Intensive silvicultural practices have the potential to negatively impact water resources. The effectiveness of forestry best management practices in minimizing potential water resources impacts should be evaluated. The purpose of this study is to conduct urgently needed research on water quality and quantity problems in forested East Texas

Stream Water Quality and Quantity Effects from Select Timber Harvesting of a Streamside Management Zone

A naturally regenerated, even aged, mixed pine/hardwood, streamside management zone (SMZ) was selectively harvested in May 2006. The 27.8 ha SMZ buffered an intermittent headwater stream draining a 98 ha watershed. The harvest complied with Texas, USA best management practices (BMPs) by maintaining a minimum SMZ width of 15 m on either side of the channel, retaining a minimum basal area (BA) greater than 11.47 m2 ha-1, and minimizing forest floor and stream channel disturbance. No changes in soil bulk density were measured with only a slight increase in bare soil. No changes in water quality or quantity were detectable following harvest, in part due to dry post-treatment conditions. The Agricultural Environmental/Policy eXtender (APEX) model was used to simulate treatment effects under different harvesting and weather conditions. APEX provided reasonable estimates of water yield, sediment, and nutrient losses and was found to be an effective tool for estimating the relative impacts of alternative BMP scenarios. Results indicate that maintaining a minimum BA of 11.47 m2 ha-1 and SMZ width of 15 m on intermittent streams will protect water quality even in wet years, and that not retaining any residual BA can result in over ten times more sediment loss

Soil Erosion and Surface Water Quality Impacts of Natural Gas Development in East Texas, USA

Due to greater demands for hydrocarbons and improvements in drilling technology, development of oil and natural gas in some regions of the United States has increased dramatically. A 1.4 ha natural gas well pad was constructed in an intermittent stream channel at the Alto Experimental Watersheds in East Texas, USA (F1), while another 1.1 ha well pad was offset about 15 m from a nearby intermittent stream (F2). V-notch weirs were constructed downstream of these well pads and stream sedimentation and water quality was measured. For the 2009 water year, about 11.76 cm, or almost 222% more runoff resulted from F1 than F2. Sediment yield was significantly greater at F1, with 13,972 kg ha−1 yr−1 versus 714 kg ha−1yr−1 at F2 on a per unit area disturbance basis for the 2009 water year. These losses were greater than was observed following forest clearcutting with best management practices (111–224 kg ha−1). Significantly greater nitrogen and phosphorus losses were measured at F1 than F2. While oil and gas development can degrade surface water quality, appropriate conservation practices like retaining streamside buffers can mitigate these impacts

Instream Woody Debris and Riparian Forest Characteristics in the Sabine River, Texas

We examined instream large woody debris (LWD) dynamics on the Sabine River, TX. All wood \u3e10 cm in diameter and \u3e2 m long was measured on four river meanders (meander wavelengths) below the dam on Toledo Bend Reservoir. We determined LWD species, degree of decay, bank orientation, jam association, and stage contact. We also measured riparian vegetation characteristics on each meander. LWD volumes were significantly greater at the site immediately below Toledo Bend Dam, due to the relatively steeper channel gradient and higher rates of channel erosion. Based on mass balance estimates, between 11 and 21% of total annual recruitment came from upstream fluvial transport, and the remainder resulted from bank erosion and tree mortality. We estimated average LWD residence time to be 12–14 years. The lower Sabine River is transport-limited for sediment, and the same is true for LWD. Based on these measurements, it is unlikely that Toledo Bend Reservoir is having a significant impact on LWD dynamics at the measurement reaches due to lacustrine wood storage. Of greater concern in the study system are riparian forest degradation and invasive species spread, which may dramatically affect future LWD loadings and residence times, and thus, riverine biota

Bacteriological Water Quality of Forested and Pastured Streams Receiving Land-applied Poultry Litter

Poultry production is a growing industry in East Texas, generating about 360,000 m tons of broiler litter each year as a by-product for application on pasturelands. Grab samples of fecal coliform (FC) and fecal streptococcus (FS) were collected monthly between March and December 1996 and FC and E-coli samples were collected weekly between July and October 2001 at six sites on the Waffelo and Terrapin Creeks in Nacogdoches County, Texas to assess possible impacts of poultry litter application on bacterial water quality. Sites were grouped by three pairs with each pair consisting of one upstream site in predominantly forested area and one downstream site in a pastured area receiving land application of poultry litter. All pastured watersheds had a 10 to 150 m buffer of riparian forest and/or unfertilized pasture between the stream and areas on which broiler litter was applied. FC concentrations exceeded the 200 cfu/100 ml contact recreation standards in more than 50% of observations, regardless of forested or pastured conditions. E-coli samples did not violate standards and has been shown to be a better indicator of fecal contamination. Current broiler litter land-application rates on pasturelands did not cause significantly higher FC concentrations than natural wildlife activities on forested watersheds. Water pH was the only parameter significantly correlated (r \u3e 0.50) with FC in the study areas. No significant correlations were detected between FC and other aquatic parameters including stream discharge, temperature, salinity, specific conductance, and dissolved oxygen. The study suggests that background variation in bacteriological parameters may mask land-use practices, though a longer period of observations with greater sampling frequency at more study sites may reduce observed variation in the present study

Digital Preservation and Access of Natural Resources Documents

Digitization and preservation of natural resource documents were reviewed and the current status of digitization presented for a North American university. It is important to present the status of the digitation process for natural resources and to advocate for increased collections of digital material for ease of reference and exchange of information. Digital collections need to include both published documents and ancillary material for research projects and data for future use and interpretation. The methods in this paper can be applied to other natural resource collections increasing their use and distribution. The process of decision making for documents and their preservation and inclusion in ScholarWorks is presented as a part of the Forest Sciences Commons as a subset of the Life Sciences Commons of the Digital Commons Open Network launched and maintained by bepress. Digitization has increased the roles and skillsets needed for librarians and from libraries. This creates new challenges and opportunities for the library as publisher and as an advocate for open access. Digital curation melds together digitization and knowledge management and enhances community engagement. Digitization of collections are reviewed and natural resource documentation presented for faculty publications, Research Projects and Centers, eBooks, Journals, Galleries and electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs). Recommendations are made to increase the digital curation of the collection by encouraging community participation and use. Digital archives are important to natural resource professionals as society-ready natural resource graduates need to deal effectively with complex ecological, economic and social issues of current natural resources management. Natural resource research for the future needs to ensure that professionals have a greater breath of knowledge as they interpret and apply new knowledge, understanding, and technology to complex, transdisciplinary social and biological issues and challenges

Forest Clearcutting and Site-Preparation on a Saline Soil in East Texas: Impacts on Water Quality

Three 0.02 hectare plot-watersheds were installed on a saline soil in the Davy Crockett National Forest near Apple Springs, Texas. Each plot was installed with an H-flume, FW-1 automatic water level recorder, Coshocton N-1 runoff sampler, and two storage tanks. One watershed was undisturbed forested and served a control, one was clearcut without any site-preparation, and the third was clearcut, V-blade sheared, windrowed, and vegetation regrowth was prevented for the first 2 years. A total of 274 storms were recorded during the four-year study period, 1989-1992. Average annual sediment losses for the study period were 55, 197, and 1,530 kilograms per hectare per year for the control, commercial clearcut, and sheared plots, respectively. These losses are about average for most studies conducted in East Texas and the Southeast and are well below average losses for all land uses in the Southeast. Sediment losses and surface runoff were significantly greater from the sheared plot-watershed than from the control and the commercial clearcut plots. Employing Wischmeier and Smith’s (1978) long-term average Rvalue for the USLE overestimated annual sediment yield for the study period, while two shortcut models developed in the United States resulted in more accurate predictions and are good substitutes for the long-term R-value. Total losses in surface runoff of PO4, NO3, NO2, TKN, K, Ca, Mg, Na, Al, Fe, Zn, and Cu were higher on the site-prepared plot watershed than the other two. Losses of PO4, TKN, and NO2 were higher on the commercial clearcut plot than the control. Losses were not high enough to adversely affect forest productivity. Concentrations of elements were generally below established USEPA surface water quality standards and were not high enough to adversely affect plant growth

Structural Control of Mesic Vegetation Communities within the Owl and Bear Creek Watersheds, Fort Hood Military Installation, Texas

The Fort Hood Military Installation is a karst landscape, dominated by Lower Cretaceous carbonates of the Trinity and Fredericksburg groups. The study area is the northeastern peninsula known as the Owl Mountain Province, utilized by the U.S. Army for troop maneuvers and training. The geomorphic evolution of the province has been controlled by the structural development of incised canyons in the Owl and Bear creek watersheds, following the deformational trend of the Balcones/Ouachita fault system and the transverse Belton High-Central Texas Reef Trend. These trends control cave development in the subsurface, karst manifestations at the surface, joints in outcrop, stream orientation, and vegetation associations. Previous transect vegetation surveys identified nine discrete areas of Acer grandidentatum habitat confined to mesic slot canyons in the watersheds. Traditional vegetation modeling has relied heavily on slope and aspect as key elements controlling ecological associations and soil moisture; in karst landscapes, permeability and solutional widening of conduits formed by local and regional deformation events can influence the location and ecological stability of these vegetation communities. Orientation trends derived from geologic mapping and spatial analyses of this karst landscape support the hypothesis that regional deformation events have exerted structural control on the relict mesic vegetation population