Long-Term Response of a Forest Watershed Ecosystem

Clearcutting in the Southern Appalachians

Wayne T. Swank and Jackson R. Webster

Long-Term Ecological Research Network Series

A long-term study of the effects of clearcutting on forest and stream ecosystems.
Research approached from a variety of disciplines, including botany, ecology, zoology, hydrology, and environmental science.
Data is representative of ecosystems throughout the United States.

Long-Term Response of a Forest Watershed Ecosystem

Clearcutting in the Southern Appalachians

Wayne T. Swank and Jackson R. Webster

Long-Term Ecological Research Network Series

Description

This latest addition to the Long-Term Ecological Research Network series gives an overarching account of the recovery and management of a forest watershed ecosystem. It synthesizes and cross-references important and rare-to find, long-term data in 14 chapters that deal with the hydrologic, biogeochemical, and ecological processes of mixed deciduous forests. The data is representative of the entire U.S., and shows the effects of commercial clearcutting using examples from the Southeastern U.S. and a range of East coast forests. It includes responses of both forest and stream components of the watershed and provides unique insights into the interrelationships between the effects of natural disturbances (floods, droughts, insects, and disease, etc.) versus management disturbances.
Clearly illustrating the importance and need for long-term research to evaluate recovery processes of long-lived ecosystems, the work will serve academics, professionals, and students seeking to understand more fully the effects of forest-cutting on forest and stream ecosystems.

Long-Term Response of a Forest Watershed Ecosystem

Clearcutting in the Southern Appalachians

Wayne T. Swank and Jackson R. Webster

Long-Term Ecological Research Network Series

Table of Contents
Chapter 1- Introduction: programmatic background, site description, experimental approach and treatment, natural disturbances.
Wayne T. Swank and Jackson R. Webster.
Chapter 2- Successional forest dynamics: 20 years following clearcutting.
Lindsay R. Boring, Katherine J. Elliott, and Wayne T. Swank
Chapter 3- Response and recovery of water yield and timing, stream sediment, abiotic parameters, and stream chemistry.
Wayne T. Swank, Jennifer D. Knoepp, James M. Vose, Stephanie Laseter, and Jackson R. Webster.
Chapter 4- Long-and short-term changes in soil nutrient availability following logging.
Jennifer D. Knoepp, Bruce L. Haines, Wayne T. Swank.
Chapter 5- Soluble organic nutrient fluxes.
Robert G. Qualls, Bruce L. Haines, Wayne T. Swank.
Chapter 6- Dynamics of dissolved organic carbon in a stream during a quarter century of forest succession.
Judy L. Meyer, Jackson R. Webster, Jennifer D. Knoepp, and E. F. Benfield.
Chapter 7- Woody debris decomposition and its contribution to the forest floor and soil on watershed 7.
Kim G. Mattson and Wayne T. Swank
Chapter 8- Recovery of decomposition and soil microarthropod communities.
Liam Heneghan and Alissa Salmore
Chapter 9- Canopy Arthropods
Barbara C. Reynolds, Timothy D. Schowalter, and D. A. Crossley, Jr..
Chapter 10- Recovery of particulate organic matter dynamics in a stream draining a logged watershed—— a pressing situation.
Jackson R. Webster, E. F. Benfield, Stephen W. Golladay, and Matthew E. McTammany.
Chapter 11- Stream macroinvertebrate response to clearcut logging.
J. Bruce Wallace and Damon Ely.
Chapter 12- Comparisons with results from the Fernow Experimental forest in the central Appalachians.
Mary Beth Adams and James N. Kochendenfer.
Chapter 13- Comparisons with results from the Hubbard Brook Experimental forest in the northern Appalachians.
James W. Hornbeck, Amey S. Bailey, Christopher Eagar, and John L. Campbell.
Chapter 14- Ecosystem stability and forest watershed management: A synthesis from 30+ years of research on WS7.
Jackson R. Webster, Wayne T. Swank, James M. Vose, Jennifer D. Knoepp, and Katherine J. Elliott.

Long-Term Response of a Forest Watershed Ecosystem

Clearcutting in the Southern Appalachians

Wayne T. Swank and Jackson R. Webster

Long-Term Ecological Research Network Series

Author Information

Wayne T. Swank, Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory, USDA Forest Service, and Jackson R. Webster, Department of Biological Sciences, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Wayne T. Swank is Scientist Emeritus, Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory, USDA Forest Service, and Adjunct Professor at both the University of Georgia and Clemson University. Jackson R. Webster is Professor of Ecology in the Department of Biological Sciences at Virginia Tech, which is officially Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.