Utah Bark Beetles and Watersheds Workshop:
Impacts on the Hydrologic Cycle and Water Quality: What have we learned?
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Salt Lake City, UT
This workshop was convened by the Western Water Assessment and the US Forest Service Intermountain Region and Rocky Mountain Research Station to explore the water-related impacts of bark beetle infestations in Utah and the Rocky Mountain West.
The goals of the workshop were to:
1) Share key findings and uncertainties from beetle-water research in Colorado and Wyoming
2) Hear from researchers about bark beetle infestations, observed impacts on water, and ongoing studies
3) Seek input from resource managers in Utah about their water/watershed concerns and information needs related to ongoing beetle infestations
4) Help connect decision-makers with researchers and resources
Contact info for the presenters, and selected bark beetle resources
For more information: Contact Tim Bardsley at wwa.bardsley@gmail.com or 801-524-5130 ext 336.
Presentations
- PowerPoint slides from the presentations can be downloaded by clicking the presentation titles below
- Video of the presentations, and the discussion of hydrologic impacts, can be downloaded or streamed from this webpage at the University of Utah
(Note: the video files are large, up to 200 MB. Streaming is feasible only with very fast internet connections; otherwise download the entire file and then play it using your computer's media player.)
Introductions and Purpose of Meeting
Welcome and USFS perspective
Greg Bevenger, US Forest Service Region 4
Overview of the Western Water Assessment
Tim Bardsley, Western Water Assessment Utah Liaison
Overview of WWA’s work on bark beetles and water
Eric Gordon, Western Water Assessment
The Beetle Epidemic in Utah: Where are We, What Could Be the Impacts?
Overview of the bark beetle epidemic in Utah and the Intermountain Region
Barbara Bentz, USFS Rocky Mountain Research Station and Utah State University
Resource managers’ concerns about beetle impacts to water supplies
Eric Gordon, Western Water Assessment
Research Approaches and Results: Water Quantity/Hydrologic Impacts
Water and energy balance in a forested stand: An overview
Evan Pugh, University of Colorado-Boulder
Bark beetle impacts on snowmelt processes and tree water use
Jeff Deems, Western Water Assessment
Bark beetle impacts on runoff timing and volume
Jeff Lukas, Western Water Assessment
Ecosystem responses to Mountain Pine Beetle and management in Colorado forests (and hydrologic implications)
Chuck Rhoades, USFS Rocky Mountain Research Station
Hydrological impacts at stand scales - Conceptualized implications for water yield
Eric Gordon, Western Water Assessment
Group Discussion of Hydrologic Impacts
Research Approaches and Results: Water Quality Impacts
Bark beetle impacts on nutrient cycling and stream chemistry, and water quality responses to beetle-related management
Chuck Rhoades, USFS Rocky Mountain Research Station
Future Impacts of Climate and Other Factors
Climate variability and change: Implications for beetle infestations
Barbara Bentz, USFS Rocky Mountain Research Station and Utah State University
Beetles, dust accumulation, and climate change: Unraveling drivers of snowmelt in the Intermountain West
Jeff Deems, Western Water Assessment
