Approaching four decades of forest watershed research at Upper Penticton Creek,British Columbia: A synthesis

Over the past 35 years, the Upper Penticton Creek (UPC) Watershed Experiment has supported forest hydrology research in south-central British Columbia (BC), Canada. This paper provides a synthesis of research results, highlights the challenges facing UPC and identifies new research directions. Clearcutting approximately 50% of two small, snow-dominated (Dfb Koppen classification) watersheds advanced the timing of snowmelt-generated high flows and decreased late-summer low flows, relative to predictions based on pre-treatment regressions. Changes in high flows did not have a significant effect on stream channels due to low stream power, coarse substrate, and limited riparian disturbance. Changes in summer low flows reduced modelled useable fish habitat by 20%–50%. Evaporation averaged 52% of the annual precipitation in the mature forest, was reduced to 30% in a clearcut, and recovered to 40% and 47% in a 10 and 25 year-old stand, respectively. Groundwater recharge to the bedrock was estimated at 19% of annual precipitation, indicating that, even with the large uncertainty associated with this estimate, deep groundwater should not be ignored in the water balance. Suspended sediment, turbidity, and colour increased post-logging; however, chemical surface water quality did not change. Aquatic community structure changed post-logging; and although this affected the processing of organic matter, the effects on habitat quality were considered minimal. The information gained at UPC has supported provincial policies, management guidelines, forest stewardship plans and watershed risk assessments. The undisturbed control watershed, re-growing treatment watersheds and ongoing long-term hydrometric monitoring continue to provide opportunities for future research addressing issues such as the effects of young forests on streamflow and hydrologic recovery, and the influence of climate change on the hydrologic regime.     

Off the Shelves—new dinosaur species from Western Canada and the importance of museum collections,again

It seems almost on a weekly basis that a new discovery in palaeontology is announced. Perhaps, in part, this is because the outlets for publishing have increased, with new online publications, or at least—once paper and bound only—the traditional sources now have internet accessibility allowing priory viewing to the print version. There is also the fact that dinosaurs and other fossils (and the ideas that surround them) are a marketable item; for authors, and the institutions that house the specimens or researchers. The fact is that in a news cycle, which is almost below hourly, and amongst the sensational stress and despair of many of the stories, fossils are a quick ‘feel‐good’ or minimally distractive piece. Collectively, palaeontologists and their fossils are more often than not taking advantage of these public opportunities.     

Inter‐annual variation in the topographic controls on catchment‐scale snow distribution in a maritime alpine catchment,New Zealand

Seasonal snow is a globally important water resource that contributes substantially to upland and lowland water resources. As such, there is a need to understand the controls on the spatial and temporal variation in snow distribution. This study meets this research need by investigating the topographic controls on snow depth distribution in the upper Jollie catchment in the Southern Alps of New Zealand. Furthermore, inter‐annual variation in the importance of the topographic controls is examined and linked to variation in the dominant synoptic‐scale weather patterns over a 4‐year period (2007–2010). Through the use of regression trees, the relative importance of the topographic controls on snow depth was shown to vary between the four study years. In particular, elevation explained the greatest amount of variance in 2007 and 2008 and east‐exposure explained the greatest variance in 2009 and 2010. The other wind exposure variables also had a large effect on the snow depth distribution in 2009 and 2010. Differences in the frequency and duration of synoptic weather patterns were physically consistent with the changing importance of these variables. In particular, a higher frequency of troughing events in 2009 and 2010 is thought to be associated with a reduced importance of elevation and greater influence of wind exposure on snow depth in these years. These findings demonstrate the importance of using multi‐year data sets, and of considering topographic and climatic influences, when attempting to model alpine snow distribution. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The isotope hydrology of the Muskoka River Watershed,Ontario, Canada

Stable isotope tracers of δ¹⁸O and δ²H are increasingly being applied in the study of water cycling in regional-scale watersheds in which human activities, like river regulation, are important influences. In 2015, δ¹⁸O and δ²H were integrated into a water quality survey in the Muskoka River Watershed with the aim to provide new regional-scale characterization of isotope hydrology in the 5,100-km² watershed located on the Canadian Shield in central Ontario, Canada. The forest dominated region includes ~78,000 ha of lakes, 42 water control structures, and 11 generating stations, categorized as “run of river.” Within the watershed, stable isotope tracers have long been integrated into hydrologic process studies of both headwater catchments and lakes. Here, monthly surveys of δ¹⁸O and δ²H in river flow were conducted in the watershed between April 2015 and November 2016 (173 surface water samples from 10 river stations). Temporal patterns of stable isotopes in river water reflect seasonal influences of snowmelt and summer-time evaporative fractionation. Spatial patterns, including differences observed during extreme flood levels experienced in the spring of 2016, reflect variation in source contributions to river flow (e.g., snowmelt or groundwater versus evaporatively enriched lake storage), suggesting more local influences (e.g., glacial outwash deposits). Evidence of combined influences of source mixing and evaporative fractionation could, in future, support application of tracer-enabled hydrological modelling, estimation of mean transit times and, as such, contribute to studies of water quality and water resources in the region.     

Cyclic shakedown of piles subjected to two‐dimensional lateral loading

Pile foundations are frequently subjected to cyclic lateral loads. Wave and wind loads on offshore structures will be applied in different directions and times during the design life of a structure. Therefore, the magnitude and direction of these loads in conjunction with the dead loads should be considered. This paper investigates a loading scenario where a monotonic lateral load is applied to a pile, followed by two‐way cycling in a direction perpendicular to the initial loading. This configuration is indicative of the complexity of loading that may be considered and is referred to in the paper as ‘T‐shaped’ loading. The energy‐based numerical model employed considers two‐dimensional lateral loading in an elasto‐plastic soil, with coupled behaviour between the two perpendicular directions by local yield surfaces along the length of the pile. The behaviour of the soil–pile system subjected to different loading combinations has been divided into four categories of shakedown previously proposed for cyclic loading of structures and soils. A design chart has been created to illustrate the type of pile behaviour for a given two‐dimensional loading scenario. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Multipole borehole acoustic theory: Source imbalances and the effects of an elastic logging tool

In recent years the emphasis in acoustic logging has been shifting from the wireline to the Logging While Drilling (LWD) environment, the latter being far different from the former in that both tool rigidity and tool radius are considerably greater. In this paper we present a generic mathematical formulation for the multipole borehole acoustic measurement (alternate and equal polarity case), including a detailed analysis on the effects of multipole source amplitude imbalances. It is shown that source imbalance induced mode contaminants have excitation amplitudes that are scaled by the sum of the relative source imbalances between diametrically opposed sources. Furthermore it is shown that for mode contaminants with odd modal number there can be a significant offset in the associated directivity pattern, even at low levels of source imbalance. However, it is also shown that source imbalance induced mode contaminants can be completely eliminated if the multipole source is accompanied with a ‘vertically’ (but not azimuthally) offset multipole receiver. Mathematically, it is demonstrated (for a centered tool) that a polarity weighted stack of these multipole receivers completely eliminates the source imbalance induced mode contaminants. Excitation amplitudes and phase slowness of borehole guided modes are presented for the most common excitation regimes, i.e., monopole, dipole, quadrupole and the hexapole excitation, the latter one showing to have the advantage of a higher formation shear cut-off frequency than the quadrupole mode. Special emphasis will be on the analysis of the dipole excitation and the differences that occur due to variations in tool rigidity, tool diameter and (isotropic) formation properties with the resulting conclusion that a formation flexural mode is not observable as a result of a LWD dipole excitation (this opposed to its dipole wireline counterpart). The guided mode excitation amplitudes are calculated as residues using a Laurent series expansion. This (unconventional) way of calculating the residue has the advantage that it is independent of the pole order, does not require the numerical evaluation of derivatives with respect to the vertical wavenumber and allows for an accurate and efficient FFT implementation.     

Expert views on biodiversity conservation in an era of climate change

Adapting conservation policy to the impacts of climate change has emerged as a central and unresolved challenge. In this paper, we report on the results of 21 in-depth interviews with biodiversity and climate change adaptation experts on their views of the implications of climate change for conservation policy. We find a diversity of views across a set of topics that included: changing conservation objectives, conservation triage and its criteria, increased management interventions in protected areas, the role of uncertainty in decision-making, and evolving standards of conservation success. Notably, our findings reveal active consideration among experts with some more controversial elements of policy adaptation (including the role of disturbance in facilitating species transitions, and changing standards of conservation success), despite a comparative silence on these topics in the published literature. Implications of these findings are discussed with respect to: (a) identifying future research and integration needs and (b) providing insight into the process of policy adaptation in the context of biodiversity conservation.