John C. Buckhouse

Cumulative Effects of Riparian Disturbances along High Desert Trout Streams of the John Day Basin, Oregon

Abstract In a study of cumulative effects of riparian disturbance by grazing on the trophic structure of high desert trout streams, watersheds with greater riparian canopy had higher standing crops of rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss, lower daily maximum temperatures (range, 16–23°C compared with 26–31°C), and perennial flow. Watershed aspect influenced the response of trophic structure to grazing influences. Standing crops of rainbow trout were negatively correlated with solar radiation and maximum temperature in watersheds flowing northward. A different relationship was observed for a set of watersheds with a southern aspect, perhaps due to the presence of spring seeps and stream desiccation in the heavily grazed stream. Trout biomass was negatively correlated with solar radiation, whereas positive relationships were found for discharge and depth. Algal biomass was positively correlated with solar insolation (r = 0.9 1), total invertebrate biomass (r = 0.77), and herbivorous invertebrate biomass (r = 0...

Water-quality benefits of having cattle manure deposited away from streams

Abstract A series of runoff and infiltration studies with bovine feces placed 0.0, 0.61, 1.37, or 2.13 m from a collection point were used to assess effectiveness of vegetative filter strips. Effectiveness was evaluated on the ability of the separation distance to reduce the number of fecal coliform (FC) bacteria being transported from the manure to the edge of the plots. Bacterial transport was evaluated under conditions of variable distance, soil permeability, and rainfall intensity. The FC bacteria yields were 40–115 million at the edge of the manure pile. This is only 17% of the FC in the manure. FC concentrations and yields were further reduced as the separation increased. The analysis of data did not indicate significant differences of bacteria transport in relation to rainfall intensities of 5 cm/h versus 10 cm/h at the 0.61, 1.37, or 2.13 m distances.

Resuspending Organisms from a Rangeland Stream Bottom

ABSTRACT BACTERIA from livestock wastes enter streams with run-off and are deposited directly when animals have access to the stream. While the exact fate of all of the organisms is not known, some of the bacteria settle out into the sediment on the stream bottom. This study examined resuspending organisms from the stream bottom. Bear Creek flows through a semi-arid rangeland in Central Oregon. The stream bottom was disrupted (raked) at three locations along Bear Creek. The stream was monitored to determine the change in the concentration of fecal coliform (FC) and fecal streptococcus (FS). Cattle locations were also recorded throughout the study period. The rakings resuspended 1.8 million to 760 million FC per m^ and from 0.8 million to 5,610 million FS per m^. Cattle access to the stream increased organism concentration in the underlying sediments.

Water quality implications of cattle grazing on a semiarid watershed in southeastern Utah.

Highlight: During 19 73 and 1974 wildland water quality analyses were performed on a semiarid, chained and seeded, pinyon-juniper site in southeastern Utah. The area was treated in 1967 and protected from grazing until 1974. In 1974 livestock grazing was introduced and investigations continued to determine if any deleterious land use effects were present from fecal contamination by cattle. No significant changes were noted in fecal and total coliform production (fecal pollution bacterial indicators) from grazing use. There is an element of risk involved whenever data generated from a small area are projected to larger land areas. However, it appears that this level of livestock grazing (2 hafA UM) did not constitute a public health hazard in terms of fecal pollution indicators on the semiarid watershed.

Streambank erosion and ungulate grazing relationships.

Streambank erosional patterns have been studied for 3 years (1 year of calibration and 2 years of active grazing treatment) on the Starkey Experimental Forest and Range in the Blue Mountains of northeastern Oregon. Livestock grazing use at the rate of 3.2 ha/AUM (8 acres/AUM) has not accelerated streambank degradation on Meadow Creek. Most erosion occurred during wintering periods and this erosion has been independent of grazing season treatments. It appears that high runoff and occasional ice flows are the most significant factors in bank cutting on this stream. We are entering a period in natural resource management where riparian zone considerations are drawing increased attention. This critical zone is often the focal point of watershed, livestock, wildlife, and fisheries management. While a fairly large volume of material has been published concerning the effects of livestock on aquatic environments (Meehan and Platts 1978), much of the material has been observational in nature. The need for detailed, technical information relating to ecological potentials as affected by land use encouraged us to develop this study in 1975. While a number of riparian relationships are being investigated in this five-year study, in this mid-project report we will deal only with the relationships among several different livestock grazing systems and streambank sloughing.

Viewpoint: livestock influences on riparian zones and fish habitat: literature classification.

A key was used to classify articles about livestock influences on riparian zones and fish habitat into 3 classes: papers that contained original data, those that were commentary, and reports about methodology such as classification systems, policies, and monitoring criteria. Four hundred and twenty-eight of the total articles were directly related to grazing impacts on riparian zones and fish habitat. Only 89 of these grazing impact articles were classified as experimental, where treatments were replicated and results were statistically valid. This analysis revealed several limitations of riparian grazing studies that included: (1) inadequate description of grazing management practices or treatments, (2) weak study designs, and (3) lack of pre-treatment data. More long-term, replicated treatment studies are needed in the future.

Potential soil erosion of selected habitat types in the high desert region of central Oregon.

During the summers of 1975 and 1976, an infiltration/sedimentation study was conducted in the Bear Creek watershed of central Oregon. A Rocky Mountain infiltrometer was used to simulate high intensity rainfall over 468 sediment plots. The Bear Creek watershed was divided into seven ecological land units which were further refined into ten tentative habitat types based upon an associated table developed from vegetation and soils field data. Tractor logging in the mixed forest caused a signiflcant increase in soil loss. In nonforested units, a high natural variability in sediment production within sites tended to mask any differences that may have resulted from a management treatment. Significant differences that did occur appeared to be closely related to differences in soils and ecological condition. Beyond the identiflcation of specific sediment production potentials, this work investigated the value of the habitat type level of ecological refinement in relation to hydrologic response. Management of semiarid range watersheds is based primarily upon the harvest of natural resources and the realization of nontangible benefits from the land and its vegetation. Watershed concerns on these rangelands deal with soil stability and protection and the quantity and quality of water that is produced. Management, therefore, requires the maintenance of a vegetation and soil cover that is able to utilize and store precipitation at its maximum effectiveness. The purpose of this study was to investigate ecological land units within the Bear Creek watershed, 65 km east of Bend, Oregon, in terms of their susceptibility to surface

Infiltration Rates of Various Vegetative Communities within the Blue Mountains of Oregon

Mean infiltration rates differed among several natural vegetation communities with ponderosa pine (Pinusponderosa) exhibiting the lowest mean infiltration rate of 6.0 cm/hr and larch (Larix occidentalis) demonstrating the highest at 8.8 cm/hr. A trend toward increasing infiitration rates corresponded to increasingly mesic sites. Alpine, Douglas fir (Psuedotsuga me&e@), mountain meadow, and larch types demonstrated the greatest vegetative cover, occupied the most mesic sites, and exhibited the highest infiltration rates. Infiltration differences within vegetative communities,based upon changes in condition and productivity were also noted. The forested sites were more dependent upon condition class than productivity class, with higher infiltration rates being exhibited on pole sites than on timbered sites, apparently in response to higher plant densities associated with the pole thickets. Nonforested sites were responsive to both productivity and condition class with higher infiltration rates being exhibited on these sites with the more productive or better condition classifications. Water is a primary factor limiting production on many western rangelands. Many of these areas are subject to low annual precipitation and high potential evaporational losses. Activities which disturb the soil surface or vegetative composition and cover have the potential for reducing soil water intake, thereby reducing productivity which in some instances may be minimal at best. A prime concern of land managers is to maintain or enhance those factors within managerial capabilities which affect soil water intakeand to identify those areas most susceptible to disturbance. Blackburn and Skau (1974) studied infiltration rates and sediment production fo 29 plant communities and soils in central and eastern Nevada. The highest infiltration rates occurred on sites with weliaggregated surface soils free of vesicular porosity. Williams et al. (1972) used multiple regression analysis to determine relationships between vegetative and soil factors and infiltration rates and erosion from 550 infiltrometer plots at chained pinyon-juniper sites in Utah. Factors found to be most important in predicting infiltration rates were: (1) total porosity in the O-8 cm layer of soil, (2) percent bare soil surface, (3) soil texture in the O-8 cm layer of soil, and (4) crown cover. Raindrop impact on bare soil tends to rapidly close the natural channels of percolation by degrading soil structure. Studies at the Manti County watershed in Utah showed that runoff varied inversely with the total amount of ground cover (Orr 1957). Vegetative cover tends to reduce the energy of rainfall by reducing velocity and by breaking the large drops into a fine spray which can then enter the soil without damage to the soil surface. Gifford (1972) reported that the ability to predict infiltration rates, using cover characteristics alone varies with time, both within a given storm The authors are teacher, Monument Elementary School, Monument. Ore., and associate professor, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Ore., respectively. This report was submitted as Technical Paper No. 5884. Oregon Agricultural Experiment Station. The work upon which this report is based wassupported byfunds provided by the USDA-FS, Range Evaluation Project. Theauthors wish to thank Jon Skovlin and Reed Sanderson for the cooperation and help which they extended at all stages of this effort. Manuscript received June 8, 1981. event and on a seasonal basis. He further stated that measured cover characteristics may helpexplain hydrologic behavior of a site at one time, yet be of little value at another time. The objective of this study was to determine and compare infiltration rates within and among 10 different ecosystems found in the Oregon Range Evaluation Project Work Area.

Economics of Western Juniper Control in Central Oregon

Abstract The economic and ecological benefits and control costs of western juniper (Juniperus occidentalis Hook) management on rangelands are evaluated using a discrete-time, dynamic economic model developed to depict 4 representative ranches in the John Day region of north-central Oregon. The models optimization criterion is to maximize the net present value of profits through decisions regarding herd size and composition, cattle sales, and the manipulation of forage production through juniper management practices. Projections are made regarding the impacts of economically optimal juniper management on wildlife populations, stream flows, and erosion levels. Results consistently showed that juniper management options resulted in larger equilibrium herd sizes and greater economic returns. Erosion levels were substantially lower in scenarios that contained juniper management options. Economically optimal juniper management decisions led to increased quail and elk populations, but generally resulted in decreased deer populations. The results indicate there are both economic and ecological benefits from controlling western juniper on Oregon rangelands.

Stream temperatures as related to subsurface waterflows originating from irrigation.

Continuous stream temperature data were collected from adjacent reaches of a third-order stream in eastern Oregon. The upstream reach was located within a non-irrigated meadow and the downstream reach was located within an irrigated meadow. Sensors were placed in the stream above a head-ditch irrigation diversion, in the irrigation ditch, in the subsurface (interflow) groundwater, and in the stream reach within the irrigated meadow. Daily maximum stream temperature in the reach located within the irrigated meadow was found to be 1 to 3 degrees C cooler than the non-irrigated reach. Daily minimum stream temperatures exhibited the opposite relationship with the reach within the irrigated meadow ranging from 0.5 to 1.7 degrees C warmer than the non-irrigated meadow reach.