CONFERENCE NOTES

Riparian Management in Headwater Catchments:
Translating Science into Management

Feb. 19-21, 2007 - The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada

SCOPE AND PURPOSE

Headwater streams have been increasingly recognized as important sources of water, energy, nutrients and organic matter to downstream reaches, as well as being valuable habitats in their own right. However, these systems are generally provided little or no protection from land uses such as forest harvesting in the form of forested buffer strips, primarily due to economic or logistical arguments. Foresters and ecosystem managers are increasingly under pressure as to how to trade off the protection of the ecological value of headwater streams and their riparian zones against the economic values derived from forestry.

 The goal of this conference is to bring together researchers studying the hydroecological responses of headwater streams to alternative riparian management approaches and practitioners charged with managing forestry activities in headwater and tributary systems. This conference will help bridge the gap between the current science of aquatic and riparian processes in headwater streams and the application of these results to sustainable management of these areas. The ultimate goal is to explore the range of approaches potentially available to forest and aquatic resource managers and their efficacy in meeting ecosystem management objectives. The conference will conclude with an experts panel discussion of the efficacy of current and alternative riparian management strategies for headwater streams.

 This conference builds on the highly successful meeting on “Small Stream Channels and their Riparian Zones” (SSCARZ) held at UBC in February 2002, as well as a series of meetings sponsored by the Headwaters Research Co-operative held in Corvallis, Oregon.

Conference Program and Abstracts - opens as a PDF

List of Small Stream Studies - opens as a PDF file