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Hydrological effects of forest transpiration loss in bark beetle-impacted watersheds

Nature Climate Change volume 4, pages 481–486 (2014)Cite this article

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Abstract

The recent climate-exacerbated mountain pine beetle infestation in the Rocky Mountains of North America has resulted in tree death that is unprecedented in recorded history. The spatial and temporal heterogeneity inherent in insect infestation creates a complex and often unpredictable watershed response, influencing the primary storage and flow components of the hydrologic cycle. Despite the increased vulnerability of forested ecosystems under changing climate1, watershed-scale implications of interception, ground evaporation, and transpiration changes remain relatively unknown, with conflicting reports of streamflow perturbations across regions. Here, contributions to streamflow are analysed through time and space to investigate the potential for increased groundwater inputs resulting from hydrologic change after infestation. Results demonstrate that fractional late-summer groundwater contributions from impacted watersheds are 30 ± 15% greater after infestation and when compared with a neighbouring watershed that experienced earlier and less-severe attack, albeit uncertainty propagations through time and space are considerable. Water budget analysis confirms that transpiration loss resulting from beetle kill can account for the relative increase in groundwater contributions to streams, often considered the sustainable flow fraction and critical to mountain water supplies and ecosystems.

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Figure 1: Conceptual model of water cycle changes with tree death induced by mountain pine beetles.
Figure 2: Map of Rocky Mountain National Park and sampling sites in the Big Thompson and North Inlet watersheds.
Figure 3: Fractional contributions of endmembers to streamflow.
Figure 4: Hydrograph separations presented as partitioning of the total daily stream discharge (in mm; full bar height) for the 1994 (blue) and 2012 (orange) seasons.
Figure 5: Watershed evapotranspiration changes from increased groundwater contributions in a simplified water budget.

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Acknowledgements

This material is based on work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. WSC-1204787, the USGS-National Institute of Water Resources under Grant No. 2011CO245G Subaward G-2914-1 and through the Water, Energy, and Biogeochemical Budgets program and USGS/NPS Partnership program.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hydrological Science and Engineering Program, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, Colorado 80401, USA

    Lindsay A. Bearup, Reed M. Maxwell & John E. McCray

  2. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, Colorado 80401, USA

    Lindsay A. Bearup & John E. McCray

  3. Integrated GroundWater Modeling Center, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, Colorado 80401, USA

    Lindsay A. Bearup & Reed M. Maxwell

  4. Department of Geology and Geological Engineering, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, Colorado 80401, USA

    Reed M. Maxwell

  5. Colorado Water Science Center, US Geological Survey, Denver, Colorado 80225, USA

    David W. Clow

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  1. Lindsay A. Bearup
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  4. John E. McCray
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Contributions

L.A.B. and R.M.M. conceived the study, L.A.B. and D.W.C. collected and analysed the data, and L.A.B., R.M.M., D.W.C. and J.E.M. interpreted results and contributed to writing.

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Correspondence to Lindsay A. Bearup or Reed M. Maxwell.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Bearup, L., Maxwell, R., Clow, D. et al. Hydrological effects of forest transpiration loss in bark beetle-impacted watersheds. Nature Clim Change 4, 481–486 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2198

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