EFFECTS OF CLEARCUTTING AND SLASHBURNING ON STREAM TEMPERATURE IN SOUTHWESTERN BRITISH COLUMBIA 1

ABSTRACT A paired watershed study was conducted in western hemlock/western redcedar/Douglas fir forests of southwestern British Columbia to assess the effects of clearcutting and clearcutting plus slash‐burning treatments on stream water characteristics. In the case of stream temperatures, both treatments increased summer temperatures as well as summer daily temperature fluctuations. These effects lasted for seven years in the case of the clearcut stream but longer in the case of the clearcut and slashburned stream. Clearcutting increased winter stream temperatures whereas slashburning caused a decrease. These changes lasted less than four years. Clearcutting and slashburning had a greater impact on stream temperatures than did clearcutting alone.