Sediment Transport in a Small Stream following Two Successive Forest Fires

Abstract

The transport of stream bedload sediment was monitored continuously in a small stream from 1975 to 1982 following forest fires in 1974 and 1980. The stream is located in the east subcatchment (170 ha) of Lake 239 in the Experimental Lakes Area, northwestern Ontario. Precipitation, stream discharge, bedload transport, and concentration of suspended materials were measured quantitatively and organic debris was observed and collected. Bedload transport increased 20-fold following the first fire and threefold after the second. Particle sizes tended to increase during the period of study. Bedload data suggest a recovery period of 5–6 yr following the first fire and a shorter one following the second. A mass budget of material load transported in a single year following recovery indicated a dominance of dissolved load (87%), followed by suspended load (10%), and bedload (3%).