Nutrient and carbon retention in riparian and hillslope forests after mountain pine beetle infestation and timber harvesting in Colorado (Abstract)

Mountain pine beetle outbreaks have caused an unprecedented amount of tree mortality in northern Colorado and southern Wyoming forests over the past decade. The extensive overstory mortality and associated salvage logging activities may threaten the sustained delivery of clean water from beetle-affected forests. In this study, we evaluate nutrient retention by riparian buffers consisting of beetle-killed trees and examine nutrient responses to harvesting of hillslope and riparian forests dominated by lodgepole pine. Here, we compare nutrient leaching and soil nutrient pools between beetlekilled stands and salvage-logged units for a three year period.