Impacts of the Mountain Pine Beetle on the Snow Hydrology of the McLeod River Watershed

We will quantify the hydrological response in MPB affected subwatersheds by implementing a hydrological model over the selected sub-basins within the McLeod River watershed. The impact of MPB on forests will be estimated by changing the forest area in the model setup for the given watershed and its sub-regions. Thresholds of forest cover will be estimated by analyzing the changes in water quantity and timing at different outlets of the watershed. The model experiments will use idealized scenarios that will provide estimates of increases or decreases in peak streamflow/annual water yield as a result of MPB infestation.

Objective

The overarching objective is to create a comprehensive research framework using hydrological modeling, which can identify the role of interannual climate variability in water yield and assess potential impacts of MPB intensification along with other disturbances in a given watershed.