Evaluation of a Stream System after Clearcut Logging Disturbance in the Gulf Coastal Plain

ABSTRACT

We examined potential impacts of removal of timber, road construction, and military operations on a stream system at Fort Polk, Louisiana. In 1989, approximately 1,057 ha of upland pine and riparian hardwood timber were removed from the middle section of the Birds Creek watershed. In addition, roads were installed to facilitate vehicular passage during military exercises. Approximately 2.6-km of Birds Creek stream length occurred within the logged portion, which has been maintained as a cleared area since timber was harvested. During 2001–2005, we evaluated the assemblage structure of fishes and macroinvertebrates and the associated habitat at five sites in Birds Creek and five sites in an adjacent but unaffected stream, Whiskey Chitto Creek. Whatever the effects of timbering and construction, 12-yrs after the disturbance the affected sites on Birds Creek contained heterogeneous habitats that supported rich and diverse fish and macroinvertebrate assemblages, not unlike those of the other sites on Birds Creek and the adjacent control stream.