On February 6, 2013 the fRI Water Program hosted a workshop entitled Advances in Knowledge of Riparian Processes, Hydrological Functions, Forest Management Mapping Tools and Monitoring Procedures. Presentations from this workshop were captured on video by the Alberta Land-use Knowledge Network.
Dr. David Andison covers how our current practice of protecting riparian areas in forest areas is driving ecosystems to uniformity when natural riparian forest zones in Alberta's foothills are diverse. In this presentation at Foothills Research Institute's workshop on its Water Program, Feb. 6, 2013, Dr. Andison discusses fire in foothills forest riparian zones and its result in a diversity of riparian habitat. Coarse woody debris in streams has specific functions over time (bridges decaying to dams that collect gravel). The long term effect of protecting riparian areas is to drive the riparian landscape in one uniform function when natural forest streams have diversity.
Dr. David Andison is program lead for the Healthy Landscapes program with Foothills Research Institute, Hinton, Alberta.