Streamside vegetation: Key to cooler stream temperatures in the future

By Kasey Bliesner

High stream temperatures in the Middle Fork John Day continue to be a limiting factor for salmon and steelhead. Research into keys factors for reducing stream temperature in the Middle Fork John Day IMW area led by Steve Wondzell (research ecologist, USFS PNW Research Station) was recently highlighted in the June 2020 edition of the USFS PNW Research Station publication PNW Science Findings. Wondzell and his team used water temperature modeling to study and predict how stream temperatures could change in response to future changes in air temperature, stream discharge, and the amount of shade provided by riparian vegetation.  Modeling results showed “the effect of restoring riparian forests on streams where shade is currently lacking could be so large that future stream temperatures could be colder than today, even under a warmer climate with substantially lower late summer streamflow.”

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