INCREASES IN WATER YIELD AFTER SEVERAL TYPES OF FOREST CUTTING

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Abstract
Results from 11 forest cutting experiments on small watersheds at the Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory in western North Carolina are presented as a summary of twenty years experience in water yield studies. Conversion of mature forest to low-growing vegetation in this well-watered area increased the supply of water to streams in amounts varying from 5 to 16 inches per year. Increases in annual yield the first year after cutting mature hardwood forest in several ways were roughly proportional to the percentage of the stand cut on any one watershed, but are not yet predictable quantitatively because of variation in soils, physiography, and orientation of small drainages. Increases tend to diminish in the years following the initial treatment, whether cutting is repeated or not, but a certain portion of the increases can be maintained indefinitely by annual recutting. In general, increases are greatest during those months when normal streamflow is lowest, but water yield can be influenced during all seasons of the year. A clearer understanding of the behavior of water in soils and plants is required before our knowledge of watershed processes will allow quantitative prediction of increased yield due to forest cutting.

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