Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units Program: Minnesota
Education, Research and Technical Assistance for Managing Our Natural Resources

Riparian guidelines have been the most controversial of the seven components of Minnesota’s forest management guidelines. Research addressing the long-term effectiveness of riparian guidelines is critical to resolving riparian management conflicts, informing the ongoing revisions of the Minnesota Forest Resources Council’s (MFRC) riparian guidelines, and sustaining Minnesota’s forest resources. This project will (1) evaluate the long-term effectiveness of Minnesota’s riparian guidelines on eight northern Minnesota sites and at 12 previously established sites in the Pokegama Creek basin, (2) combine and synthesize data from the multiple study components through a “meta-analysis,” and (3) provide information to natural resource professionals about riparian zone management. Specifically, we: (1) evaluate the effects of riparian harvest on stream ecosystem functioning using measures of invertebrate biomass, in-stream leaf and wood decomposition rates, in-stream habitat, and food web analyses and (2) evaluate the effects of harvest treatments through time on both the terrestrial (birds, trees and herbaceous biomass) and aquatic habitat components as well as changes of terrestrial and aquatic communities (fish and invertebrate) in a meta-analysis.