Project Page Views: [ 663 ]
| Project Metadata Element | Details |
| Project Title | Assessment of the impacts of forest operations on the ecological quality of water (HYDROFOR) |
| Research Area | Water |
| Project Acronym | HYDROFOR |
| Principal Investigator or Lead Irish Partner | Mary Kelly-Quinn |
| Lead Institution or Organisation | University College Dublin (UCD) |
| Lead Country | Ireland |
| Latitude, Longitude (of Lead Institution) | 53.30859, -6.22577 |
| Lead Funding Entity | Environmental Protection Agency; Department of Agriculture, Food & the Marine |
| Approximate Project Start Date | 01/05/2008 |
| Approximate Project Finishing Date | 31/12/2014 |
| Project Website (if any) | |
| Links to other Web-based resources | |
| Project Keywords | Forestry; Ecological Quality; Control Measures |
| Project Abstract | HYDROFOR was a 6.5 year (2008 to 2014), inter?institutional, cooperative project funded by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM). A multi?disciplinary group of researchers at University College Dublin (UCD), University College Cork (UCC), National University of Ireland, Galway (NUIG) and the Marine Institute (MI) explored the relationships between forests and forestry operations in Ireland and assessed possible effects on surface water quality and aquatic ecosystems. Fourteen investigations were undertaken of potential pollutants from closed-canopy forest, harvesting and planting operations to both rivers and lakes. Seven of these related to rivers, four of these addressed the nature and drivers of acid inputs from closed-canopy forests, and the other three dealt with inputs of nutrients and sediment from harvesting. One of the latter assessed the efficiency of a buffer zone in retaining sediment and phosphorus. Four studies examined nutrient and sediment loads originating from planting operations. One involved tree planting and three produced new information on the effects of windrowing operations to prepare harvested grounds for replanting. Three lake studies investigated potential effects of forests and forestry operations on water chemistry, macroinvertebrates, zooplankton and trout populations in small peatland waters. |