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Decreases in body sizes of animals related to recent climate warming can affect population persistence and stability. However, direct observations of average sizes over time and their interrelationships with underlying density-dependent and density-independent processes remain poorly understood owing to the lack of appropriate long-term datasets. We measured body size of two species common to headwater streams in coastal and Cascades ecoregions of the Pacific Northwest of North America over multiple decades, comparing old-growth and managed forests. We found consistent decreases in median length of Coastal Cutthroat TroutOncorhynchus clarkii clarkii,but a coexisting species, the Coastal Giant SalamanderDicamptodon tenebrosus, appears to be more resilient to size changes over time. Based on observed trends, adult trout have decreased in length by 6–13% over the last 30 years. Length decreased more in larger compared to smaller animals, suggesting that these effects reflect changes in growth trajectories. Results from a model-selection approach that included hydroclimatic and biological information as covariates in one of our study ecoregions demonstrated that stream temperature alone did not explain observed length reductions. Rather, a combination of density-dependent (animal abundances) and local density-independent factors (temperature, habitat, and streamflow) explained observed patterns of size. Continued decreases in size could lead to trophic cascades, biodiversity loss, or in extreme cases, species extirpation. However, the intricate links between density-independent and density-dependent factors in controlling population-level processes in streams need further attention.more » « less
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We quantified temporal dynamics of wood storage, input, and transport over a 24‐year period in adjacent old‐growth and second‐growth forested reaches in Mack Creek, a third‐order stream in the Cascade Range of Oregon. The standing stocks of large wood in the old‐growth reach exceeded those at the second‐growth reach by more than double the number of wood pieces and triple the wood volume. Annual inputs of large wood were highly variable. Wood numbers delivered into the old‐growth reach were 3× higher and wood volume 10× greater than in the second‐growth reach. The movement of number and volume of logs did not differ significantly between the two reaches over time. Less than 2% of the logs moved in most years, and the highest proportion moved in the year of the 1996 flood (9% in old growth and 22% in second growth). Most of the large wood aggregated as jams in both reaches. The second‐growth reach lacked major jams, but 29% of the logs in the old growth were in full‐channel spanning jams. Long‐term observations of annual storage, input, and movement reveal the temporal dynamics of wood rather than static representations of the characteristics of wood. Input events and transport of wood in Mack Creek were episodic and varied greatly over the 24‐year study, which illustrates one of the major challenges and opportunities for understanding the cumulative dynamics of wood in streams.more » « less
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