Steve Wondzell

Corvallis, OR 97331-8550
United States
My research is broadly focused on riparian ecohydrology. Most of that research falls into three specific topics:
(1) The hyporheic zone - I am exploring the factors that control stream-groundwater interactions and create hyporheic zones in mountain stream networks and quantifying their effects on stream ecosystem processes.
(2) Aquatic/riparian stream network modeling - I am using models to project the response of riparian zones, stream channels, and salmon habitat to plant succession, natural disturbance, and land-use activities.
(3) Stream temperature monitoring and modeling - I am exploring the factors controlling stream temperatures and how they respond to natural disturbance, land-use practices, restoration, and climate change.
My early career was spent as a desert plant community ecologist. I received my undergraduate degree in range science, continuing with a master's degree in plant community ecology, and then working at the Jornada Long-Term Ecological Research Site in the Chihuahuan Desert of south-central New Mexico. My master's thesis examined dynamics of desert grassland plant communities in the Chihuahuan Desert ecoregion, using data from a long-term project begun in 1955. I have been working with colleagues to continue that project, and we now have a unique, 50-year dataset, based on permanent plots and permanent photo points, that tracks vegetation dynamics in the desert grasslands and pinyon-juniper woodlands of Big Bend National Park, Texas.
- Basic and applied problems in watershed management and riparian and aquatic ecosystems
- Interactions between hydrological, geomorphological, and ecological processes that create, maintain, or modify aquatic and riparian habitats
- Ways in which these processes either interact with, or are affected by, land-use practices
- Developing models and decision support tools that synthesize the current knowledge of aquatic and riparian systems into forms that can help inform management decisions at large spatial and temporal scales
- Oregon State University, Ph.D., Forest Ecology/Hyporheic Zones, 1994
- New Mexico State University, M.S., Plant Community Ecology, 1984
- New Mexico State University, B.S., Range Science, 1981
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Member,
American Geophysical Union,
1990 -
Current
Served as Associate Editor from January 2013 through December 2014
- Member, Ecological Society of America, 1990 - Current
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Editor's Citation for Excellence in Fefereeing - Water Resources Research, 2004
The reviewer has been cited by editors of AGU journals for excellence in refereeing. The editors' citations recognize individuals are commended for consistently providing constructive and thoughtful reviews.
- Wondzell, Steven; LaNier, Justin; Haggerty, Roy; Woodsmith, Richard D.; Edwards, Richard T.. 2009. Changes in hyporheic exhange flow following experimental wood removal in a small, low-gradient stream.
- Wondzell, Steven M.; Gooseff, Michael N.; McGlynn, Brian L.. 2007. Flow velocity and the hydrologic behavior of streams during baseflow.
- Wondzell, Steven M.; Gooseff, Michael N.; McGlynn, Brian L.. 2009. An analysis of alternative conceptual models relating hyporheic exchange flow to diel fluctuations in discharge during baseflow recession
- Jencso, Kelsey G.; McGlynn, Brian L.; Gooseff, Michael N.; Wondzell, Steven M.; Bencala, Kenneth E.; Marshall, Lucy A.. 2009. Hydrologic connectivity between landscapes and streams: transferring reach- and plot-scale understanding to the catchment scale
- Zarnetske, Jay P.; Haggerty, Roy; Wondzell, Steven M.; Baker, Michelle A.. 2011. Dynamics of nitrate production and removal as a function of residence time in the hyporheic zone
- Jarecke, Karla M.; Bladon, Kevin D.; Wondzell, Steven M.. 2021. The influence of local and nonlocal factors on soil water content in a steep forested catchment
- Kirkland, John ; Wondzell, Steve. 2020. Shading out climate change: Planting streamside forests to keep salmon cool
- Adelfio, Luca A.; Wondzell, Steven M.; Mantua, Nathan J.; Reeves, Gordon H.. 2019. Warm winters reduce landscape-scale variability in the duration of egg incubation for coho salmon (<em>Oncorhynchus kisutch</em>) on the Copper River Delta, Alaska
- Reeves, Gordon H.; Olson, Deanna H.; Wondzell, Steven M.; Bisson, Peter A.; Gordon, Sean ; Miller, Stephanie A.; Long, Jonathan W.; Furniss, Michael J.. 2018. Chapter 7: The aquatic conservation strategy of the northwest forest plan—A review of the relevant science after 23 years
- Watts, Andrea ; Wondzell, Steve ; Johnson, Sherri ; Argerich, Alba. 2018. Counting carbon: Calculating how headwater streams contribute to the carbon cycle
- Wondzell, Steven M.; Diabat, Mousa ; Haggerty, Roy. 2018. What matters most: Are future stream temperatures more sensitive to changing air temperatures, discharge, or riparian vegetation?
- Penaluna, Brooke E.; Olson, Deanna H.; Flitcroft, Rebecca L.; Weber, Matthew A.; Bellmore, J. Ryan; Wondzell, Steven M.; Dunham, Jason B.; Johnson, Sherri L.; Reeves, Gordon H.. 2017. Aquatic biodiversity in forests: a weak link in ecosystem services resilience
- Ludwig, John A.; Wondzell, Steven M.; Muldavin, Esteban H.; Blanche, K. Rosalind; Chauvin, Yvonne. 2017. Native desert grassland plant species declines and accelerated erosion in the Paint Gap Hills of southwest Texas
- Corson-Rikert, Hayley A.; Wondzell, Steven M.; Haggerty, Roy ; Santelmann, Mary V. 2016. Carbon dynamics in the hyporheic zone of a headwater mountain stream in the Cascade Mountains, Oregon
- Mazza, Rhonda; Wondzell, Steve; Zarnetske, Jay. 2014. The stream subsurface: nitrogen cycling and the cleansing function of hyporheic zones
- Bisson, Peter A.; Claeson, Shannon M.; Wondzell, Steven M.; Foster, Alex D.; Steel, Ashley. 2013. Evaluating headwater stream buffers: lessons learned from watershed scale experiments in southwest Washington
- Ward, Adam S.; Payn, Robert A.; Gooseff, Michael N.; McGlynn, Brian L.; Bencala, Kenneth E.; Kellecher, Christa A.; Wondzell, Steven M.; Wagener, Thorsten. 2013. Variations in surface water-ground water interactions along a headwater mountain stream: comparisons between transient storage and water balance analyses
- Janisch, Jack E.; Wondzell, Steven M.; Ehinger, William J.. 2012. Headwater stream temperature: interpreting response after logging, with and without riparian buffers, Washington, USA
- Wondzell, Steven M.; Przeszlowska, Agnieszka; Pflugmacher, Dirk; Hemstrom, Miles A.; Bisson, Peter A.. 2012. Modeling the dynamic responses of riparian vegetation and salmon habitat in the Oregon Coast Range with state-and-transition models
- Zarnetske, Jay P.; Haggerty, Roy; Wondzell, Steven M.; Baker, Michelle A.. 2012. Labile dissolved organic carbon supply limits hyporheic denitrification
- Houlahan, J.E.; Cottenie, K.; Cumming, G.S.; Currie, D.J.; Findlay, C.S.; Gaedke, U.; Legendre, P.; Magnuson, J.J.; McArdle, B.H.; Stevens, R.D.; Woiwod, I.P.; Wondzell, S.M.. 2008. The utility of covariances: a response to Ranta et al
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Wondzell, S. M. 1984. Recovery of Desert Grasslands in Big Bend National Park Following 36 Years of Protection from Grazing of Domestic Livestock. MS Thesis, New Mexico State University.
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Ludwig, J.A.; Wondzell, S.M. 1986. Vegetation Dynamics Following Establishment of Big Bend National Park U.S.A. In: P.J. Joss, P.W. Lynch, and O.B. Williams, eds. Rangelands: A Resource Under Siege. Proceedings of the Second International Rangeland Congress, Canberra, Australia: 13–15.
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Wondzell, S.M.; Cunningham, G.L.; Bachelet, D. 1987. A Hierarchical Classification of Landforms: Some Implications for Understanding Local and Regional Vegetation Dynamics. Gen. Tech. Rep. RM-150. United States Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station: 15–23.
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Bachelet, D.; Wondzell, S.M.; Reynolds, J. F. 1988. A Simulation Model Using Environmental Cues to Predict Phenologies of Winter and Summer Annuals in the Northern Chihuahuan Desert. In: Marani, A., ed. Advances in Environmental Modelling. Elsevier: 235–260.
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Wondzell, S.M.; Cunningham, G.L.; Cornelius, J.M. 1990. Vegetation patterns, microtopography, and soils on a Chihuahuan desert playa. Journal of Vegetation Science. 1:403–410.
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Swanson, F.J.; Wondzell, S.M.; Grant, G.E. 1992. Landforms, Disturbance, and Ecotones. In: F. diCastri and A.J. Hansen, eds. Landscape boundaries: Consequences for biotic diversity and ecological flows. Springer-Verlag. 92:304–323.
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Wondzell, S. 1994. Flux of ground water and nitrogen through the floodplain of a fourth-order stream. Ph.D. Thesis. Oregon State University, Corvallis OR.
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Wondzell, S.; Ludwig, J.A. 1995. Community Dynamics of Desert Grasslands: Influences of Climate, Landforms, and Soils. Journal of Vegetation Science. 6:377–390.
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Wondzell, S. M.; Cunningham, G.L.; Bachelet, D. 1996. Relationships between Landforms, Geomorphic Processes, and Vegetative Communities on a Watershed in the Northern Chihuahuan Desert. Landscape Ecology. 11:351–362.
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Wondzell, S.M.; Swanson, F.J. 1996. Seasonal and storm dynamics of the hyporheic zone of a 4th-order mountain stream. I: Hydrologic processes. The Journal of the North American Benthological Society. 15:3–19.
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Wondzell, S.; Swanson, F.J. 1996. Seasonal and storm dynamics of the hyporheic zone of a 4th-order mountain stream. II: Nitrogen cycling. The Journal of the North American Benthological Society. 15:20–34.
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Pinay, G.; Ruffinoni, C.; Wondzell, S.M.; Gazelle, F. 1998. Change in groundwater nitrate concentration in a large river floodplain: Denitrification, uptake, or mixing? The Journal of the North American Benthological Society. 17:179–189.
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Wondzell, S. M.; Swanson, F.J. 1999. Floods, Channel Change and the Hyporheic Zone. Water Resources Research. 35:355–368.
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Johnson, S. L.; Swanson, F.J.; Grant, G.E.; Wondzell, S.M. 2000. Riparian forest disturbances by a mountain flood – the influence of floated wood. Hydrological Processes. 14:3031–3050.
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Nakamura, F.; Swanson, F. J.; and Wondzell, S.M. 2000. Disturbance regimes of stream and riparian systems – a disturbance-cascade perspective. Hydrological Processes. 14:2849–2860.
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Wondzell, S. M. 2001. The Influence of Forest Health and Protection Treatments on Erosion and Stream Sedimentation in Forested Watersheds of Eastern Oregon and Washington. Northwest Science. 75:128–140.
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Haggerty, R.; Wondzell, S.M.; Johnson, M.A. 2002. Power-Law Residence Time Distribution in the Hyporheic Zone of a 2nd-Order Mountain Stream. Geophysical Research Letters. 29(13):18-1–18-4. doi:10.1029/2002GL014743

Streams and Their Hyporheic Zones Substantially Influence Carbon Export from Pacific Northwestern Headwater Streams
