The Density Management and Riparian Buffer Study: A large-scale silviculture experiment informing riparian management in the Pacific Northwest, USA

•Headwater stream buffer widths are evaluated in a large-scale management experiment.•Diverse headwater ecosystems have physiographic delineation of species assemblages.•Buffers of 16m minimum width effectively moderate thinning effects on microclimate.•Thinning had little effect on amphibian species abundances and no species were lost.•Stream-reach research is essential to larger-scale watershed assessment tools.