Land use changes along headwater streams have been shown to result in increased fluxes of stream nutrients. Long-term research at small, experimental watersheds in the H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest, Oregon, continues to provide insights into forest-stream interactions decades after initial clearcut treatments and for more recent thinning. Here we examine magnitude and seasonality of response, recovery times, and effects of less severe forest harvest practices on stream nutrient export in nitrogen-limited streams. Following complete forest harvest, annual fluxes of total nitrogen increased. The greatest increases occurred for nitrate and during winter high flows for 6-10 yrs post harvest. Surprisingly, no correlations were found between nitrate and suspended sediment fluxes, which were dominated by episodic erosive events. During baseflow, concentrations of nitrogen showed no increases. Other cations and anions showed no responses, which suggests that changes in hydrology alone were not responsible for increased fluxes. Following forest thinning, much lower increases were observed for nitrate export; the magnitude varied with harvest practices, but not necessarily by the amount of overstory removed. Increased understanding of effects of land use changes on stream ecosystems is aided by interdisciplinary collaborations exploring the processes influencing nutrient dynamics in hillslope soils and riparian vegetation.