Historically fire has been the primary disturbance factor in the sagebrush-steppe. The settlement of the West by Euro-Americans, grazing by domestic livestock, and the concomitant spread of invasive species have altered the historical fire regime. Understanding the long-term vegetation structure and fuel succession of the various sagebrush-dominated communities of this...
A hybrid landscape optimization/simulation model called SafeD (Simulation and analysis of forests with episodic Disturbances) was built to address the needs of forest management planning in the Applegate River Watershed, southwestern Oregon (the Apple gate Project). There are two goals of the Applegate Project: 1) search for forest policies and...
Seagrass ecosystems are considered some of the most productive coastal habitats in the world. One such seagrass within estuaries of the Pacific Northwest, Zostera marina (eelgrass), is recognized to be an ecosystem engineering species that provides many important ecosystem functions and services. In 2010, construction of the National Oceanic and...
Disturbance has both direct and indirect ramifications that can influence species abundance, distribution, and ultimately the diversity found within a community. As a result, we might expect disturbance to play a particularly important role in the ability of non-native species to proliferate outside of their native range. In practice, disturbance...
A trait based approach was used to assess impacts of overstory density and thinning on understory vegetation components related to wildlife habitat. The relationship between overstory basal area and understory vegetation for species grouped by traits, such as production of flowers, fleshy-fruit and palatable leaves, was characterized in thinned and...
Crater Lake National Park presents an excellent opportunity for ecological research due to its relatively pristine landscape, the protection of its natural features, its infrastructure, and a Park administration supportive of scientific inquiry and restoration ecology. The research presented here examines the responses of fungi to various forms of perturbation....
Coastal marsh vegetation is an important component in maintaining marsh stability that is threatened by changes in sedimentation, sea level rise, natural and anthropogenic disturbances, and competition from invasive species. Vegetation has been demonstrated to reduce wave energy, increase sedimentation, and decrease erosion in tidal environments under a range of...