Pacific Northwest temperate rainforests are anticipated to experience increasingly frequent and severe wildfires in the foreseeable future due to climate change, increased fuel loads, and deforestation. Soil, underlying these forests, is the largest terrestrial carbon (“C”) reservoir. Fire disturbance influences soil C persistence, the timeframe and magnitude of which remain...
Most carbon (C) transformations in soil are carried out by a diverse and complex soil microbial community. The size and composition of the soil microbial community is determined by poorly understood interactions between the quantity and chemical composition of plant inputs, as well as climate. Given the metabolic diversity of...
Successful conservation management requires an understanding of how species respond to intervention. Native and exotic species may respond differently to management interventions due to differences arising directly from their native or exotic origin (i.e., provenance) or from differences in life-history or phylogenetic lineage that are associated with provenance. Thus, selection...
Forests are one of the largest repositories of terrestrial C. Understanding factors that drive organic matter transformations and nutrient efflux from these systems is therefore highly important. Temperate forests are of particular significance due to the large fraction of C that is stored below ground in the soil. Characterizing nutrient...
Soil contains approximately 75% of the carbon pool on land - three times more than the amount stored in living plants and animals (Schlesinger 1999). Therefore, soils play a major role in maintaining a balanced global carbon cycle. Models of the soil carbon ecosystem assume a strong relationship between organic...
Urban agriculture (UA) is defined as the production of food crops or livestock within urban areas. Despite its popularity in the United States, research into UA systems suffers from a general underrepresentation of commercial urban systems. As a result, urban growers often have unique technological needs that are unmet by...
Forest soils contain a substantial portion of global terrestrial carbon stores. Forest management can influence the soil carbon pool and how soil organic matter functions. The long-term productivity of forests is an ongoing goal where land managers utilize biomass and timber. A site-specific understanding of intensively managed forests can ensure...
Lower and Middle Devonian strata crop out on the former
stable carbonate platform that existed in the Quinn Canyon Range,
through the carbonate shelf edge in the Pancake Range, to the
carbonate slope and outer-shelf basin in the Reveille Range.
The strata of the Reveille Range record a transition from...
During the past several decades, earthquakes have caused extensive damage to
buildings, including wood-frame, single-family dwellings, in the United States. In
order to mitigate future losses, existing buildings in earthquake prone areas should be
evaluated for their seismic safety. This is also an important issue for buildings in
Oregon due...
Streamflow patterns are a result of the interaction of many factors, including climate, vegetation, geology, and topography. Analyses indicate that streamflow patterns have changed around the United States over the past century, raising questions about the possible role of climate variability as a driver of water yield. This thesis examines...