Index Catalog // ScholarsArchive@OSU

Influence of hyporheic flow and geomorphology on temperature of a large, gravel-bed river, Clackamas River, Oregon, USA

Creator:: Burkholder, Barbara K.
Abstract:: The hyporheic zone influences the thermal regime of rivers, buffering temperature by storing and releasing heat over a range of timescales. We examined the relationship between hyporheic exchange and temperature along a 24-km reach of the lower Clackamas River, a large gravel-bed river in northwestern Oregon (median discharge = 75.7...
Resource Type:: Masters Thesis

The effects of forest fuel reduction on fire severity and long-term carbon storage

Creator:: Mitchell, Stephen Richard
Abstract:: Two forest management objectives being debated in the context of federally managed landscapes in the US Pacific Northwest involve a perceived trade-off between fire restoration and C sequestration. The former strategy would reduce fuel (and therefore C) that has accumulated through a century of fire suppression and exclusion that has...
Resource Type:: Dissertation

Demography, home range, and habitat selection of northern spotted owls in the Ashland Watershed

Creator:: Schilling, Jason W.
Abstract:: Northern Spotted Owls (Strix occidentalis caurina) inhabit productive forests that historically supported frequent, large, variable-severity fires in the Klamath province of southwestern Oregon occur in complex. The potential for high-severity wildfire remains high throughout this region, so remaining spotted owl habitat is at risk. An adaptive management approach to fire...
Resource Type:: Masters Thesis

The role of strategic planning in the management of fire-prone western Oregon forests for maximizing terrestrial carbon stocks over a 100-year horizon

Creator:: Vanderberg, Michael R.
Abstract:: Current frameworks for analyzing forest carbon offset projects in disturbance-prone western forests often fail to address the dynamic nature of carbon pathways through time. They do not account for the probability of loss due to wildfire, which can influence the prediction of carbon storage at the end of a planning...
Resource Type:: Dissertation

Letting wildfires burn : modeling the change in future suppression costs as the result of a suppress versus a let-burn management choice

Creator:: Houtman, Rachel M.
Abstract:: Wildfire management policy over the past century, which attempts to exclude fire from fire-adapted ecosystems, has led to a build-up of fuels across the western United States. As a result, current wildfires contain larger areas of high severity, high intensity burns than seen prior to the policy implementation. There are...
Resource Type:: Masters Thesis

Simulated response of ecosystem processes to climate change in northern California and western Nevada

Creator:: McGlinchy, Maureen C.
Abstract:: In order to investigate potential climate impacts on landscape-scale ecosystem processes, I implemented a dynamic general vegetation model (DGVM) over a large domain in northern California and western Nevada on a rectangular grid of ca. 800-meter spatial resolution. I used 100 years of observed, monthly climate and nine future climate...
Resource Type:: Masters Thesis

Initial attack fire suppression, spatial resource allocation, and fire prevention policy in California, the United States, and the Republic of Korea

Creator:: Lee, Yohan
Abstract:: In this dissertation, I combined a scenario-based, standard-response optimization model with a stochastic simulation model to improve the efficiency of the deployment of initial attack firefighting resources on wildland fires in California and the Republic of Korea. The optimization model minimizes the expected number of fires that do not receive...
Resource Type:: Dissertation

The influence of climate change and restoration on stream temperature

Creator:: Diabat, Mousa
Abstract:: Water temperature is an essential property of a stream. Temperature regulates physical and biochemical processes in aquatic habitats. Various factors related to climatic conditions, landscape characteristics, and channel structure directly influence stream temperature. Numerous studies indicate that increased average air temperature during the past century has led to stream warming...
Resource Type:: Dissertation

Forest Fire Effects on Radiative and Turbulent Fluxes over Snow : Implications for Snow Hydrology

Creator:: Gleason, Kelly E.
Abstract:: As a result of a warming climate, subsequent declining snowpack, and a century of fire suppression, forest fires are increasing across the western United States. However, we still do not fully understand how forest fire effects snowpack energy balance, nor the volume and availability of snow melt and associated water...
Resource Type:: Dissertation

Addressing Emerging Issues in Tropical Ecohydrology : A Combined Hydrometric and Isotopic Approach to Evaluate the Origin and Age of Water in a High-Elevation Tropical Ecosystem

Creator:: Mosquera, Giovanny M.
Abstract:: This thesis focuses on the identification of ecohydrological processes in nested system of catchments in a tropical alpine (the wet Andean páramo) ecosystem. We accomplish this by conducting a water stable isotopic characterization of water sources, an evaluation of the mean transit time (MTT) of streams waters, and the investigation...
Resource Type:: Masters Thesis

Biological Soil Crusts of the Great Basin : An Examination of their Distribution, Recovery from Disturbance and Restoration

Creator:: Condon, Lea A.
Abstract:: We are at risk of losing the sagebrush steppe in the floristic Great Basin to the invasion of Bromus tectorum L., cheatgrass. The floristic Great Basin includes the Central Basin and Range, the Northern Basin and Range, and the Snake River Plain. The Great Basin receives most of its precipitation...
Resource Type:: Dissertation

Understanding Public Perceptions of Post-Wildfire Landscape Recovery

Creator:: Kooistra, Chad M.
Abstract:: Forest disturbances, such as wildfires, pine beetle outbreaks, and floods are important features of many landscapes and ecosystems. Many disturbances are increasing in size, frequency, and intensity due to changing climates and land management decisions. The changing ecological and aesthetic conditions following a disturbance can lead to negative short- and...
Resource Type:: Dissertation

Forest Successional and Disturbance Dynamics in the Southern Blue Mountains of Eastern Oregon

Creator:: Johnston, James D.
Abstract:: The application of modern land management practices beginning at the turn of the 20th century is widely believed to have dramatically transformed forest landscapes of the inland Pacific Northwest. Restoring historical conditions to make forests resilient to future climate and disturbance regimes is a major goal of federal forest managers....
Resource Type:: Dissertation

Quantifying Aboveground Biomass for Common Shrubs in Northeastern California

Creator:: Huff, Steven
Abstract:: Quantifying biomass is important for sustainable forest management. The purpose of this study is to obtain allometric relationships for seven species of shrubs common in northeastern California so that estimates of carbon and fuel loading may be better realized. Although some shrub biomass equations exist, such equations are limited in...
Resource Type:: Masters Thesis

The Challenges and Opportunities of a Proactive Endangered Species Act : A Case Study of the Greater Sage Grouse

Creator:: Taylor, Casey Lynn
Abstract:: The Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA) is considered by many to be among the most powerful and most contentious environmental laws in the United States. Persistent challenges to the Act’s implementation make reaching conservation goals problematic. Most notably, the very nature of the law—providing protections for species already at...
Resource Type:: Dissertation

Slash-pile biomass estimations and Carbon Cycling in the Coastal Temperate Rainforest of the Pacific Northwest

Creator:: Winterbourne, Amber H. S.
Abstract:: Logging residue (slash) consists primarily of the branches and treetops of harvested merchantable timber; excluding snags, downed logs, and stumps. Residues may be scattered about the harvest unit, concentrated in slash-piles (SP), or both depending on the harvest method and equipment used. Accurate estimates of residue biomass are useful to...
Resource Type:: Capstone Project

Geochemical and Geostatisical Analyses of Quaternary Climate Variability over Millennial-to-Orbital Timescales

Creator:: Barth, Aaron M.
Abstract:: The goal of dissertation research was to use geochemical, statistical and geological methods to constrain and understand climate variability over several different time scales. Specifically, I have addressed three questions regarding past climate change: (1) how does the record of Irish cirque glaciers constrain the dimensions of the Irish Ice...
Resource Type:: Dissertation

Effects of season and interval of prescribed burns on pyrogenic carbon cycling in ponderosa pine stands in Malheur National Forest

Creator:: Matosziuk, Lauren
Abstract:: In ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) forests of the western United States, prescribed fires are used to reduce fuel loads and restore historical fire regimes. The season in which prescribed burns are performed and the interval between burns can have complex consequences for the ecosystem, including soil carbon cycling through the...
Resource Type:: Masters Thesis

The Fully-Coupled One-Dimensional Arctic Surface Energy Budget: Climatology and Projections

Creator:: Kula, Michael R.
Abstract:: Arctic sea ice concentration and volume have declined due to greenhouse gas radiative forcing and an overall positive climate feedback. At the same time, there have been noteworthy weather and climate circulation anomalies both within the Arctic and extending through the midlatitudes and even into the tropics, leading some studies...
Resource Type:: Masters Thesis

Social Acceptance of Landscape-Scale Restoration : Treatment of Riparian Areas in the Lower Joseph Creek Watershed, Oregon.

Creator:: Kohler, Gabriel E.
Abstract:: Managing riparian areas in the dry forests of the intermountain west for diverse public values can create conflict, potentially limiting social acceptance in landscape-scale restoration projects. This thesis examined accelerated landscape-scale restoration as part of a broader shift toward ecosystem management on national forestland, which incorporates social values into forest...
Resource Type:: Masters Thesis

Changing Storms and Snowpack Fate in the Western United States

Creator:: Hu, Jyun-Yi Michelle
Abstract:: Cold-season storms are responsible for generating most of the snow that accumulates in mountainous watersheds across the western United States, but with overwhelming evidence of warming temperature trends, this seasonal snowpack is at risk for melt, The vast majority of snow trend studies utilize undifferentiated air temperature records – these...
Resource Type:: Masters Thesis

Multi-Scale Study of Ember Production and Transport under Multiple Environmental and Fuel Conditions

Creator:: Hudson, Tyler R.
Abstract:: Spot fires caused by lofted embers (i.e., firebrands) can be a significant factor in the spread of wildland fires. Embers can be especially dangerous near the wildland-urban interface (WUI) because of the potential for the fire to be spread near or on structures. Many studies have investigated the transport of...
Resource Type:: Masters Thesis

Beetle Outbreaks and Wildfires: Drivers of Fire Severity, Recruitment, and Structural Legacies for Sub-boreal Forests in British Columbia

Creator:: Talucci, Anna C.
Abstract:: Bark beetle outbreaks have left a legacy of tree mortality across fire-prone landscapes of western North America that could influence how these forests will burn and regenerate. While research has been focused on forests in the western United States, the potential interactions between mountain pine beetle (MPB) outbreaks and wildfires...
Resource Type:: Dissertation

Post-fire Forest Management Activities Alter Soil Properties, Sediment Yields, and Vegetation Recovery in the Northern California Coast Range

Creator:: Cole, Ryan P.
Abstract:: The extent and severity of wildfires in forested regions are increasing throughout many regions on the planet, including western North America. High-severity wildfires directly affect soils and vegetation by altering soil hydraulic properties, reducing soil organic matter, exporting carbon and nitrogen, and killing trees and understory vegetation. These impacts can...
Resource Type:: Masters Thesis

Case Study: Pisgah Nantahala National Forest Plan Revision and American Ginseng Management

Creator:: Swartz, Shawn C.
Abstract:: The Pisgah and Nantahala National Forests (PNNF) are located in the Southern Appalachian Mountains. A center of biological diversity, they are also within a few hours’ drive of much of the population of the United States. Therefore, there are many desires and objectives the public has for how these national...
Resource Type:: Capstone Project

Using Spatial Capture-Recapture to Estimate Density of Roosevelt Elk in Western Oregon

Creator:: Nelson, Jennifer E.
Abstract:: Spatial capture-recapture (SCR) is employed for estimating abundance and density of species, particularly those that are cryptic or solitary, and evaluating how population density varies with habitat. However, it is uncertain whether estimates are biased when applied to species that aggregate, such as elk (Cervus canadensis). Wildlife managers in the...
Resource Type:: Masters Thesis

Soil Development and Organic Carbon Stocks Across a Lithosequence in the Perhumid Coastal Temperate Rainforests of Southeast Alaska

Creator:: Fedenko, Jennifer M.
Abstract:: The perhumid coastal temperate rainforests of southeast Alaska contain an abundance of soil organic carbon (SOC) that has accumulated in a wet, cool climate where forest fire disturbance is minimal and organic matter decomposition rates are low. Coastal temperate rainforests are supported by carbon-rich soils that provide ecosystem services including...
Resource Type:: Masters Thesis

Improving Forest Management in a Changing Climate with an Adaptive Management Framework: A Case Study in the Lake Tahoe Basin

Creator:: Perkins, Grant
Abstract:: Forest managers are faced with balancing a multitude of management objectives including social, economic, and ecological drivers as well as the uncertainty of how forests will grow and react to climate change. One possible tool to balance these drivers and the uncertainty of climate change is an adaptive management framework...
Resource Type:: Capstone Project

Ignition of Fuel Beds by Firebrands

Creator:: Bean, Derek R.
Abstract:: The severity of wildfires around the globe is increasing. At the same time, urban development is expanding outward into areas where severe fires occur. There is an increased risk of home loss to fires in areas where severe fires and urban expansion meet. Ignition of homes or nearby fuel is...
Resource Type:: Dissertation

Evaluating a Zonal-mean Hydrologic Model Against a Water Tag-enabled Global Simulation

Creator:: Mandovi, Andrew
Abstract:: The hydrologic cycle on Earth comprises the transitions among the solid, liquid, and gaseous phases of water. Understanding the hydrologic cycle is of course important for climate science, but also for agricultural, drinking water, and disaster preparedness purposes. Improvements in satellite observations and general circulation models (GCMs) have led to...
Resource Type:: Masters Thesis

Experimental Study of the Impact of Physical and Chemical Properties on Smoldering Combustion in Natural Fuels

Creator:: Smucker, Benjamin
Abstract:: Smoldering combustion in wildland fires is difficult to extinguish, can transition to flaming combustion, and produces a significant amount of pollutants. It is necessary to understand parameters controlling smoldering in order to help predict the smoldering behavior and potentially mitigate these hazards. The wide variety of natural fuels that occur...
Resource Type:: Dissertation

A Case Study of the Elk Creek Landscape Restoration Project

Creator:: Negherbon, Lindsey B.
Abstract:: Land management agencies are faced with decreasing budgets and staff, even as acres in need of restoration treatment are increasing. Rural communities in the West are still suffering from sharp declines in timber harvests since the 1990s and are now contending with wildfires that are increasing in size and severity....
Resource Type:: Capstone Project

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