Focus is published by Oregon State University College of Forestry. Our goal is to keep Forestry alumni, friends, faculty, staff, and students informed about the College of Forestry and its many activities and programs.
Focus is published by Oregon State University College of Forestry. Our goal is to keep Forestry alumni, friends, faculty, staff, and students informed about the College of Forestry and its many activities and programs.
The information in this report is for the purpose of informing cooperators in industry, colleagues at other universities, and others of the results of research in field crops. Reference to products and companies in this publication is for specific information only and does not endorse or recommend that product or...
Since its inception in 1985, the Tri‐State variety development program has primarily focused on the development of processing and dual‐purpose (process and fresh) russets. Recent breeding efforts have focused more on improving genetic resistance to various pests and diseases as a means of lowering production costs. During the past decade,...
Results from vegetation management trials involving horticultural crops conducted during the past year are compiled and reported by faculty members of the Oregon Agricultural Experiment Station, the Oregon State Extension Service, and colleagues who cooperated from adjacent states along with local enterprises. This work was conducted throughout Oregon and involved...
Our current issue of the OWRI Technical Newsletter is packed with Extension information, research results, and program updates. Paul Schreiner, Research Plant Pathologist, USDA-ARS, opens the newsletter with an article on his latest research assessing vine nutrients requirements in Pinot noir. Laurent Deluc, Associate Professor, OSU, reports on his research...
Keywords: light; temperature gradient; larval fish behavior; Arctic cod; walleye pollock; Boreogadus saida; Gadus chalcogramma; vertical migration; thermocline; early life stages
Keywords: Oregon Marine Reserves; species richness; community composition; abundance; baited video landers; video landers; nearshore; monitoring; Otter Rock Marine Reserve, Oregon; Cape Foulweather Comparison Area, Oregon; Seal Rock, Oregon
When water supplies are restricted, you can keep your landscape healthy by developing water priorities, applying water efficiently, and modifying your maintenance practices.
A product of the Vital Tillamook Indicator Project.
This executive summary provides an overview of a collaborative effort of the Tillamook County Futures Council and Oregon State University faculty members jointly affiliated with Extension Service and the Rural Studies Program developed 50 indicators of Tillamook County: 2020 Strategic Vision in...
A product of the Vital Tillamook Indicator Project.
This report details a collaborative effort of the Tillamook County Futures Council and Oregon State University faculty members jointly affiliated with Extension Service and the Rural Studies Program developed 50 indicators of Tillamook County: 2020 Strategic Vision in order to gain insight...
This pocket guide highlights fire-resistant plants that thrive in Willamette Valley growing conditions. It recommends groundcovers, perennials, shrubs, woody vines, and trees. There are too many annual plants available to list them all. In general, annuals are considered fire-resistant if they are kept well irrigated.
A review of research conducted at OSU to determine compost value as a mulch or soil amendment for blueberry produced under conventional, transitional, or organic production systems.
As it was conceptualized, the manual is aligned with other field manual that are currently in use by different universities, such as Mississippi State University, Stephen F Austin, or University of British Columbia. The present manual is the first unified version of Louisiana Tech University of a Field Manual to...
Preplant compost application increased plant growth and visual appearance of a wide variety of perennial landscape plants. The positive plant growth response to compost was similar for com-post left on the soil surface or compost incorporated via rototilling. Compost application did not alleviate soil compaction. Plant growth response to compost...
The Columbia River Gillnetter is the pilot of the Lower Columbia River commercial fishing industry, keeping fishermen and the public in touch with today's important issues.
Urea is a common nitrogen fertilizer for sweet corn production. This two year project evaluated commercially available urea additives for their potential to provide crop production and environmental benefits. Specifically, experiments were designed to evaluate the efficacy of urea fertilizer products containing a urease inhibitor (Agrotain Ultra), or nitrification inhibitors,...
This project is evaluating interseeding of crop crops to improve cover crop establishment after late harvested crops such as sweet corn and processing squash. In Project 1 at the OSU Vegetable Research Farm, a cover crop of oat and crimson clover produced the most cover crop biomass when interseeded at...
The overall objective of this three-year project was to provide farmers with updated fertilizer recommendations for snap beans. The goal was to maximize nutrient use efficiency without compromising bean yield and quality. This was accomplished by partnering with commercial bean growers to conduct on-farm research as well as conducting trials...
Oregon State University’s VegNet is a regional pest monitoring program that provides activity reports for 10 common insect pests that affect broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, sweet corn, and snap beans. Crop pests are sampled weekly and raw data is compared to activity trends from previous years. Regional pest monitoring helps growers...
The goals of this project were to determine 1) if liming controls clubroot, 2) the pH that must be attained to achieve commercially viable levels of control, and 3) how best to lime (materials, timing, incorporation strategies) to achieve that pH.
The resistance to white mold obtained so far in snap beans has been derived from NY 6020, which provides partial physiological resistance. Under light disease pressure, plants will show few if any symptoms, while under heavy pressure, the plants may show a moderate level of infection (whereas susceptible BBL types...
Prices paid for sweet corn are low relative to the cost of producing the crop, and every strategy possible must be used to maximize net return. Two strategies used to enhance profitability but that have received little research attention under Western Oregon conditions are the use of pop-up fertilizers and...
Processors need broccoli with better quality traits than what is available in cultivars developed for California and Mexico fresh markets. Farmers need to reduce labor costs of broccoli production by mechanizing harvest. Most contemporary commercially available cultivars are not suitable for either mechanical harvest or processing. The objective of the...
Phylogenetics benefits from using a large number of putatively independent nuclear loci and their combination with other sources of information, such as the plastid and mitochondrial genomes. To facilitate the selection of orthologous low‐copy nuclear (LCN) loci for phylogenetics in nonmodel organisms, we created an automated and interactive script to...
People cannot perform at their best unless they are healthy and well. A key behavior in attaining and maintaining a high state of health and wellness is physical activity. Regular physical activity participation is widely known to provide numerous physical, psychological, and social benefits. In spite of this, very few...
Malnutrition is one of the world’s largest health concerns. Folate (a.k.a. vitamin B9) is essential in the human diet and without adequate folate intake several serious health concerns such as congenital birth defects and an increased risk of stroke and heart disease can occur. Most people’s folate intake remains sub-optimal...
Background
Potato Virus Y (PVY) is one of the most important plant viruses affecting potato production. The interactions between potato and PVY are complex and the outcome of the interactions depends on the potato genotype, the PVY strain, and the environmental conditions. A potato cultivar can induce resistance to a...
Thiamin is an essential nutrient in the human diet. Severe thiamin deficiency leads to beriberi, a lethal disease which is common in developing countries. Thiamin biofortification of staple food crops is a possible strategy to alleviate thiamin deficiency-related diseases. In plants, thiamin plays a role in the response to abiotic...
A method for measuring the (dis)charging dynamics of organic semiconductors with single-electron resolution in multiple environments is developed using optical tweezers. A 1μm silica bead was coated with either a pristine organic semiconductor or an electron donor-acceptor blend, trapped using optical tweezers, and driven with an oscillating electrical driving force....
Historically, rural economic development has focused on attracting outside firms or increasing exploitation of natural resources, often without equitable or lasting returns to the community. The Rural Wealth Creation framework was developed as a systems-based approach to assessing and leveraging local assets for the creation of lasting wealth in communities....
The relationship between carbon burial and sedimentation in reservoirs is unknown, exposing gaps in our fundamental understanding of the transport, processing, and deposition of sediment and organic matter in fluvial and lacustrine systems and contributing to uncertainty in our understanding of the net impact of dams to the global carbon...
This case study looks at the establishment and development of the Oregon Hops and Brewing Archives. It addresses planning, implementation, results, and lessons learned.
Oregon is a special place, known for stunning natural beauty, a good amount of rain, and a predilection for pushing the boundaries of cultural norms. Its...
The European green crab (Carcinus maenas) has a six-year life span and has persisted at low densities in Oregon and Washington coastal estuaries since the late 1990’s. After the arrival of a strong year class in 1998, significant recruitment to the Oregon and Washington populations occurred only in 2003, 2005,...
We compiled existing data and information to characterize the condition and trends in high priority natural resources in San Juan Island National Historical Park. We identified 37 indicators to evaluate the condition and trend of these resources. For each indicator we attempted to define reference conditions to which we could...
We compiled existing data and information to characterize the condition and trends in high priority natural resources in Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve (EBLA, or "the Reserve"). We identified 29 indicators to evaluate seven major resource concerns. For each indicator we attempted to define reference conditions to which we could...
The purpose of this memorandum is to clarify the Service's perspective on the relationship between livestock grazing and the conservation of sagebrush ecosystems on private lands occurring within the range of greater sage-grouse. This document provides more specific guidance to Service staff as they carry out their conservation mission in...
Declines in Greater Sage-Grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus, hereafter sage-grouse) populations could be attributed to low chick survival, which may be influenced by the availability of food and cover at sites used by females rearing broods. Habitat attributes important to broods may vary regionally; thus, it is necessary to understand factors affecting...
Trends in greater sage-grouse breeding populations are typically indexed by determining the peak number of males attending a lek in a lekking season. Numerous studies have estimated negative trends in sage-grouse breeding populations over time via data collected for the last 50 years. However, the inherent bias in data collection...
The greater sage-grouse, an iconic ground-dwelling bird of the West, has experienced significant population declines during the past 50 years from habitat loss. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) designated sage grouse in 2010 as a candidate for listing under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
In September 2015, the...
Counts of males attending leks in the spring have been the primary means employed by states to monitor status of greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophansianus) populations for over 75 years. Despite limitations and potential biases, lek count data remain the only long-term, range-wide dataset available for evaluating trends in sage-grouse populations....
In 2013, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Conservation
Objectives Team (COT) identified wildfire and the associated
conversion of low- to mid-elevation sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata)
habitats to invasive annual grass-dominated vegetation communities
as the two primary threats to the sustainability of Greater sage-grouse
(Centrocercus urophasianus, hereafter GRSG) in the...
In the northeast part of sage grouse range, 70% of the best habitat is privately owned – and the single greatest threat in this region is cultivation of native sagebrush grazing lands. Scientists assessed lands in eastern Montana, the western Dakotas, and northeast Wyoming to evaluate potential impacts to sage...
What affects the oceans affects terra firma. Ocean Solutions, Earth Solutions gathers the insights of more than 50 ocean and coastal science researchers exploring ocean components and their relationships, patterns, and trends over time and space. The book's 16 chapters feature geographic information system (GIS) best practices and include additional...
Severe weather in the United States causes huge insured losses to crop and property frequently.It creates major impact and elicit diverse response in the weather insurance industry. Events like hail, storm, hurricane etc. are more likely to cause catastrophe losses. So it becomes crucial to collect and analyze these extreme...
The problem of supporting more advanced selective undo operations has received a lot of attention. However, selective undo is generally missing in commonly used editors. Moreover, partial selective undo, the ability of undoing just part of some edit so that other edits may be undone, is not supported at all....
Online survey data collection is becoming popular because it provides benefits in cost, ease of collecting and managing data, flexibility in format, and access to a diverse population. Surveys are often used for health studies such as Oregon State University’s WAVE Project, which utilizes the WavePipe system, a server enabling...
Brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) populations currently exist in less than half of their historic range in the state of New Jersey. The remaining populations are confined to the northwestern part of the state in the Highlands, Appalachian Ridge and Valley, and Piedmont physiographic provinces, with the exception of Mason's Run,...
Increased energy costs have prompted the rural village of Galena, Alaska to explore viable alternatives for heat and power generation. Continued dependency on petroleum products will cause the community’s economic driving force, the Galena Interior Learning Academy (GILA), to face uncertain operability. A wood-fired boiler is scheduled to be installed,...
This report describes the findings from a 22 question survey of the 104 member Montgomery West Homeowners Association (MWHOA) in Gaithersburg, Maryland. Resident’s perceptions of their practices as related to the neighborhood storm ponds, stormwater, and how homeowner practices contribute to non-point source pollutants. An understanding of Green Infrastructure (GI)...
Background
The purpose of this study was to examine the association between daily movement patterns and dual energy X-ray absorptiometry-determined body fat percent (DXA-BF%) among children and adolescents while applying both traditional and novel analytical procedures.
Methods
Using data from the cross-sectional 2003–2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (n = 5607),...
Ocean circulation is an important component in Earth's climate system. Predicting future climate and circulation changes requires an improved understanding of the past relationship between climate and ocean currents. The neodymium isotope composition (εNd) of water masses is frequently used as a quasi-conservative tracer to reconstruct ocean circulation. The current...
Many trace elements (e.g., Zn, Cd, Mo) are essential phytoplankton micronutrients, making them crucial to the marine ecosystem and ultimately the carbon cycle. Because of this association trace metals are also utilized in paleoceanographic studies (e.g., Mo, Cd). However, not much is known about what controls the cycling of these...
The Cook-Austral island chain has been the center of debate for many years. Contrary to the classical hotspot hypothesis, this volcanic island chain does not exhibit a linear age progression with a single node of active volcanism, but instead shows evidence of young volcanism at several points along the chain....
Substations are a crucial element at the transmission and distribution level of electric power systems. The primary substation equipment (power transformers and high voltage switching equipment) is used to transfer and transform electric energy by stepping up or down the voltage in transmission substations. Secondary equipment (such as IEDs, Intelligent...
Cells represent microcosms of spatial and temporal structural organization, with the achievement of internal spatial organization relying upon a collection of macromolecular motor complexes to transport and localize components throughout the cell. Cytoplasmic dynein is one such motor complex, and is the principal ATP-dependent motor for retrograde transport along microtubules...
Automation of computational chemistry, while only an engineering feat, has the potential to accelerating computational research be removing all by the science. The work in this thesis mainly discusses fundamental understanding of complex chemical systems. What is not obvious are the numerous tasks necessary for this fundamental understanding. Under the...
Small organizations may face several management challenges, such as developing non-centralized management structures, knowledge retention in rapid turnover environments, complex operations, and diverse stakeholder requirements. Many methodologies exist to address such management challenges, including viable system model, knowledge management, and Toyota production system, or lean manufacturing. Each of these methodologies...
Photonic sintering of nanoparticles is a relatively new process for sintering of nanoparticles, deposited on a substrate, into functional solid structures. The working principle of this process is the incidence of large-area broad-spectrum light onto deposited nanoparticles, which results in heat generation in the nanoparticles and their subsequent densification. Key...
Pactamycin, a potent antitumor antibiotic produced by the soil bacterium Streptomycespactum, is a structurally unique aminocyclopentitol-containing natural product. Itconsists of a highly functionalized cyclopentitol core unit, two aromatic rings [3-aminoacetophenone (3AAP) and 6-methylsalicylic acid (6MSA)], and a 1,1-dimethylurea moiety. Despite its potent biological activity, the development of thisantibiotic was hampered...
Natural ground color is useful for reference maps as well as maps where a realistic representation of the Earth's surface matters. Natural color schemes are less likely to be misinterpreted, as opposed to hypsometric color schemes, and are generally preferred by map readers. The creation of natural-color maps was once...
This thesis covers the use of a quarter car model to select damping rates for aFormula Student (FS) car, focusing on minimizing vertical tire force variation to improvegrip. A 2 degree of freedom (DOF) quarter car model is cycled over the road frequenciesof interest and the results compared with the...
Methane is a flammable gas that is the main component of natural gas. It is a highly potent greenhouse gas, and accounts for about 20% of greenhouse gas emissions. Methane is routinely flared in many industrial processes without harnessing any of its energy. The environmental impact and wasted energy potential...
This thesis uses a series of non-fiction vignettes to explore objects, agencies, and networks, applying theories of rhetoric and composition directly to experience and vise versa. Focusing on agency--as understood through sociology's actor-networks, post- humanism’s Object Orientated Ontology, and Ecocriticism's ecological approach--I look at events, landscapes, and partnerships that have...
The discovery of new antibiotics reached its peak during the golden era of antibiotics in the mid 20th century and continued to thrive until the 1980s. However, after more than 50 years of fruitful exploration and exploitation of microbial natural products the discovery rate of new antibiotics has dropped drastically...
In the first part of this work, thin films of Al₂O₃ deposited via atomic layer deposition (ALD) are demonstrated to improve the thermal stability of cellulose nanocrystal (CNC) aerogels. ALD is a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) like method in which sequential precursor exposures and self-limited surface reactions produce a conformal...
Ecoroofs have become more prominent in recent years. However, there is currently no enforceable standard or building code for the design and construction of ecoroofs across the United States (Kraupa, 2014). Further research is needed to determine how ecoroofs respond to roof motion and to develop an appropriate design standard.The...
This thesis describes an investigation of the natural products chemistry of two fungal species of the genus Tolypocladium. Natural products are small organic molecules that are considered non-essential for cell growth and reproduction, and thus part of secondary metabolism. Chemical profiling of these secondary metabolites using a combination of high-performance...
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and oxygen-substituted PAHs (OPAHs) are environmental contaminants present in urban air, dust, soil and water resulting from incomplete combustion of organic materials or fossil fuels; found in crude oil and coal; and formed through photoxidation or biotransformation of microbial. It is widely recognized that PAHs pose...
Humans and viral disease are inextricably intertwined. Viral disease plays an immeasurable role in human life, from the disease and economic burden associated with every facet of contending with human viral disease, to managing the consequences of viral disease in organisms important to our food supply, economy, and entertainment. The...