The purpose of this study was to understand the vulnerability and adaptive capacity of shellfish stakeholders in the Pacific Northwest who are adapting to ocean acidification (OA). This study developed a geovisualization tool of existing environmental data for assessing species-specific risk profiles to OA (based on their exposure and sensitivity),...
Geographic information systems (GISs) offer a useful tool for educators to teach students about local and global communities in various subjects. GISs are increasingly being used in K-12 education, but that growth is hindered due to many teachers’ limited access to time or resources necessary to adequately learn a GIS...
GIS and other geographic mapping tools have become an integral part of our
society for disseminating spatial infonnation to assist in making informed land planning
decisions. Disc golf is a recreation activity, most commonly found on public lands, which
utilizes the natural landscape in a manner that enhances its enjoyment....
The Late Spring Secondary Precipitation Maximum in the
Interior Pacific Northwest results from a complex system of climatic
controls. The Secondary Maximum is most strongly developed over the
high plateau of Oregon immediately in the lee of the Cascade
Mountains. Local topographic
organization exerts strong control
over the magnitude and...
An innovative regional planning institution, the Northwest Power Planning Council, was created to plan for two conflicting water-related resources, fish and wildlife and electrical power. The Council is responsible for regional planning but implementation of those plans is largely the responsibility of four federal agencies and four state governments. As...
The rapid decline of marine ecosystems worldwide and the failure of traditional single species management pushed for the development of ecosystem-based conservation measures such as marine protected areas (MPA) to slow the loss of marine biodiversity. One approach to MPA creation advocates targeting marine megafauna (e.g., marine mammals, seabirds, sharks,...
In this thesis I present the results of a comprehensive assessment of the Pacific-North American (PNA) teleconnection pattern in general circulation models (GCMs) and a regional climate model (RCM). The PNA teleconnection pattern is a quasi-stationary wave field over the North Pacific and North America that has long been recognized...
Salmon management philosophies of the five salmon jurisdictions of the North Pacific (Japan, Russia, Canada, Alaska and the American Northwest) are examined in a historical and geographic context. The first objective is to provide a synthesis of salmon management experience across the North Pacific, to serve as a context for...
Oregon's ocean waters are a potential source of wind, wave, and tidal energy; of interest to renewable energy entrepreneurs and to the U.S. government as it seeks to bolster energy security. In order to install technology to capture this energy, however, it may be necessary to mitigate conflict with existing...
The field of geography has been transformed in recent years through the use of spatial tools such as geographic information systems (GIS) satellite and acoustic remote sensing, the global positioning system (GPS), Internet mapping and more. Studying geography and earth science in the digital age now requires a sophisticated and...
Developing accurate predictive distribution models requires adequately representing relevant spatial and temporal scales, as these scales are ultimately reflective of the relationships between distributions and influential environmental conditions. In this research, we considered both spatial and temporal scale and the influence each has on predicting broad-scale distributions of two disparate...
Forested, mountain landscapes in the Pacific Northwest (PNW) are changing at an unprecedented rate, largely due to shifts in the regional climate regime. Documented climatic trends across the PNW include increasing wildfire frequency and intensity and an increasingly ephemeral snowpack, especially at moderate elevations. One relationship that has yet to...
Archaeological investigations can reveal persistent traditions of ethnic
groups. Hawaiians were employed in the fur trade of the Columbia River from
1810 through 1850. The Hudson's Bay Company employed them at Ft.
Vancouver, Washington from 1825 through the end of this period. Data from
the excavations of the servant's village...
Since their discovery in 1977, hydrothermal vent communities have offered scientists
a unique glimpse into a world that is supported primarily by chemically derived
energy rather than direct energy from the sun. Furthermore, studies of hydrothermal
vent ecosystems have introduced scientists to amazing animals that have successfully
adapted to living...
This paper is a summary of a larger project that consolidated
agricultural land use projection information for the Pacific Northwest,
as of January 1979. The characteristics of nine major projection studies
are identified and used as a basis for comparing the relative merits of
each study with regard to: 1)...
An integrative method for monitoring glacier geometry change and mass balance is presented and applied to the Pacific Northwest, USA. Acting as a baseline for interpretation of future changes in glacier size and shape, we first derive a new inventory of regional glacier cover using remotely sensed data. To investigate...
Satellite imagery has become an efficient and time effective tool that
may aid in the development of regional terrestrial and aquatic resource management
schemes. A methodology utilizing National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA) Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR)
imagery, 1.1 kilometer spatial resolution at nadir, was developed for delineating...
Between 1967 and 1973, California, Oregon,
and Washington all established state-wide systems for
the preservation of land in its natural state. These
set aside parcels of land may be termed as Natural
Area Preserves. The history of each state's public
systems, different establishment procedures, and
management policies are discussed.
Management goals for restoring populations of the federally-threatened northern spotted owl currently include experimental lethal removals of barred owls from demographic study areas within the overlapping ranges of the two species to examine northern spotted owl population response. As lethal removals of a bird species are time- and cost-intensive, predictive...
Nonindigenous species are a major threat to the ecological integrity and biodiversity of marine and estuarine ecosystems. To become a successful invader, species must pass through four phases: (1) survive transport, (2) survive release, (3) establish a population, and (4) expand their range. To better understand these processes, an integrated...
