Riparian ecosystems provide critical habitat for a broad diversity of aquatic and terrestrial species. However, due to their connectivity along river corridors, and the tendency for people to build roads, infrastructure, and other settlements next to rivers, riparian ecosystems are vulnerable to colonization by invasive plant and animal species. Early...
In the Pacific Northwest, USA, the cumulative impact of human development has caused decades of salmon habitat degradation and the listing of multiple populations under the US Endangered Species Act. As a result, the need for implementation of recovery goals has encouraged the development of an economy focused on salmon...
This project explores the impact of land use decisions on dune processes at the
Oregon National Guard's Camp Rilea. located on the north coast of Oregon. It
used a combined analysis of historical and modern data sources to assess the
impact of land use practices. Historical sources including the journals...
Land management policies are ideas about nature projected onto the landscape. Culminations of social, economic, and scientific influences, these policies create standards affecting the function of ecological systems. In the case of riparian lands in the Oregon Coast Range, policy requirements vary considerably across federal, state, and private land ownerships....
This thesis explores the challenges of monitoring stream hydrology in a warmer and wetter climate in the Kenai Peninsula (KP) and Prince William Sound (PWS) region of Southcentral Alaska, located on the traditional territories of the Dena’ina, Ahtna, Alutiiq/Sugpiaq, and Eyak People. The physical and climatological extremes of this region...
Environmental DNA (eDNA) detection of aquatic invasive species is at the forefront of aquatic conservation efforts because of decreased costs, increased response times, and increase of sensitivity for intercepting invasions with low density populations. Developments in eDNA technologies have improved detection probabilities for rare, indicator, and invasive species over the...
Stream restoration efforts have increasingly started to focus on management actions that restore ecological function rather than focusing on species-specific habitat needs. Restoration practitioners in the Pacific Northwest have implemented numerous large-scale floodplain restoration projects to restore stream function at the valley scale. Some of these projects attempt to restore...
Coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) migration and spawning are unique components of the salmon life cycle because they require synchrony of behavior with other individuals as well as with acceptable fluvial conditions. As with other organisms that exhibit group mating behavior, it is likely that environmental cues trigger coho salmon movement...
Migration and spawning phenology of Pacific Salmon is linked to the hydroregime, and thought to be triggered by increases in river discharge and decreases in water temperature. However, little data exists that describes direct fine-scale linkages between the hydroregime and spawning in Coho Salmon. This study evaluated the spatial and...
Oyster reefs provide an array of ecosystem services. Specifically, they provide structurally complex habitat for fish and invertebrate species such as the commercially important Dungeness crab, Metacarcinus magister. This ecosystem service, once provided by the native oyster Ostrea lurida, is now provided by the commercially cultured oyster Crassostrea gigas in...