History is an invaluable source of information to understand and evaluate management influences on contemporary ecosystems and landscapes. The first two chapters (Chapters 2 and 3) explored the concept of historical range of variability (HRV) in landscape structure and stand structure using a stochastic fire simulation model to simulate presettlement...
This study focuses on the tradeoffs that exist for managing forested landscapes for biodiversity and timber production. Tradeoff evaluation is important to natural resource managers so they can understand the benefits and costs of alternative management prescriptions. The study examines three watersheds in the Oregon Coast Range and 166 terrestrial...
In the Coast Range of western Oregon, some natural resource managers are converting red alder-dominated riparian areas to conifers to increase the future source of in-stream large wood for salmonid habitat. However, studies in Alaska have shown red alder-dominated riparian areas support greater invertebrate biomass compared to conifer-dominated areas. In...
Modified selection thinning has been utilized by some non-industrial foresters in Douglas-fir forests of Western Oregon and Washington for at least 35 years. This silvicultural strategy has not been tested, but has often been associated with reduced volume production and other undesirable effects. It continues to be used on many...
The settlement history of a remote area in the Coast Range of Oregon, from the 1870s to the 1930s, is examined through factors that may have influenced the success or failure, and length of residence of the homesteaders and later residents. Despite the rugged and isolated location, a small community...
Streamside buffer strips provide numerous benefits to stream ecosystems. The buffer strips create shade, provide shelter for wildlife, act as barriers to logging debris during and after timber harvest, and serve as a continued source of large woody debris. Quantifying woody inputs resulting from windthrow provides managers with estimates for...
The structure and composition of mixed-conifer forest (MCF) in central Oregon has been altered by fire exclusion and logging. The resulting increased density, spatial contagion, and loss of fire resistant trees decrease the resiliency of this ecosystem to fire, drought, and insects. The historical and current composition and structure of...
Forage availability, diets, distribution, and productivity were
compared for Roosevelt elk, Cervus elaphus roosevelti, using improved
(i.e. seeded, fertilized, and grazed) and untreated areas of the Oregon
Coast Range. Seasonal forage availability was substantially different
on 1-year-old improved and untreated clearcuts, but the differences
diminished by clearcut age 4 and...
This thesis examines forest history of a portion of the Douglas-fir Region: Soap Creek Valley, a 15,000 acre sub-basin of the Luckiamute River in northern Benton County, Oregon. The primary reasons for the research were to test oral history methodology, document sub-basin scale forest cover pattern changes, and determine basic...
The effects of forest cutting on forested systems and the biotic components of those systems has been at the forefront of scientific research. The inventory and monitoring of biodiversity is one technique used for measuring the effects of forest management. Because bioinventory studies are expensive, indicator species are often sought...