Published June 1994. Facts and recommendations in this publication may no longer be valid. Please look for up-to-date information in the OSU Extension Catalog: http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalog
The spread of medusahead across the western United States has severe implications for a wide range of ecosystem
services. Medusahead invasion reduces biodiversity, wildlife habitat and forage production, and often leads to
increased fire frequency and restoration costs. Medusahead is problematic in the Intermountain West and California
Annual Grasslands. The...
Published 1966. Reprinted 1980. Facts and recommendations in this publication may no longer be valid. Please look for up-to-date information in the OSU Extension Catalog: http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalog
A causative factor in declining greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus)
populations is reduced annual recruitment due to poor habitat quality. Sage-grouse
population decline is concurrent with a decline in the extent and quality of the
sagebrush (Artemisia sp.) biome. However, current research has shown a positive
relationship between sage-grouse brood and...
Published December 1980. Facts and recommendations in this publication may no longer be valid. Please look for up-to-date information in the OSU Extension Catalog: http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalog
Published January 1958. Facts and recommendations in this publication may no longer be valid. Please look for up-to-date information in the OSU Extension Catalog: http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalog
As early as 1491 in an Act of Parliament during the reign of Henry VII of England, overfishing and
the capture of juveniles were recognized as root causes of declining fish catches, and since then,
minimum capture sizes, closed seasons and areas, and gear restrictions have been implemented to
address...
Due to the increasing cost and concern of catastrophic wildfires in the Western United States, there is an increasing interest in fuels reduction projects. Fuel reduction treatments utilize various methods of thinning and/or prescribed fire to obtain desirable forest stand conditions. However, the effects of fuels reduction on ecosystem function...
The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of cow age on botanical composition of diets in mountain riparian areas. Treatments consisted of 30 first calf heifers, and 30 mature cows randomly assigned to four pastures (2 pastures/treatment, average 21.5 ha) in a two-year study with a cross...
Human activities may contribute to the eutrophication of surface waters by
providing nutrients to aquatic ecosystems. Phosphorus is frequently identified as a
nutrient that is limiting to most aquatic ecosystems under natural conditions. Sources of
phosphorus contributing to eutrophic conditions often include nonpoint sources that are
dispersed across the landscape....
The project of which this research was a part is designed to
provide an improved system of ecological resource analysis. Specific
objectives of this study were: (1) classification of plant communities
on the fringes of the sagebrush steppes and the salt desert of
southeastern Oregon, (2) development of symbolic and...
The project focuses on nonequilibrium ecosystem dynamics, a body of scientific research that characterizes and interprets ecosystem change. INR summarizes knowledge from this field, describes ways in which the current management framework may be inconsistent with scientific findings, and helps identify options for future management. This paper is designed to...
Pine Creek Conservation Area (PCCA), just northeast of the John Day River in Wheeler County, Oregon, was acquired in 1999-2001 by the Confederate Tribes of Warm Springs with support from the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), to mitigate for wildlife losses created by the large, hydropower Columbia River Dams, particularly the...
Recent emphasis on range improvement of sagebrush-bunch-grass
types in Oregon has underscored the need for better understanding
of their importance to deer winter range management. The
objectives of this study were to evaluate the impact of various sagebrush
control practices on the composition, production, and utilization
of deer forage plants...
This study presents (1) the overall concept of assessing non-federal western rangeland soil loss rates at a national scale for determining areas of vulnerability for accelerated soil loss using USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) National Resources Inventory (NRI) data and the Rangeland Hydrology and Erosion Model (RHEM) and (2)...
Published June 1953. Facts and recommendations in this publication may no longer be valid. Please look for up-to-date information in the OSU Extension Catalog: http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalog
This paper offers a framework for use by public and private entities who manage natural resources. It focuses on the maintenance and restoration of ecological integrity to help ensure that natural systems continue to provide intrinsic value and benefits to human communities. The ecological integrity measures assess four different attributes...
The Bureau of Land Managements (BLM) Emergency Fire Rehabilitation (EFR) policy was developed in 1985 to encourage protection of sites from soil erosion and to minimize potential changes in vegetation communities that may result from the dominance of weedy species. To achieve the goals of EFR policy, managers often used...
Published May 1988. Facts and recommendations in this publication may no longer be valid. Please look for up-to-date information in the OSU Extension Catalog: http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalog
Published September 1981. Facts and recommendations in this publication may no longer be valid. Please look for up-to-date information in the OSU Extension Catalog: http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalog
Published January 1979. Facts and recommendations in this publication may no longer be valid. Please look for up-to-date information in the OSU Extension Catalog: http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalog
Landscape models for elk distribution developed at Starkey Experimental Forest and Range from 1993-1995 were tested on another landscape during 2003-2005 at Sled Springs Wildlife Demonstration Area. Using location data obtained from 23 wild elk captured and fitted with GPS telemetry collars, 8 spatial resource selection function models representing 8...
Published June 1982. Facts and recommendations in this publication may no longer be valid. Please look for up-to-date information in the OSU Extension Catalog: http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalog
Published June 1980. Facts and recommendations in this publication may no longer be valid. Please look for up-to-date information in the OSU Extension Catalog: http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalog
Published June 1979. Facts and recommendations in this publication may no longer be valid. Please look for up-to-date information in the OSU Extension Catalog: http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalog
Published June 1986. Facts and recommendations in this publication may no longer be valid. Please look for up-to-date information in the OSU Extension Catalog: http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalog
A proposed state-and-transition model (STM) for the Deep Sand Savannah ecological site in central New Mexico was developed using historical data and expert knowledge. This STM was tested utilizing data from short and long term one-seed juniper (Juniperus monosperma (Engelm.) Sarg.) control experiments initiated in 1981 and 1985. Utilizing data...
Published June 1985. Facts and recommendations in this publication may no longer be valid. Please look for up-to-date information in the OSU Extension Catalog: http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalog
Riparian vegetation is an essential component for the maintenance and/or repair of channel stability and function. Sedges within low-gradient riparian systems provide the structure necessary for sediment trapping leading to channel narrowing through bank building processes. Planting success in riparian restoration projects has often failed due to inappropriate species selection,...
One second GPS collars were deployed on cattle in three different pastures at three separate times during the year. In each riparian pasture the vegetative communities and stream bank edge were digitally mapped using low elevation aerial photographs and checked in the field for accuracy. A 5 m buffer zone...
Relatively recent increases in ponderosa pine abundance have effected unprecedented changes to ecosystem structure and function. Efforts to restore ponderosa pine systems are often focused on the manipulation of tree structure and the re-introduction of a more natural fire regime. Successful restoration should also incorporate understory components but information addressing...
State-and-transition models (STMs) have been successfully used to
describe ecological dynamics in woodlands, shrublands, grasslands, and several other ecosystems. Changes in vegetation and soil are measured to gauge and predict plant community dynamics within ecological states and transitions between alternative ecological states. Ecological states and their boundaries are defined by...
Greater Sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) habitat research has historically focused on fine-scale (0.007 - 0.032 ha) vegetation structure and composition immediately surrounding sites selected by birds. However, little work has evaluated vegetation attributes important for Greater Sage-grouse at a landscape-scale or identified landscape attributes that influence habitat use patterns. Habitat use...
Invasive plant species are expanding and transforming vegetative communities across Oregon and throughout the United States. Over the past three decades remote sensing, geographic information system (GIS), and Global Positioning System (GPS) technologies have been integrated to detect and map the distribution of noxious rangeland plants. This study developed low-cost...
Forest fires contribute a significant amount of CO₂ to the atmosphere each year, and CO₂ emissions from fires are likely to increase under projected conditions of global climate change. In addition to volatilizing aboveground biomass and litter layers, forest fires have a profound effect on belowground carbon (C) pools and...
Restoration of exotic annual grass-invaded rangelands is needed to improve ecosystem function and services.
Increasing plant species richness is generally believed to increase resistance to invasion and increase desired
vegetation. However, the effects of species richness and individual plant life forms in seed mixes used to restore
rangelands invaded by...
We studied the distribution and habitat selection differences between
Spanish breed (Corriente and Longhorn mix) and British breed cattle (Angus,
Hereford). This study was located on the Zumwalt prairie during the spring and
fall and along the Imnaha river for the winter. Each trial ran for two weeks and in...
Desert plant communities are among the most sensitive to changes in soil water conditions. In areas with shallow aquifers, it is important to understand both the effects of groundwater alterations on vegetation and how changes in surface-soil water affect plant water uptake. Studies in arid environments have evaluated the effect...
Global Positioning System (GPS) and Geographic Information System (GIS) technologies were employed to evaluate cattle occupancy of three landscape attributes on three different grazing allotments administered by the Wallowa Whitman National Forest in Northeast Oregon. Topographic characteristics of slope; 0-4%, 4-12%, 12-35% and >35% were evaluated as well as north...
Western juniper (Juniperus occidentalis) encroachment has been associated with increased soil loss and reduced infiltration resulting in the loss of native herbaceous plant communities and the bird and animal species that rely on them. Hydrologically, however, change in water yield has been linked with the amount of annual precipitation a...
On piñon-juniper encroached sites that lack the understory fuels to carry a prescribed fire, treatment options are limited to mechanical methods. Cutting with chainsaws and leaving the trees on site has been the primary treatment method for such sites, however this method creates a potential fire hazard, particularly in the...
Remote sensing and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are well known tools for the study of time change analysis in natural systems. However, long-term studies of riparian systems using large-scale aerial photography are less common. The purpose of this project was to combine large scale aerial photography, GIS, Global Positioning Systems...
Thirteen different habitat parameters were measured either quantitatively or
qualitatively around seven different Salix (willow) species on a defined reach of stream
on the southwestern slope of Steens Mountain in southeastern Oregon in order to both
broaden the current information base of riparian ecology and inform future willow
plantings aimed...
This study evaluated biomass production, water-use efficiency (WUE), biomass allocation, and water use characteristics of common plant species in Owens Valley, California, USA. The species studied were the grasses Distichlis spicata, Leymus triticoides, and Sporobolus airoides, the forbs Glycyrrhiza lepidota, Juncus arcticus, and Salsola tragus (annual), the desert shrubs Artemisia...
Published June 1951. Facts and recommendations in this publication may no longer be valid. Please look for up-to-date information in the OSU Extension Catalog: http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalog
This study consisted of two research projects in the Wyoming big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata ssp. wyomingensis (Beetle & A. Young) S.L. Welsh) alliance, the most extensive of the big sagebrush complex in the Intermountain West. In the first project, we intensively sampled 107 relatively undisturbed, late seral Wyoming big sagebrush...
A case study examining the relationship between stream temperatures and the thermal environment through which streams flow was conducted on the headwaters of 4 tributaries of the Burnt River (Barney, Elk, Greenhorn, and Stevens Creeks) in northeastern Oregon during July through August 1998 and 1999. Barney Creek and Stevens Creek...
Many streams in eastern Oregon are listed as water quality impaired on the basis of water temperature. However, it is often difficult to predict water temperature for these streams even if there are no anthropogenic impacts. We measured air and water temperature and stream characteristics on three Type C and...