ORNHIC maintains extensive databases of Oregon biodiversity, concentrating on rare and endangered plants, animals and ecosystems. The program is managed by OSU, but has been a
cooperative project, with significant support from The Department of State Lands, The Nature Conservancy in Oregon, USFWS, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the...
Once lost, a species can never be recovered, and there is no way of knowing how useful it may have been. We do know that human beings and many of their industries depend on plant and animal products. About 50% of all pharmaceuticals have a natural component as an active...
Many stands of Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) near coastal areas of Oregon and Washington are heavily infected with the foliar pathogen causing Swiss needle cast (SNC) disease, and yet there is very little research on the resulting wood quality. Modulus of elasticity (MOE), modulus of rupture (MOR), microfibril angle...
Conifer crowns can be highly variable both within and between trees, particularly with respect to foliage biomass and leaf area. A variety of sampling schemes have been used to estimate biomass and leaf area at the individual tree and stand scales. Rarely has the effectiveness of these sampling schemes been...
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.
Swiss needle cast (SNC) is a disease specific to Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) caused by the ascomycete Phaeocryptopus gaeumannii. Here we examine characteristics of the EM fungus community that are potentially useful in predictive models that would monitor forest health. We found that mean EM density (number of colonized root tips/soil...
Focus on Forestry is published by Oregon State University's 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.
Forest landowners are interested in practicing alternative silviculture methods on their property without having to clearcut. This publication describes a case study on shelterwood harvest and two-aged stand management of a forest in the Oregon Coast Range. The landowner’s core management philosophy is to create forests that are both ecologically...
Calcium oxalate (Ca oxalate) is an insoluble biomineral that forms in plants and fungi, and occurs in soils
across many types of ecosystems. Assessing how Ca oxalate may shape ecosystem Ca cycling requires
information on the distribution of Ca oxalate among plant biomass, detritus, and mineral soil, and how
it...
Focus is published by Oregon State University's 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.
Canopy gaps created by tree mortality can affect the speed and trajectory of vegetation growth, species’ population dynamics, and spatial heterogeneity in mature forests. Most studies focus on plant development within gaps, yet gaps also affect the mortality and growth of surrounding trees, which influence shading and root encroachment into...
It would be valuable economically to know what are the biological triggers for formation of mature wood (currently of high value) and (or) what maintains production of juvenile wood (currently of low value), to develop silvicultural regimes that control the relative production of the two types of wood. Foresters commonly...
This study was directed to improve our understanding of the ecology of Swiss needle cast (SNC) of Douglas-fir, a disease that produces extensive damage to forests and plantation in the coastal region of Oregon and Washington. A disease prediction model for the coastal area of Oregon was built by establishing...