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),...
The relative influences of trans-Pacific and regional atmospheric transport on measured concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), PAH derivatives [Nitro- (NPAH) and Oxy-(OPAH)], organic carbon (OC), and Particulate Matter (PM) less than 2.5 μm in diameter (PM₂.₅) were investigated in the Pacific Northwest, USA in 2010-2011. Ambient high volume PM₂.₅...
Forest vegetation management (FVM) is an important component of reforestation in the Pacific Northwest (PNW). Several studies have demonstrated the benefits of vegetation management on planted conifer growth and survival. However, few reports have been published on the long-term effects of FVM treatments on total ecosystem biomass accumulation and aboveground...
An overview of how a variety of wild and managed bees and their pollination activities are affected by pesticide application. Provides guidelines for how beekeepers, growers and pesticide applicators can work together to prevent bee poisoning.
Every year in North America homes in the Wildland-Urban interface (WUI) are destroyed by wildfires. The creation of defensible space around homes in the WUI, through the management of vegetation can help mitigate some of the risk posed by fire. While many homeowners recognize the need for defensible space around...
In the Pacific Northwest (PNW), the two most common root-knot nematodes are Meloidogyne hapla and Meloidogyne chitwoodi. These nematodes can infect a wide variety of crops and can cause significant losses. Currently, it is common for the field of nematology to use labor-intensive microscopy to identify plant-parasitic nematodes based on...
Coastal foredunes protect lives, infrastructure, and ecosystems during severe winter storms. In the U.S. Pacific Northwest (PNW), coastal foredune geomorphology is determined by both physical and ecological mechanisms. Before the 1900's, the native plant Elymus mollis was the dominant dune grass and dune morphology was largely determined by sediment supply...
The US industrial sector accounts for about one-third of the nation’s energy consumption and is predicted to grow twice as quickly as other sectors through 2050. International organizations such as the International Energy Agency project energy efficiency improvements will account for over 40% of greenhouse gas emissions reductions through 2040....
This research is concerned with the current debate among Oregonians on how to improve the standard of living and accelerate economic development in Oregon. The main question is what economic activities make Oregon, and regions within Oregon grow? To find out where Oregon's economic strength and weaknesses lie, first we...
Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is one of the most important crops in the world supplying about 18.8 percent of the world's caloric energy supply and 20 percent of the world's protein. In the Pacific Northwest (PNW), over one million hectares of wheat are grown every year. Wheat production is typically...
Wheat breeders must effectively maintain and manage existing genetic diversity in order to continue the development of superior genotypes. It is therefore fundamental that the genetic relationships and diversity within the germplasm pools be thoroughly characterized and understood. Recently, DNA-based markers have provided powerful tools for genetic diversity analysis. This...
By affecting the ecological, pecuniary and aesthetic productivity of ecosystems, invasive species (IS) increase production and management costs to business, while straining public agencies' budgets with monitoring, enforcement and management efforts. Understanding invasion pathways or vectors, and identifying costs and benefits of alternative management strategies are critical to public and...
The root-lesion nematode Pratylenchus (hornet is one of the most important pests restricting productivity of wheat in the Pacific Northwest (PNW). It is laborious and difficult to use microscopy to count and identify the nematodes in soils. A SYBR Green I-based real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay was developed to...
Both the structure and composition of naturally generated early-seral forests in the Pacific Northwest (PNW) can be profoundly different than that of more developed forest seres, especially in the period after a major disturbance but before conifers re-develop a closed canopy. While it is reasonable to suggest that the unique...
Ceratomyxa shasta infects salmonids in the Pacific Northwest (PNW) of North America, occasionally causing losses in wild and captive populations. Host-specific parasite genotypes (O, I, II, III) were previously characterized molecularly using markers in the ribosomal DNA and phenotypically by type host in the Klamath River, CA/OR. This thesis sough...
The spread of invasive species into the Pacific Northwest (PNW) of the United States poses a serious threat to the valuable forest resources of the region. Many insects and diseases that are a threat to these forest resources can be transported inside firewood. When campers transport their firewood across borders...
Two factors have led to curtailment of some lethal methods of combating sheep predators and limit the use of others: changes in public attitudes and more restrictive state and federal regulations. Ranchers now use more nonlethal methods for reducing losses of sheep to predator attack. Electric fence tests in Oregon...
Wheat is a major agricultural product in the
Pacific Northwest (PNW). The market class primarily
grown in the region is Western White (WW) wheat. An
important export market for PNW wheat producers is the
Asian Pacific Rim (APR), due to its proximity and
economic growth.
Agronomic research has been conducted...
Although there is acute concern that insect-caused tree mortality increases the likelihood or severity of subsequent wildfire, previous studies have been mixed, with findings typically based on stand-scale simulations or individual events. This study investigates landscape- and regional-scale wildfire likelihood following outbreaks of the two most prevalent native insect pests...
Although there is acute concern that insect‐caused tree mortality increases the likelihood or severity of subsequent wildfire, previous studies have been mixed, with findings typically based on stand‐scale simulations or individual events. This study investigates landscape‐ and regional‐scale wildfire likelihood following outbreaks of the two most prevalent native insect pests...
Although there is acute concern that insect‐caused tree mortality increases the likelihood or severity of subsequent wildfire, previous studies have been mixed, with findings typically based on stand‐scale simulations or individual events. This study investigates landscape‐ and regional‐scale wildfire likelihood following outbreaks of the two most prevalent native insect pests...
The introduction of non-native species often results in fundamental changes in the structure and function of disturbed environments. In the Pacific Northwest (PNW), the introduced seagrass Zostera japonica is rapidly expanding in distribution, impacting stakeholders and public use of the intertidal. Z. japonica’s expansion has prompted a number of different...
Variability in wood properties causes boards within a stack of lumber to
dry at different rates and reach different moisture content levels after drying is
completed. The consequence is that the boards will have properties that differ from
ones that were intended to be achieved by the drying process.
The...
This study analyzes the impact of the 1980 Staggers
Rail Act (SRA) on Pacific Northwest (Oregon, Washington,
Idaho and Montana) wheat transportation.
A minimum cost uncapacitated transshipment network
flow model is employed to simulate the origination and
destination pattern of grain flows before (1977) and after
(1985) the SRA. The...
Climate change and the increase in meteorological drought have generated global concern over the persistence of ecosystems already in decline from decreased moisture. Evidence suggests dryland ecosystems have been more impacted by drought because of their tightly coupled growth-water relationships and high sensitivity to environmental shift. Removal of competing vegetation...
Stripe rust (Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici) and Septoria tritici blotch (Zymoseptoria tritici) are a constant and significant threat to wheat production, significantly reducing wheat quality and yield. Wheat is responsible for 20% of the world’s human calorie intake, and wheat production must increase to supply the demand of the...
During the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami, numerous bridge structures were damage or destroyed. The damage to bridge systems was caused by long duration strong ground shaking, tsunami inundation forces, or both. Long duration strong ground shaking from subduction zone earthquakes and the multi-hazard scenario of combined earthquake...
Across the western US, the two most prevalent native forest insect pests are mountain pine beetle (MPB; Dendroctonus ponderosae; a bark beetle) and western spruce budworm (WSB; Choristoneura freemani; a defoliator). MPB outbreaks have received more forest management attention than WSB outbreaks, but studies to date have not compared their...
Canopy structure has a significant impact on the canopy hydrology of
Douglas-fir forests in the Pacific Northwest (PNW). Whole canopy rainfall
interception was measured for young Douglas-fir forest and compared to an
old-growth Douglas-fir forest. The old-growth forest had significantly greater
canopy water storage capacity (5) and direct throughfall fraction...
Hard white winter (HVVW) wheat cultivars must have superior protein quality and consistent processing quality to be successful in the Asian market. New cultivars and management strategies are needed to produce HVVW grain for both bread and noodle applications from diverse environments in the US Pacific Northwest (PNW). This study...
Tidal marshes are dynamic ecosystems that are threatened by climate change and sea-level rise. To characterize baseline condition and historic climate sensitivities, and improve projections into the future, new methods are required that integrate data from the field and remote sensing platforms. Marsh elevation response models can be calibrated with...
Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) has been cultivated for human consumption for thousands of years. However, most North Americans do not consume barley on a regular basis. In the last decade, there has been a renewed interest in barley production for human consumption. A number of quality traits estimate nutritional value...
The abundance and spatial heterogeneity of coarse woody debris (CWD) on the forest floor is a prominent feature of Pacific Northwest (PNW) forest ecosystems. The effect of CWD on soil solution chemistry, nutrient cycling and availability, soil physical structure and formation of soil organic matter, however, remains unknown. Therefore, studies...
Understanding sandbar dynamics and variability is integral to developing a predictive
capacity for nearshore flows, sediment transport, morphological change, and
ultimately for determining coastline exposure to damaging storm waves. Along the
high-energy U.S. Pacific Northwest (PNW) coast, sandbars typically dominate the
bathymetry of the active zone. Here we report on...
Contemporary forest management involves a more extensive and diverse suite of management objectives than was the case throughout much of the Twentieth Century. Heightened public and political awareness of local and global biodiversity decline, and interest in arresting these trends, has increased the emphasis on broad-based biodiversity conservation as an...
Young Douglas-fir stands were commercially thinned to achieve vegetation- and wildlife-related objectives. Harvesting and forwarding production and costs were compared among three mechanized thinning treatments: light thin [(115 residual trees per acre (tpa)], light thin with 0.5-ac openings (92 residual tpa), and heavy thin (53 residual tpa). The sites were...
Interest is expanding for the potential role of estuaries, particularly seagrass and salt marsh habitats, to sequester carbon, mitigate ocean acidification, and support abundant fisheries. The important functions of estuaries are part of a broader set of ecosystem services, or benefits to humans, which are regulated by ocean and watershed...
In 1970, the Pacific Northwest (PNW) produced approximately 145,332,000 bushels of wheat (all types) with an average harvest value of over $220,000,000. White wheat comprised about 126,234,000 bushels of that total, about 87 percent. In recent years the financial circumstances, for several reasons, have deteriorated for many farmers and grain...
Foodborne illness in the United States continues to be a complex and recurring issue despite our increased understanding of the pathogenic microorganisms responsible. Foodborne illness outbreaks and product recalls linked to pathogenic bacteria have been more frequent in the produce industry (e.g. fruits and vegetables) in the last ten years....
Douglas-fir provides social, economic, and ecological benefits in the Pacific Northwest (PNW). In addition to timber, forests support abundant plant and animal biodiversity and provide socioeconomic viability for many rural communities. Products derived from Douglas-fir account for approximately 17% of the U.S. lumber output with an estimated value of $1.9...
Coastal communities in the U.S. Pacific Northwest (PNW) are rapidly engaging with the idea that hazards and environmental pressures are changing and may be characteristically different in the near future. This has led to a need for scientific knowledge and tools that can help coastal communities prepare and build resilience...
Given the vital role of forest ecosystems in landscape pattern and process, it is important to quantify the effects, feedbacks, and uncertainties associated with forest disturbance dynamics. In western North America, insects and wildfires are both native disturbances that have influenced forests for millennia, and both are projected to increase...
A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of the production of poplar biomass grown under four management conditions in the Pacific Northwest (PNW) of the U.S.A. was conducted. While the extraction of fossil fuels and the subsequent generation of energy have environmental impacts, the alternative of extracting poplar biomass also has impacts...
Two indigenous species of burrowing shrimp inhabit and often dominate the intertidal zone of estuaries along the US West Coast, the ghost shrimp, Neotrypaea californiensis, and the blue mud shrimp, Upogebia pugettensis. Both species are considered ecosystem engineers and play a role in maintaining estuarine health and ecosystem function. They...
Estimates of potential carbon (C) storage can be used to constrain predictions of future carbon sequestration and to understand the degree to which disturbances, both natural aid anthropogenic, affect C storage. An upper bound on C storage in the Pacific Northwest (PNW) of the United States was estimated using field...
In the past 10 years we have witnessed the beginnings of the study of soil ecology as a unified science, and the general realization by soil scientists, farmers, and land managers that many of the most important economic aspects of soil health are controlled by biological factors. This research focuses...
The relative contributions of sea level rise (SLR) and increasing extra-tropical storminess to the frequency with which waves attack coastal features is assessed with a simple total water level (TWL) model. For the coast of the U.S. Pacific Northwest (PNW) over the period of wave-buoy observations (~30 years) wave height...
In the Pacific Northwest (PNW), concern about the impacts of climate and land cover change on water resources and flood-generating processes emphasizes the need for a mechanistic understanding of the interactions between forest canopies and hydrologic processes. Detailed measurements during the 1999 and 2000 hydrologic years were used to modify...