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),...
Beginning in 1986 Dr. Mike Burgett of the Honey Bee Lab at Oregon State University began an annual survey of pollination economics in the Pacific Northwest states (OR, WA and ID). The 25th Annual report (2010) was published in Jan, 14 2011 Honey Market News and the BEELINE, newsletter of...
This report describes initial results of a yarding time study for the Pansy Basin Study, a cooperative research project designed to test the performance of skylines, balloons, and helicopters operating under various conditions of timber and terrain, and over a range of silvicultural and landscape design prescriptions. Observations during the...
Predicting agronomic rates is important to derive optimum economic and environmental benefits from biosolids fertilizer applications. We conducted this research to 1) evaluate dryland wheat response to biosolids applications over a range of climate zones in the Pacific Northwest and 2) compare agronomic application rates predicted from yield curves with...
Coastal blue carbon ecosystems offer a variety of important ecosystem services, including exceptional rates of carbon sequestration and long-term carbon storage. Because these ecosystems disproportionately influence global carbon cycling, understanding their soil characteristics may help guide long-term climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies. Recently, Kauffman et al. (2020) observed the...
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...
Extensive areas of eastern Oregon, eastern Washington, and Idaho are well suited to dryland production of small grains and legumes. Commonly, over this area, winter wheat is planted in rotation with either annual legumes or summer fallow.
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...
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...
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...
The objective of this study is to complete life cycle inventories (LCI) for laminated veneer lumber (LVL) and composite I-joist (I-joist) production in the two main forest products producing regions in the U.S., the Pacific Northwest (PNW) and Southeast (SE). LVL and I-joists are composite wood building materials that are...
Food waste (FW), brewery waste (BW), and fats, oils, and greases (FOG), are prevalent waste streams in municipalities across the country, particularly in the Pacific Northwest (PNW). Anaerobic digestion (AD), the microbial-mediated transformation of organic waste into methane-rich biogas, offers a sustainable, energy-generating, waste management solution for these wastes. Anaerobic...
Objective 1: Evaluate sweet corn inbred germplasm for colonization of silks by Fusarium species and subsequent seed infection/contamination.
Objective 2: Evaluate biological applications to silks and subsequent Fusarium presence in ears.
Objective 3: Evaluate seed disinfestation and location of remaining Fusarium on or in seed.
Objective 4: Examine the yield...
Sweet corn is susceptible to various pathogenic Fusarium species and has been long known to be subject to early season diseases of seed rot and seedling blight as well as root rot and later season problems with stalk rot and ear rots. More recently, fields in the Willamette Valley of...
Objective 1: Evaluate commercial sweet corn varieties and inbred germplasm in small plots for susceptibility to root rot, stalk node rot, and crown rot. Objective 2: Examine the relationship between Western Spotted Cucumber Beetle reproduction and seed microbial communities.
Douglas-fir is the most commercially important timber species in the US Pacific Northwest due to its ecological prevalence and its superior wood attributes, especially strength and stiffness properties that make it highly prized for structural applications. Its economic significance has led to extensive establishment and management of plantations over the...
Five experiments were conducted with commercial broilers to study the effects of feeding yellow pea (Pisum sativum L. var. Miranda) diets with and without supplementation. Mean body weights and feed conversion for broilers fed 0, 25, 50 and 65% of soybean crude protein (CP) substituted with yellow pea (YP) protein...
The goal of this dissertation was to improve our understanding of the physiology and life-history of invasive plants and of the mechanisms underlying life-history trade-offs. I compared invasive and noninvasive species of Rubus (blackberry) that grow together in the Pacific Northwest. Three hypotheses were investigated: (1) Invasive Rubus have higher...
Fuel management has been used as an effective local strategy to reduce the undesirable consequences of wildfires. Many efforts toward scheduling of fuel management activities across a broader landscape have been proposed, with the hope of achieving larger landscape-scale management effects. However, scheduling of fuel management treatments across the broader...
Crater Lake National Park presents an excellent opportunity for ecological research due to its relatively pristine landscape, the protection of its natural features, its infrastructure, and a Park administration supportive of scientific inquiry and restoration ecology. The research presented here examines the responses of fungi to various forms of perturbation....
Stream buffer strips are an important tool for protecting the stream environment. This research documents the losses from 40 stream buffer strips, in the Western Cascades of Oregon, established 1 to 15 years before the study. Predictive equations are developed
which identify the major reasons for buffer strip losses. Losses...
In the Western United States where 50-70% of annual precipitation comes in the form of winter snowfall, water supplies may be particularly sensitive to a warming climate. We worked with a network of stakeholders in the Big Wood Basin, Idaho, to explore how climate change may affect water resources and...
To determine which isolates will most rapidly replace
Phellinus weirii in stumps and roots, Trichoderma spp. were
isolated from P. weirii-infested stumps and roots, identified, and
examined for growth rates and lethal effects on P. weirii in vitro.
Phellinus weirii-infested Douglas-fir stumps and stump roots
were sampled for microorganisms by...
Since European American settlement of the Intermountain Region, dramatic changes in vegetation composition and structure have occurred in the sagebrush steppe ecosystem. Western juniper (Juniperus occidentalis spp. occidentalis Vasek), although indigenous to the Intermountain Region, has increased since the late 1800s. Considerable work has been done documenting juniper woodland expansion...
Signs of climate change across the Pacific Northwest indicate changing patterns of timing and availability of stream flow. Declining summer low flows, decreasing snow pack, higher temperatures and an increasing fraction of mountain precipitation falling as rain, raise concerns about future reliability of stream flows. These changes will likely affect...
Cross-laminated timber (CLT) is a massive engineered wood product made of orthogonally bonded layers of solid-sawn lumber, and is intended for roof, floor, or wall applications. Although it was developed in Europe in the early 90s, CLT is relatively new to North America.
CLT products must be certified for structural...
Stand structure in headwater riparian areas of western Oregon is highly variable making quantification of structural attributes within these stands difficult. A reliable sampling design is important to characterize and monitor changes in stand structure over time. This study examined sixteen alternatives for sampling live conifers and six alternatives for...
This capstone report provides an overview of the emergence of the bigleaf maple sugaring industry in Oregon. This report consists of a literature review and three case studies. The literature review compiles information relevant to bigleaf maple sugaring within the wider context of maple sugaring in North America. The three...
Between 1970 and 1974, data were collected on the distribution and biology of the spotted owl (Strix occidentalis) in Oregon. One-hundred and sixteen pairs and seven single birds were located. Spotted owls occurred throughout the mountains of western Oregon and on the east slope of the Cascade Range at least...
Many studies have shown that ground beetles feed on different agricultural pests, but little is known about their species communities from US cropping systems. We assessed the biological control potential of the most common carabid beetle species in Oregon annual ryegrass grown for seed by investigating spatial and temporal overlap...
The fitness of female Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) with respect to breeding behavior can be partitioned into at least four components: survival to reproduction, competition for breeding sites, success of egg incubation, and suitability of the local environment near breeding sites for early rearing of juveniles. Accordingly, breeding sites should...
The dynamics of stands in the mid-elevation old-growth
Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) forests of the central western
Oregon Cascade Range were investigated using stand structure
analysis. Trees with different growth rates were commonly present
in the same stand, which resulted often in a weak correlation
between tree diameter and age. Thus,...
This thesis includes four separate studies. The first two studies assessed edge effects in a
700-year-old forest. After 20 years of exposure, epiphyte assemblages on the clearcut edge
were similar to those of the forest interior, but there were some differences in vertical
distribution patterns. Several species restricted to the...
In this thesis, I investigate the organization of eelgrass (Zostera marina L.) and mesograzer communities across local and regional scales in three upwelling- influenced estuaries located along the Oregon coast, USA. Eelgrass ecosystems are an important source of primary production in estuarine systems, providing numerous ecosystem services, including nursery habitat...
Current research indicates that the expansion of
western juniper can inhibit soil water retention, storage
and prolonged releases from watersheds. This phenomenon
is of great importance in eastern Oregon, as western
juniper is encroaching into sagebrush/grass communities
with a correlated reduction in herbaceous ground cover,
resulting in reduced infiltration rates...
Despite many studies of large wood in streams, few landscape scale studies have been conducted. Large-scale studies can reveal how the history of forest harvest and road building has influenced wood patterns in streams of the Pacific Northwest. This study examined the relationships between wood in streams, timber harvest, and...
The effects of burial by tephra (volcanic aerial ejecta) on
forest understory plants were examined northeast of Mount St. Helens,
Washington, in the area where the 18 May 1980 eruption deposited
tephra but did not destroy canopy trees. At six sites along a tephra
depth gradient from 2-15 cm, understory...
As the western United States faces warmer and increasingly varied climate conditions, as well as predicted water insecurity, concerns over water quality and water availability are growing. While humans, fish, and wildlife are dependent on clean water for survival in the present, management of water resources needs to consider future...
With growing awareness of the negative impacts of the built environment, solutions for dramatic environmental, economic, and social improvements are sparking in all sectors, especially within the construction industry. The work of this thesis aims to quantify and compare social, economic, and environmental impacts of a three-story mass timber structure...
The Independent Multidisciplinary Science Team (IMST) was directed to evaluate the extent of predatory impacts of marine mammals and seabirds on salmonids and to recommend actions to mitigate impacts. IMST focused on the Oregon Department of Fisheries and Wildlife Action Plans because they provide the programmatic direction for the State...
Geomorphic response to watershed disturbances commonly results in
alterations of landforms. Subsequent geomorphic recovery is dependent on the ability
of flows to entrain, transport, and organize inorganic and organic material on hillslopes
and in channels. This research analyzed changes in sediment production, channel
structure, and channel organization following disturbances in...
Recent tsunami field surveys from the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami have recorded numerous examples of tsunami-induced soil instability: significant scour around foundations, foundation failure of piles, and other damage caused by liquefaction. From the observations of soil instability leading to the failure of critical coastal structures, it...
This research focused on features of a genetically
isolated population of cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarki)
in the Triangle Lake basin of coastal Oregon. A falls at
the outlet of Triangle Lake has blocked upstream migration
of trout and anadromous salmonids into the basin. Cutthroat
trout were found throughout the six...