The California Current Ecosystem (CCE) is a dynamic marine ecosystem from which many socioeconomically important fisheries species are harvested. In this thesis, a genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) approach was used to examine genomic variation in an early life stage of the Dungeness crab (Cancer magister), which constitutes the most valuable single-species commercial...
Most climate change predictions focus on the response of individual species to changing local conditions and ignore species interactions, largely due to the lack of a sound theoretical foundation for how interactions are expected to change with climate and how to incorporate them into climate change models. Much of the...
Rising global temperatures are having lasting effects on mountain snow environments in the form of diminishing snowpacks, shorter accumulation seasons, and shifts in meltwater timing. Seasonal snowpack is a vital source of water for natural and human systems. In the forested mountain landscapes of the Pacific Northwest seasonal snowmelt feeds...
Chinook salmon returns to the Columbia River basin have declined due to impacts of a growing human population, despite significant mitigation expenditures. Consequently, fisheries managers have become focused on recovery and long-term viability of at-risk populations. A viable population depends, in part, on the connectivity and quality of diverse habitat...
The typical coho salmon life history has been characterized by juvenile fish that spend their entire first year in freshwater habitats before migrating into estuaries as smolts. However, reports of early migrating coho fry (age 0), including migration downstream to estuarine habitats, date back to the 1960s. Until a few...
In Oregon, outdoor recreation activities have continued to grow in popularity, as has the overall Latin@ population of the state. With the continual population increase of this ethnic group, researchers have focused on understanding their outdoor recreation habits through an environmental justice lens. This includes accessibility, affordability, and other barriers...
The lingcod (Ophiodon elongatus) is an important groundfish species in both recreational and commercial fisheries of the Northeastern Pacific. It is a large, fast-growing, generalist predator of invertebrates and fishes. In response to concerns that lingcod may limit populations of rockfishes (Sebastes spp.), I compared the diets of 375 adult...
In grasslands, grazing by large ungulates can influence vegetation structure, composition, primary productivity, and ultimately, ecosystem functioning. While grazing represents a complex disturbance, grazing intensity largely determines the effects of
grazing on vegetation. Structural and compositional changes in the plant community caused by grazing could have bottom-up effects on species...
Changes in environmental conditions in marine ecosystems could directly or indirectly influence distribution, abundance, settlement, and size at settlement of flatfish. Understanding species-specific and age-specific responses to environmental variability is important for managing commercially important flatfish stocks. Slope-spawning flatfish whose offspring rely on extensive drift from the slope (spawning) to...