Scientists say that climate change is very likely to cause more frequent and more severe weather events. In order to understand how communities respond to changing weather patterns, an exploration of the connection between extreme weather events and climate change awareness, collective action, and policy is warranted. This case study...
Understanding ecological interaction strengths is one of the main objectives of ecology. Recently, two methods for estimating interaction strengths of predator-prey interactions in nature have been proposed: a field observation approach proposed by Novak and Wootton (2008) and stable isotope analysis. The field observation method estimates feeding rates based on...
The spatial distribution and abundance patterns of benthic infauna result from interactions with a host of environmental variables including sediment characteristics (percent silt-clay, grain size, total organic carbon), depth, temperature, and dissolved oxygen. This thesis focuses on the association of bivalve assemblages and species with potentially influential environmental variables along...
One of the greatest threats to native bull trout Salvelinus confluentus populations is the presence of non-native brook trout S. fontinalis. This study, conducted in two second-order Eastern Oregon streams, investigates the effect of brook trout on the feeding behavior arid diet of bull trout. Feeding behavior, microhabitat use, and...
A long-standing debate concerns how functional responses are best described. Theory suggests that ratio dependence is consistent with many food web patterns left unexplained by the simplest prey-dependent models. However, for logistical reasons, ratio dependence and predator dependence more generally have seen infrequent empirical evaluation and then only so in...
This research examines the response from the National Rifle Association (NRA) to the tragic shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14, 2012. Specifically, the research seeks to conclude whether the NRA engaged in propaganda, and if so, what the ethical implications of such use are. Using literature from...
Visualizing large movement datasets with flow maps is difficult because overlapping flows create significant graphical conflicts that make accurate interpretation difficult or impossible. Interactive flow mapping applications allow users to explore large movement datasets by automatically generating flow maps from subsets of the data in response to queries by the...
Radiotelemetry was used to study the seasonal movements and habitat use of adult westslope cutthroat trout Oncorhynchus clarki lewisi in Roberts
Creek and Rail Creek, headwater tributaries of the John Day River, Oregon,
from September 2000 to December 2001. The objectives were to (1)
describe adult cutthroat trout life history...
In the summers of 1998 and 1999, aquatic invertebrate and plant communities were sampled from nineteen springs in the Warner Basin of southeastern Oregon. Across the landscape, these springs exhibited a broad range in water temperature (5-24°C), pH, conductivity, elevation, and gradient. Within a particular spring, water temperature and chemistry...