Life Sciences Commons^™

Northwest Forest Plan The First 20 Years (1994-2013): Watershed Condition Status And Trend, Stephanie A. Miller, Sean N. Gordon, Peter Eldred, Ronald M. Beloin, Steve Wilcox, Mark Raggon, Heidi Andersen, Ariel Muldoon

Institute for Sustainable Solutions Publications and Presentations

We used two data sets to evaluate stream and upslope/riparian condition for sixth-field watersheds in each aquatic province within the Northwest Forest Plan (NWFP) area. The stream evaluation was based on stream sampling data collected from 2002 to the 2013 (214 watersheds) as part of an eight year repeating (rotating) sample design. We are currently halfway through our second rotation of stream sampling, and have repeated 110 watersheds since the second rotation began in 2009. The analysis presented in this report uses roughly half the number of watersheds as was originally intended by the sample design since re-visitation will not …

Prozac In The Water: Chronic Fluoxetine Exposure And Predation Risk Interact To Shape Behaviors In An Estuarine Crab, Joseph R. Peters, Elise F. Granek, Catherine E. De Rivera, Matthew Rollins

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Predators exert considerable top-down pressure on ecosystems by directly consuming prey or indirectly influencing their foraging behaviors and habitat use. Prey is, therefore, forced to balance predation risk with resource reward. A growing list of anthropogenic stressors such as rising temperatures and ocean acidification has been shown to influence prey risk behaviors and subsequently alter important ecosystem processes. Yet, limited attention has been paid to the effects of chronic pharmaceutical exposure on risk behavior or as an ecological stressor, despite widespread detection and persistence of these contaminants in aquatic environments. In the laboratory, we simulated estuarine conditions of the shore …

Assessing A Fluorescence Spectroscopy Method For In-Situ Microbial Drinking Water Quality, Taylor Jeffery Sharpe

Dissertations and Theses

Waterborne disease is a significant contributor to the global burden of disease, in particular among high-risk populations in developing nations. State-of-the-art methods for the enumeration of microbial pathogens in drinking water sources have important limitations, including high initial cost, 24-48 hour delays in results, high staffing and facility requirements, and training requirements which all become especially problematic in the developing nation context.

A number of alternative approaches to microbial water quality testing have been proposed, with the goal of decreasing the required testing time, decreasing overall costs, leveraging appropriate technology approaches, or improving sensitivity or specificity of the water quality …

Anthropogenic Effects On The Fouling Community: Impacts Of Biological Invasions And Anthropogenic Structures On Community Structure, Whitney Elizabeth Mcclees

Dissertations and Theses

Coastal anthropogenic infrastructure has significantly modified nearshore environments. Because these structures often have a strong association with shipping as would be found in ports and harbors, they have been identified as invasion hotspots. Due to propagule pressure from shipping and recreational boating and suitable uncolonized substrate that provides a refuge from native predators, a greater number of non-native species have been found on these structures compared to nearby natural substrate. The mechanisms that limit the spread of non-native species from anthropogenic structures to natural substrate have been explored for several taxa at a species-specific level, but less so from an …

Assessing The Potential Of Land Use Modification To Mitigate Ambient No2 And Its Consequences For Respiratory Health, Meenakshi Rao, Linda A. George, Vivek Shandas, Todd N. Rosenstiel

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

Understanding how local land use and land cover (LULC) shapes intra-urban concentrations of atmospheric pollutants—and thus human health—is a key component in designing healthier cities. Here, NO₂ is modeled based on spatially dense summer and winter NO₂ observations in Portland-Hillsboro-Vancouver (USA), and the spatial variation of NO₂ with LULC investigated using random forest, an ensemble data learning technique. The NO₂ random forest model, together with BenMAP, is further used to develop a better understanding of the relationship among LULC, ambient NO₂ and respiratory health. The impact of land use modifications on ambient NO₂, …

Effectiveness Of Indoor Plants For Passive Removal Of Indoor Ozone, Omed A. Abbass, David J. Sailor, Elliott T. Gall

Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Indoor vegetation is often proposed as a passive approach for improving indoor air quality. While studies of outdoor environments indicate that vegetation can be an important sink of outdoor ozone, there is scant data in the literature concerning the dynamics of ozone uptake by indoor plants. This study determined ozone deposition velocities (v_d) for five common indoor plants (Peace Lily, Ficus, Calathia, Dieffenbachia, Golden Pothos). The transient v_d was calculated, using measured leaf areas for each plant, for exposures mimicking three diurnal cycles where ozone concentrations in chamber tests were elevated for 8 h followed by …

Ecosystem Recovery In Estuarine Wetlands Of The Columbia River Estuary, Sarah Ann Kidd

Dissertations and Theses

In the restoration of tidal wetland ecosystems, potential drivers of plant community development range from biotic controls (e.g. plant competition, seed dispersal) to abiotic controls (e.g. tidal flooding, salinity levels). How these controls influence the success of tidal wetland restoration are only partly understood, but have important implications for wetland habitat recovery. Specifically, the extent to which the existing native and non-native seed banks in tidally reconnected wetlands interact with these controls is not clear, yet the potential success of passive restoration methods depends upon this understanding.

For a 54-year chronosequence of eleven tidal wetland restoration sites in the Lower …

Columbia River Basin Salmon And Steelhead Long-Term Recovery Situation Assessment, Oregon Solutions, William D. Ruckelshaus Center

National Policy Consensus Center Publications and Reports

In the fall of 2012, after consulting with a wide range of salmon recovery partners, NOAA Fisheries asked Oregon Consensus and the William D. Ruckelshaus Center (university-based, neutral, third-party institutions devoted to promoting collaborative governance and consensusbased public policy) to conduct an independent, impartial situation assessment to explore regional views about how best to approach comprehensive, long-term salmon and steelhead recovery in the Basin. The centers assembled an Assessment Team comprised of practitioners and academics from Washington, Oregon and Idaho.

The Assessment Team conducted 206 semi-structured interviews with individuals selected for their knowledge of, engagement in, and/or concern for salmon …

Using Critical Physical Geography To Map The Unintended Consequences Of Conservation Management Programs, Melanie Malone

Dissertations and Theses

A variety of conservation trends have gained and lost favor throughout the years in agriculture, with U.S. Farm Bills often influencing what conservation practices are implemented by farming communities throughout the U.S. This dissertation focuses on the unintended consequences of conservation management practices in the Fifteenmile Watershed of Wasco County, Oregon. Specifically, I seek to address how farmer enrollment in various conservation techniques, loosely defined as no-till agriculture, has affected soil and water quality through the increased use of herbicide, and subsequently rendered ecological and human health vulnerable. Using a critical physical geography framework, I address both the biophysical factors …

Non-Native Mangroves Of Moloka'i, Hawai'i: A Socio-Ecological Analysis, Casey Lewis

Student Research Symposium

Invasive species are recognized as a leading threat to ecosystems and their management is expensive, time consuming, and labor intensive. Therefore, it is important to review both benefits and detriments of the species to inform appropriate management decisions. Red mangrove was introduced to Moloka'i, Hawaii in 1902 to mitigate the effects of soil erosion and has since spread along the coast and to adjacent islands creating novel habitat. This study assessed both biological services and social attitudes towards Moloka'i's non-native mangroves to provide a comprehensive evaluation of the species. Zooplankton community structure was examined in mangrove and non-mangrove sites and …

Divergent Trends In Ecosystem Services Under Different Climate-Management Futures In A Fire-Prone Forest Landscape, Joshua S. Halofsky, Jessica E. Halofsky, Miles A. Hemstrom, Anita T. Morzillo, Xiaoping Zhou, Daniel C. Donato

Institute for Natural Resources Publications

While ecosystem services and climate change are often examined independently, quantitative assessments integrating these fields are needed to inform future land management decisions. Using climate-informed state-and-transition simulations, we examined projected trends and trade-offs for a suite of ecosystem services under four climate change scenarios and two management scenarios (active management emphasizing fuel treatments and no management other than fire suppression) in a fire-prone landscape of dry and moist mixed-conifer forests in central Oregon, USA. Focal ecosystem services included fire potential (regulating service), timber volume (provisioning service), and potential wildlife habitat (supporting service). Projections without climate change suggested active management in …

Factors Affecting Snowy Plover Chick Survival In A Managed Population, Stephen J. Dinsmore, Eleanor P. Gaines, Scott F. Pearson, David J. Lauten, Kathleen J. Castelein

Institute for Natural Resources Publications

Understanding survival of precocial chicks in the period immediately following hatching has important conservation implications because population growth is often sensitive to post-hatching survival. We studied federally threatened Western Snowy Plover (Charadrius nivosus nivosus) broods at the northern limit of their range in coastal Oregon (n ¼ 1,157) and Washington (n ¼ 84) from 1991 to 2011 in an attempt to understand seasonal, annual, and spatial patterns of chick survival. In Oregon, plover chick survival increased with age, varied between sites, and was greater at sites with predator management. The mean probability of surviving from hatch to fledging at 28 …