Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Dataset For The Incorporation Of Climate Change Into A Multiple Stressor Risk Assessment For The Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus Tshawytscha) Population In The Yakima River, Washington Usa, Wayne Landis, Chelsea J. Mitchell, John D. Hader, Rory Nathan, Emma E. Sharpe

Environmental Sciences Faculty and Staff Publications

Data files available below

This data set is in support of Landis et al (in press 2024). A key question in understanding the implications of climate change is how to integrate ecological risk assessments that focus on contaminants with the environmental alterations from climate projections. This article summarizes the results of integrating selected direct and indirect effects of climate change into an existing Bayesian network previously used for ecological risk assessment. The existing Bayesian network Relative Risk Model (BN-RRM) integrated the effects of organophosphate pesticides concentrations, water temperature, and dissolved oxygen levels on the Chinook salmon population in the Yakima …

Vignette 14: Eelgrass Wasting Disease, Olivia Graham, Morgan Eisenlord, Drew Harvell

Institute Publications

Rising seawater temperatures can increase the risk of disease outbreaks in many taxa. Pathogens are potentially the ultimate keystone species in that their small biomass can have massive impacts that ripple through ecosystems. Disease outbreaks can be particularly damaging when they affect ecosystem engineers, such as seagrasses. Outbreaks of wasting disease in seagrasses are one of a myriad of stressors associated with declining temperate and tropical seagrass meadows around the globe. Levels of eelgrass wasting disease are high in the San Juan Islands and Puget Sound. These increasing levels of disease are a threat to sustainability of eelgrass meadows, our …

Vignette 13: The Salish Sea Model, Tarang Khangaonkar P.E.

Institute Publications

Given numerous concerns related to the health of the ecosystem and the possibility of anthropogenic impacts—from population growth to climate impacts, such as sea level rise—scientists, engineers, and planners seek an improved basic understanding of the biophysical behavior of the Salish Sea. The Salish Sea Model (SSM) development was motivated by this urgent need for a comprehensive predictive model that could diagnose water quality issues and concerns and serve as a planning tool in support of Puget Sound restoration efforts. The SSM was developed by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in collaboration with the Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology) …

Incorporating Climate Change Predictions In Ecological Risk Assessment: A Bayesian Network Relative Risk Model For Chinook Salmon In The Skagit River Watershed, Eric J. Lawrence

Institute of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry Publications

Climate change is expected to have widespread impacts on future ecosystem services in the Puget Sound and around the world. It is important that climate change be included in ecological risk assessment so that changing climate variables and potential interactive effects with chemical stressors can be taken into account. In this research, I focused on the question of how water temperature changes generated by climate change interact with organophosphate pesticide toxicity to affect Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) population size in the Skagit River, WA. To answer this question, I conducted an ecological risk assessment using the Bayesian network relative risk …

Dataset For The Environmental Risk Assessment Of Chlorpyrifos To Chinook Salmon In Four Rivers Of Washington State, United States, Wayne G. Landis, Valerie R. Chu, Scarlett Graham, Meagan J. Harris, April J. Markiewicz, Chelsea J. Mitchell, Katherine E. Stackelberg, John Stark

Environmental Sciences Faculty and Staff Publications

Data files available below.

This data set is in support of Landis et al (in press) The integration of chlorpyrifos acetylcholinesterase inhibition, water temperature and dissolved oxygen concentration into a regional scale multiple stressor risk assessment estimating risk to Chinook salmon in four rivers in Washington State, USA. DOI: 10.1002/ieam.4199. In this research We estimated the risk to populations of Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) due to chlorpyrifos (CH), water temperature (WT) and dissolved oxygen concentrations (DO) in four watersheds in Washington State, USA. The watersheds included the Nooksack and Skagit Rivers in the Northern Puget Sound, the Cedar …

Integration Of Chlorpyrifos Acetylcholinesterase Inhibition, Water Temperature, And Dissolved Oxygen Concentration Into A Regional Scale Multiple Stressor Risk Assessment Estimating Risk To Chinook Salmon, Wayne G. Landis, Valerie R. Chu, Scarlett E. Graham, Meagan J. Harris, April J. Markiewicz, Chelsea J. Mitchell, Katherine E. Von Stackelberg, John D. Stark

IETC Publications

We estimated the risk to populations of Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) due to chlorpyrifos (CH), water temperature (WT), and dissolved oxygen concentration (DO) in 4 watersheds in Washington State, USA. The watersheds included the Nooksack and Skagit Rivers in the Northern Puget Sound, the Cedar River in the Seattle–Tacoma corridor, and the Yakima River, a tributary of the Columbia River. The Bayesian network relative risk model (BN‐RRM) was used to conduct this ecological risk assessment and was modified to contain an acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibition pathway parameterized using data from CH toxicity data sets. The completed BN‐RRM estimated risk at a …

Spatiotemporal Variability In The Climate Growth Response Of High Elevation Bristlecone Pine In The White Mountains Of California, Andrew Godard Bunn, Matthew W. Salzer, Kevin J. Anchukaitis, Jamis M. Bruening, Malcolm K. Hughes

Environmental Sciences Faculty and Staff Publications

Tree-ring chronologies from bristlecone pine (Pinus longaeva) are a unique proxy used to understand climate variability over the middle to late Holocene. The annual rings from trees growing toward the species’ lower elevational range are sensitive to precipitation variability. Interpretation of the ring-width signal at the upper forest border has been more difficult. We evaluate differences in climate induced by topography (topoclimate) to better understand the dual signals of temperature and moisture. We unmix signals from trees growing at and near the upper forest border based on the seasonal mean temperature (SMT) experienced by each tree. We find that trees …

Environmental Inequality Dataset, Aran Clauson, Debra J. Salazar, Troy D. Abel

College of the Environment on the Peninsulas Publications

The Disaggreated RSEI model data (also known as RSEI-GM, or Geographic Microdata) version 2.3.4 was downloaded from the Amazon Web Service created by EPA. The RSEI-GM provides detailed air model results from EPA’s Risk-Screening Environmental Indicators (RSEI) model. The results include chemical concentration, toxicity-weighted concentration and score, calculated for each 810 meter square grid cell in a 49-km circle around the emitting facility, for every year from 1988 through 2014. The data can be used to examine trends in air pollution from industrial facilities over time and across geographies. In order to allow for evaluation of toxic-weighted concentration over time, …

Environmental Impact Assessment: Boulevard Park Pedestrian Overpass Removal, Alexandra Frederick, Sean Hecker, Taylor Pearson, Erin Rush, Louisa Talmage

College of the Environment Graduate and Undergraduate Publications

The proposed action for the Boulevard Park Pedestrian Overpass is to remove the wooden structure and reroute the utilities underground. The utilities would be routed underneath the train tracks at the park entrance, connecting to Woods Coffee and up Bayview Drive. Irrigation and sewer will still be routed into the park but electricity, telecommunications and water will be routed out of the park. The utility conduits will be in separate trenches under the tracks. The park restrooms at the north end of the park will be abandoned to reduce utilities demands (especially water, electricity and sewer). Restrooms are still available …

Skagit County Centennial Trail Extension Environmental Impact Statement, Avery Barbera, Kelley Crider, Vance Frenzel, Sam Kaiser, Jennifer Shore

College of the Environment Graduate and Undergraduate Publications

Skagit County Parks and Recreation Department has acquired 255 acres of land with the help of Skagit Land Trust and private donors for the purpose of extending the Centennial Trail system, which is currently located throughout Snohomish County. The purpose of the acquisition of these land parcels is to 1) install a new water transmission pipeline from Judy Reservoir (a project done by Skagit Public Utility District) and 2) install a 2.5 mile walking trail on top of the pipeline extending from Clear Lake to Big Rock. This document serves as an analysis of the environmental impacts of the trail …

Environmental Impact Assessment: Cordata Community Park Bellingham, Wa, Christian Berres, Andy Basabe, Katherine Weir, Andrew Graminski

College of the Environment Graduate and Undergraduate Publications

The City of Bellingham (COB) is in phase I of the Cordata Community Park project. The community park will the newest park located within city limits. Phase I development will include amenities such as age separated playgrounds, picnic areas including a large picnic shelter, parkour, bike pump track, restrooms, parking and trails. Wetland mitigation efforts will be implemented for this project. Landscape planting, extension of utilities, security lighting, and irrigation will be included.

Environmental Impact Assessment Whatcom Waterway Aeration Stabilization Basin, Candice Trusty, Katie Kissinger, Micah Litowitz, Natasha Motley, Shelby Owens

College of the Environment Graduate and Undergraduate Publications

The Port of Bellingham (POB) has a court order with the Washington State Department of Ecology to address several cleanup sites within the Bellingham Waterfront District. The Aeration Stabilization Basin (ASB) is included in the Whatcom Waterway cleanup site due to contaminated sediments within the basin. The POB has plans to remediate the sediments and transform the entire ASB into a marina, but since that original proposal, demand for more boat slips has decreased. The POB is exploring alternative uses for the ASB site and what the environmental impacts of those uses would be.

Environmental Impact Statement For West Horton Road Extension Phase 1, Sarah Anderson, Lucas Dubois, Madeleine Jones, David Simpson, Corey Stever

College of the Environment Graduate and Undergraduate Publications

West Horton Road currently dead-ends into a roundabout. The proposed action is to build an extension of road to connect the west terminus of West Horton Road to Aldrich Road to its west. The road extension would feature one traffic lane in each direction, one bike lane in each direction, and sidewalks on both sides.

Integrating Scientific And Local Knowledge To Inform Risk-Based Management Approaches For Climate Adaptation, Thomas Webler, Nathan P. Kettle, Kirstin Dow, Seth Tuler, Jessica Whitehead, Karly M. Miller

Environmental Studies Faculty and Staff Publications

Risk-based management approaches to climate adaptation depend on the assessment of potential threats, and their causes, vulnerabilities, and impacts. The refinement of these approaches relies heavily on detailed local knowledge of places and priorities, such as infrastructure, governance structures, and socio-economic conditions, as well as scientific understanding of climate projections and trends. Developing processes that integrate local and scientific knowledge will enhance the value of risk-based management approaches, facilitate group learning and planning processes, and support the capacity of communities to prepare for change. This study uses the Vulnerability, Consequences, and Adaptation Planning Scenarios (VCAPS) process, a form of analytic-deliberative …

Northern High-Latitude Ecosystems Respond To Climate Change, Andrew Godard Bunn, Scott J. Goetz, John S. Kimball, Ke Zhang

Environmental Sciences Faculty and Staff Publications

The northern high latitudes are an area of particular importance to global climate change. As a system dependent on freezing conditions, the top of the planet contains vast amounts of carbon in biomass, soils, and permafrost that have the potential to interact with the atmosphere through the biosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere, and cryosphere. If released en masse, this carbon would greatly exacerbate the levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

Over the past 2 years, a growing body of research has provided evidence of substantial but idiosyncratic environmental changes, with some surprising aspects, across the region. This article reviews some recent …

Satellite-Observed Photosynthetic Trends Across Boreal North America Associated With Climate And Fire Disturbance, Scott J. Goetz, Andrew Godard Bunn, Gregory J. Fiske, Richard A. Houghton

Environmental Sciences Faculty and Staff Publications

We analyzed trends in a time series of photosynthetic activity across boreal North America over 22 years (1981 through 2003). Nearly 15% of the region displayed significant trends, of which just over half involved temperature-related increases in growing season length and photosynthetic intensity, mostly in tundra. In contrast, forest areas unaffected by fire during the study period declined in photosynthetic activity and showed no systematic change in growing season length. Stochastic changes across the time series were predominantly associated with a frequent and increasing fire disturbance regime. These trends have implications for the direction of feedbacks to the climate system …

Spatial Variation In Distribution And Growth Patterns Of Old Growth Strip-Bark Pines, Andrew Godard Bunn, Rick L. Lawrence, Gabriel J. Bellante, Lindsey A. Waggoner, Lisa Graumlich

Environmental Sciences Faculty and Staff Publications

Postindustrial rises in CO₂ have the potential to confound the interpretation of climatically sensitive tree-ring chronologies. Increased growth rates observed during the 20th century in strip-bark trees have been attributed to CO₂ fertilization. Absent in the debate of CO₂ effects on tree growth are spatially explicit analyses that examine the proximate mechanisms that lead to changes in rates of tree growth. Twenty-seven pairs of strip-bark and companion entire-bark trees were analyzed in a spatially explicit framework for abiotic environmental correlates. The strip-bark tree locations were not random but correlated to an abiotic proxy for soil moisture. The …