Science, Citizenship, and Humanities in the Ancient Forest of H. J. Andrews

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frederick J. Swanson
Keyword(s):  
Pacific Northwest ◽  
Public Perception ◽  
Coniferous Forest ◽  
Landscape Management ◽  
Conservation Strategies ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Ancient Forest ◽  
Management Plans ◽  
Long Term Ecological Research ◽  
Us Forest Service

The H. J. Andrews Experimental Forest Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) program has nurtured a large, highly interdisciplinary community that has been a wonderful seedbed for emergence of ideas from our group, and for my own growth as a scientist, educator, collaborator, and communicator. Collaborations for me as an individual and within the Andrews forest group have grown over the decades: research–land management since the 1950s, ecology–earth sciences since the early 1970s, biophysical sciences–social sciences since the early 1990s, and humanities–arts–sciences over the past dozen years. As a US Forest Service scientist in seamless collaboration with academic and land manager colleagues, the stable yet dynamic community that the LTER program fosters has served as a great platform for connecting science lessons with society through many means, ranging from development of regional conservation strategies and landscape management plans to storytelling. This is a practice of citizenship by individual scientists and by a science-based team. The sustained learning that the LTER program has underwritten gives scientists a foundation for communicating findings from science and discussing their implications with the public, and the forest itself is a great stage for these conversations. I have had a career of immersion in the International Biological Program (IBP) and in the LTER program since its inception. After completing graduate studies in geology in 1972, I had the good fortune to join the early stages of IBP in the Coniferous Forest Biome Project at the H. J. Andrews Experimental Forest (AND) in the Cascade Range of Oregon. Our team of forest and stream ecologists, and a few earth scientists, had the decade of the 1970s to coalesce, mature, and craft stories of the ecosystems of the Pacific Northwest. The Andrews forest was a wonderful place to do that. It has a complex, ancient forest with nearly 100-m tall trees and fast, cold, clear, mountain streams whose beauty and chill takes your breath away. The year 1980 was pivotal for the group in three ways. First, Jerry Franklin led a synthesis of our team’s knowledge of old-growth forests, which set the stage for major transformation in public perception and policy toward federal forests a decade later and, incidentally, changed our lives.

The Demise of Community and Ecology in the Pacific Northwest: Historical Roots of the Ancient Forest Conflict

1996 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 277-300 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clayton W. Dumont
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Pacific Northwest ◽  
Sense Of Community ◽  
Local Economy ◽  
The Political ◽  
Old Growth ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Ancient Forest ◽  
The Future ◽  
Political Economic

The Pacific Northwest has become the site of a bitterly fought struggle over the future of the remaining 10% of the region's ancient, or “old growth,” forests. The remaining stands of these forests are important components of the local economy and of the region's ecology. The article begins with a brief description of the economic and ecological crises which are now coming to fruition as a result of the loss of 90% of these forests. It then provides a description of the cultural heritage and sense of community which is being lost in the small, timber-dependent communities of the region—a social crisis resulting from the economic and ecological crises. In conclusion, the article argues that all of these crises should be understood as resulting from the political, economic, and historical circumstances which facilitated the emergence of the largest and wealthiest timber ownership.

Decadal Climate Variation and Coho Salmon Catch

2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Greenland
Keyword(s):  
Pacific Northwest ◽  
Coho Salmon ◽  
Juvenile Fish ◽  
Early Summer ◽  
Air Temperatures ◽  
Ecological Changes ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Freshwater Stream ◽  
Long Term Ecological Research ◽  
Decadal Climate

When temporally smoothed data are used for the period 1925 to 1985 there is a close inverse statistical relationship acting at an interdecadal timescale between the Pacific Northwest (PNW) air temperatures and Coho salmon catch off the coast of Washington and Oregon. This relationship is now well known, although not fully explained, but at the time of its discovery in 1994 it was part of advances being made by several research groups on interdecadal-scale climate/ecological changes in the PNW (Greenland 1995). The discovery and later, related findings may be usefully examined within the context of the framework questions of this book (see chapter 1) because it provides a very interesting example of climate variability and ecosystem response found, in part, by Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) investigators. The logical progression for this chapter is first to review a little of the relationship between Coho salmon and climate and then to explain how a study at one LTER site led to a finding with regional implications. An update of the findings at interdecadal-scale climate/ecological changes in the PNW is then appropriate, followed by a discussion of the topic with the framework questions of this book. The PNW is defined, for the purposes of this chapter, as the area of Washington and Oregon west of the crest of the Cascade Range. The term decadal is used loosely in this chapter to refer to changes that focus on time periods of about 10 to 30 years in length. Salmon live part of their lives in terrestrial, freshwater environments and part in marine, saltwater environments. The salmon life history starts with fertilized eggs remaining in gravel in freshwater stream beds and hatching after 1–3 months. One to five months later, fry emerge in the spring or summer. Juvenile fish are in freshwater from a few days to 4 years, depending on species and locality. After the juveniles change to smolts, they can migrate to the ocean, usually in spring or early summer, often taking advantage of streamflows driven by snowmelt. The fish spend 1–4 years in the ocean and then return to their freshwater home stream to spawn and die. More specifically, the typical life cycle for Oregon Coho spans 3 years (18 months in freshwater and 18 months in the ocean).

scholarly journals Trends and controls on water-use efficiency of an old-growth coniferous forest in the Pacific Northwest

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (7) ◽  
pp. 074029 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yueyang Jiang ◽  
Christopher J Still ◽  
Bharat Rastogi ◽  
Gerald F M Page ◽  
Sonia Wharton ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Use Efficiency ◽  
Pacific Northwest ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Coniferous Forest ◽  
Old Growth ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Use Efficiency

scholarly journals Rebuttal

1994 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 86
Author(s):  
David B. Lindenmayer
Keyword(s):  
Pacific Northwest ◽  
Recent Article ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Conservation Strategies ◽  
Spotted Owl ◽  
Central Victoria ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Northern Spotted Owl ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Leadbeater's Possum

Mr. Macfarlane and Mr. Loyn have failed to recognize the main thrust of the recent article comparing the development of management strategies for the conservation of the Northern Spotted Owl in the Pacific Northwest of the USA and Leadbeater's Possum in Central Victoria (Lindenmayer and Norton 1993). The key issue was not to compare the biology of the respective taxa; that would be nonsensical. Rather, it was to highlight that, unlike the management of Leadbeater's Possum (Macfarlane and Seebeck 1991), conservation strategies for the Northern Spotted Owl have now been developed that are ecologically defensible and scientifically valid (Murphy and Noon 1992).

A Study of the Rosaria Group of the Genus Diarsia (Lepidoptera: Phalaenidae) with Special Reference to the Structure of the Male Genitalia

1950 ◽  
Vol 82 (2) ◽  
pp. 25-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. F. Hardwick
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
British Columbia ◽  
Pacific Northwest ◽  
Coniferous Forest ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Other ◽  
Forest Zone ◽  
California Coast ◽  
Species Ranges ◽  
The Pacific

A recent study of that complex of the genus Diarsia which at present is found in collections under the name rosaria Grt. has convinced me that at least two species, easily separable on the basis of maculation and colouring, have gone under this name. One of these, the true rosaria, is confined to the more northerly portions of the California coast. The other species ranges from Alaska south through British Columbia into the Pacific Northwest of the United States, and from the coast of British Columbia east through the northern coniferous forest zone to the coast of Labrador. The latter species is divisible on the basis of well defined genitalic differences into a subspecies inhabiting the Cordilleran region and a subspecies confined to the northern coniferous forest.

Climate Variability and Ecosystem Response at the H. J. Andrews Long-Term Ecological Research Site

2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Greenland ◽  
Frederick Bierlmaier
Keyword(s):  
Climate Variability ◽  
Pacific Northwest ◽  
Ecological Research ◽  
Ecosystem Response ◽  
Red Cedar ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Long Term Ecological Research ◽  
General Climate ◽  
Guiding Questions

The H. J. Andrews (AND) Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) site represents the temperate coniferous forest of the Pacific Northwest (PNW) of the United States. The general climate of the area is highly dynamic, displaying variability at a variety of timescales ranging from daily to millennial. AND, and its surrounding region, is therefore an ideal site for examining some of the guiding questions of climate variability and ecosystem response addressed by this volume (see chapter 1). A legacy of more than 50 years of research at the site and its surrounding area ensures that several of the questions can be investigated in some depth. Here we organize our discussion within a timescale framework that is consistent with the structure of this volume. Thus, following a brief description of the general climate of the site, we discuss climate variability and ecosystem response at the daily, multidecadal, and century to millennial scale. This discussion for the PNW is supplemented in chapters 6 and 13 by a consideration of the quasi-quintennial scale and an additional ecosystem response at the decadal scale. Having described some of the climate variability and ecosystem response at the selected timescales, we will consider what this information can tell us regarding some of the guiding questions of this book. The questions that we specifically address include the following: What preexisting conditions affect the impact of the climatic event or episode? Is the climatic effect on the ecosystems direct or cascading? Does the system return to its original state? We also consider potential future climate change and its possible ecosystem effects. Located at latitude 44.2º N and longitude 122.2º W, the Andrews Forest is situated in the western Cascade Range of Oregon in the 6400-ha (15,800-acre) drainage basin of Lookout Creek, a tributary of the Blue River and the McKenzie River (figure 19.1). Elevation ranges from 410 m (1350 feet) to 1630 m (5340 feet). Broadly representative of the rugged mountainous landscape of the Pacific Northwest (PNW), the Andrews Forest contains excellent examples of the region’s conifer forests and associated wildlife and stream ecosystems. Lower elevation forests are dominated by Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla), and western red cedar (Thuja plicata).

scholarly journals Effects of ownership patterns on cross-boundary wildfires

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana M. G. Barros ◽  
Michelle A. Day ◽  
Thomas A. Spies ◽  
Alan A. Ager
Keyword(s):  
Pacific Northwest ◽  
Forest Fires ◽  
Fire Management ◽  
Forest Service ◽  
Risk Governance ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Governance Strategies ◽  
Us Forest Service ◽  
Ownership Patterns

AbstractUnderstanding ownership effects on large wildfires is a precursor to the development of risk governance strategies that better protect people and property and restore fire-adapted ecosystems. We analyzed wildfire events in the Pacific Northwest from 1984 to 2018 to explore how area burned responded to ownership, asking whether particular ownerships burned disproportionately more or less, and whether these patterns varied by forest and grass/shrub vegetation types. While many individual fires showed indifference to property lines, taken as a whole, we found patterns of disproportionate burning for both forest and grass/shrub fires. We found that forest fires avoided ownerships with a concentration of highly valued resources—burning less than expected in managed US Forest Service forested lands, private non-industrial, private industrial, and state lands—suggesting the enforcement of strong fire protection policies. US Forest Service wilderness was the only ownership classification that burned more than expected which may result from the management of natural ignitions for resource objectives, its remoteness or both. Results from this study are relevant to inform perspectives on land management among public and private entities, which may share boundaries but not fire management goals, and support effective cross-boundary collaboration and shared stewardship across all-lands.

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