Pacific Northwest Research Station

Research Programs and Teams

2008 Science Accomplishments

Alaska Communities and Forest Environments (Kruger)

• Dispersed housing development associated with amenity migration affects ecological processes, alters social norms

  Scientists found that dispersed housing development leads to a physical transformation of the landscape which, in turn, affects a variety of ecological and social processes.

Alaska Research and Analysis (Barrett)

• Scientists find low regeneration levels for California's blue oak and valley oak

  California's oak woodlands may not be sustainable. Scientists examined the latest 5 years of statewide data and found evidence that regeneration and recruitment among blue oak and valley oak may be insufficient for a stable population.

• Airborne laser scanner used to characterize forests on Kenai Peninsula

  Scientists found that using an airborne laser scanner may be an efficient and cost-effective way to inventory extensive and remote areas of Alaska forest, where it is often prohibitively expensive to establish plots.

• Individual tree species can be identified using LIDAR technology

  Scientists tested the ability of airborne laser scanners to produce data allowing them to identify the species of individual trees, an advancement that has the potential to significantly increase the efficiency of forest inventory, especially in remote regions such as interior Alaska.

• Forest biomass mapped for conterminous United States, Alaska, and Puerto Rico

  Scientists mapped the distribution of biomass across the conterminous United States, Alaska, and Puerto Rico.

Alaska Wood Utilization Center (Brackley)

• Young-growth timber can be used for high-value products

  Scientists conducted several studies to evaluate the quality of young-growth timber on the Tongass National Forest and found it can be used for high-value timber products.

Aquatic and Land Interactions-Corvallis (Reeves)

• Pivotal research contributes to amphibian conservation worldwide

  A scientist determined the geographic and taxonomic scope of chytridiomycosis, an amphibian disease implicated in amphibian species decline and species extinctions around the world.

• Landslide model useful in managing fish habitat

  The role of landslides in creating and maintaining fish habitat is a much-debated topic, but recent research suggests that they may be important sources of wood and spawning gravels, which are building blocks for fish habitat. Scientists developed a model that identifies landslide initiation sites and assesses the likelihood that a landslide from that site will reach a fishbearing stream.

• When evaluating salmon habitat, life stage of salmon matters

  Researchers analyzed the relationships between salmon life-history stages and landscape characteristics at multiple spatial scales to assess salmon distribution and abundance.

• Juvenile coho salmon move through culverts at lower flows than expected

  Streams that are intermittent during the summer but flow during the winter can be critical rearing areas for juvenile coho salmon in the Oregon Coast Range. Scientists found that fish begin moving into these streams with the first high flows of the fall season and over a much shorter period than previously thought.

Aquatic and Land Interactions-Olympia (Bisson)

• Riparian forests regulate stream flow through evapotranspiration

  ALI scientists found that riparian forests are the primary location of lost streamflow from evapotranspiration in late summer in small watersheds. Their research highlights naturally occurring signals that could be used to improve understanding of watershed processes and to help inform management designed to protect or improve water quality.

• Trout in Spirit Lake have unusual adaptations

  Spirit Lake's rainbow trout population has expanded rapidly since Mount St. Helens' catastrophic 1980 eruption, and the fish are exhibiting exceptional growth rates and unusual life histories. The unusual adaptations of Spirit Lake trout to the volcanic environment have piqued international scientific interest.

Aquatic and Land Interactions-Wenatchee (Woodsmith)

• Less water volume and earlier melts projected for snowpack

  Much of the interior Columbia River basin depends on snowpack for its water supply. ALI scientists modeled snow accumulation and melt to forecast the effects of increasing temperatures on the availability of water. Now, watershed planners are using these projections about water supply to plan ahead for anticipated shortages.

Aquatic and Land Interactions-Juneau (Edwards)

• Scientists quantify carbon fluxes in southeast Alaska

  As the climate warms, the rate at which carbon is released from the soils of coastal temperate rain forests could increase. ALI scientists continue to measure rates and controls of major fluxes to better understand the carbon cycle and the interplay between terrestrial and aquatic systems.

• Glacier-fed watersheds differ from those without glaciers and have climate change implications

  Scientists found that as warming continues, stream habitats and the annual pattern of carbon and nutrient inputs to the marine system in southeast Alaska will be dramatically affected as glacial inputs are lost and the timing of runoff changes. This work is leading to improved hydrologic models that will help managers respond to various climate scenarios.

Atmosphere and Fire Interactions Research and Engineering (Potter)

• Smoke forecasts used to alert public

  The station and its partners provided smoke predictions for the October 2007 wildland fires in southern California. The forecasts were used by fire management officers, incident commanders, and public health officials to much success.

• Tool: Air Quality Impacts Planning Tool (AQUIPT)
• Tool: BlueSky framework, version 3

Behavioral Chemistry and Ecology of Insects and Disease (Kelsey)

• Compounds in heartwood may slow spread of sudden oak death

  Prompted by the need for an agent that limits the spread of the pathogen that causes sudden oak death, scientists tested antimicrobial activity in extracts from the wood of conifers. Their research, which included a field trial, demonstrated that two species hold particular promise in reducing the accumulation of the pathogen on the forest floor.

• Tool: A field guide to predict delayed mortality of fire-damaged ponderosa pine

Biology and Culture of Forest Plants (Anderson)

• Scientists compile a new fuels data set for alternative postfire reforestation treatments

  Scientists established eight alternative vegetation restoration treatments after the 2002 Timbered Rock Fire in Oregon to inform postfire restoration.

• Understory vegetation of young Douglas-fir forests is resilient to low-intensity thinning

  Drawing from a study begin in the late 1990s, scientists learned that the process of stand conversion from a uniform, even-aged structural condition to a more variable, diverse uneven-aged structure requires several repeated thinnings.

Boreal Ecology Cooperative Research Unit (Hanley)

• Moose shape the flood plains of interior Alaska

  What moose choose to eat plays a major role in the large-scale, landscape pattern of floodplain plant communities and in within-stand dynamics and element cycling in interior Alaska. Findings generated by BECRU scientists are being used to test predicted patterns of moose use of the landscape.

Canopy Processes in Temperate Mesic Forests (Meinzer)

• As Douglas-fir get taller, growth is limited by changes in leaf function

  By studying how height-related changes in leaf function may affect tree growth and forest productivity, scientists are generating physiological information that informs models used to project climate change's effects on tree growth.

• Dry season has little effect on tree transpiration in tropical savanna

  Scientists are studying tree transpiration in Brazil's tropical savannas to better understand the mechanisms that are important in modeling the effects of changing climate.

• Sapwood water storage helps protect trees against catastrophic xylem failure

  Scientists are using findings on water storage in Panamanian forests to better understand Pacific Northwest conifers now-and how they might be distributed by and impacted from different climate scenarios.

Communities and Forest Management (Charnley)

• Featured Publication-Forest Community Connections

Disturbance Ecology and Management (Vavra)

• Encroaching juniper threaten sagebrush habitat

  Sagebrush and other native shrublands in the Western United States are threatened by encroaching pinyon-juniper woodlands. In a recent study, scientists applied a risk model to the John Day province in central Oregon to better understand historical juniper density.

• Surrogate species are an effective tool for conservation planning

  Scientists found that using surrogate species or groups of species as proxies for broader sets of species may be one way to address the dilemma of considering hundreds of different plants and animals of concern in land use planning.

• Fuel treatments likely need to be repeated

  In many fire-prone forests in the United States, changes over the last century have resulted in an elevated fire hazard. Scientists studied the efficacy of fuel reduction treatments in reducing fire hazard in northeastern Oregon.

• Tool: New snag and log sampling methods and software

East-Side Forest Health Restoration (Hessburg)

• Historical forest conditions supported a range of fire severities

  To effectively use fire as a land management tool, it is helpful to know the typical severity of historical fires in the area. In a recent study, scientists found that the suite of forest structural conditions and patch sizes supporting native fire regimes of mixed-conifer forests was broader than was formerly recognized.

• Restoring spotted owl habitat may take landscape approach

  Despite intense management efforts, the threatened northern spotted owl continues to decline. Scientists have explored the role of uncharacteristic fires in contributing to the loss of habitat in dry forests, one of the most significant threats facing the owl, as well as other landscape-level factors.

• Tool: Ecosystem Management Decision Support (EMDS) 4.0

Ecologically Sustainable Production of Forest Resources (Deal)

• Tool: Harvest Cost-Revenue (HCR) Estimator
• Quality of wood in thinned and unthinned stands assessed

  To determine whether prior treatments had influenced wood quality in areas of Alaska's Prince of Wales and Mitkof Islands, researchers harvested trees from the thinned and unthinned stands and sawed them into dimension lumber.

• Tool: Fuel Reduction Cost Simulator (FRCS) variants
• Alaska beetle-killed wood can be used to make wood-plastic composites

  Scientists evaluated whether the standing dead trees left in the wake of the bark beetle epidemic on Alaska's Kenai Peninsula can be used to produce wood products, which could help to offset the cost of fire hazard reduction activities.

Ecology, Management, and Conservation of Sensitive Wildlife Species (Raphael)

• Spring snow cover defines the bioclimatic niche of the wolverine

  Scientists discovered that wolverines need spring snow cover to not only build the dens where they raise their young, but for other aspects of their life history.

• Two-thirds of global polar bear population at risk by 2050

  A station scientist developed models of polar bear carrying capacity and population response to historical, current, and future human stressors, environmental conditions, and habitat states under climate change scenarios. Federal agencies are using these findings to inform their decision to list the polar bear as a threatened species.

• Web site: Forest Carnivore Surveys in the Pacific States
• Number of retained trees more important than retention pattern

  Scientists are exploring the ecological benefits of retaining live trees in harvest units as part of forest management on federal lands.

• Featured Publication-Conservation of Rare or Little-Known Species

Environmental Analysis and Research (Fried)

• Scientists estimate carbon emission from Biscuit Fire

  To determine how much stored carbon the 2002 Biscuit Fire released, scientists estimated the amount of carbon in fuel "pools" by using prefire data from areas that were later burned. It is one of but a few studies that has attempted to empirically quantify wildfire-induced carbon exchange between terrestrial vegetation and the atmosphere.

• Scientists model carbon stores and flux in California forests

  California wants to lower its greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. As part of this process, the legislature mandated a state-wide greenhouse gas inventory, which PNW scientists supported by modeling estimates of forest carbon stores and flux for the state circa 1990.

• Carbon dynamics can be evaluated with inventory plots and satellite imagery

  Forests are both a sink and a source of carbon. Quantifying the direction and amount of change in forest carbon storage is necessary to evaluate the contribution of forests to global warming. Scientists compared the ability of maps, images, and a model with that of inventory data to estimate carbon amounts.

• Effects of budworm outbreak analyzed for private lands in eastern Oregon

  Between 1980 and 1994, eastern Oregon was plagued by a severe outbreak of western spruce budworm. Scientists estimated the effects of the outbreak on private forest land in eastern Oregon, helping the Oregon Department of Forestry to prepare a briefing for the governor.

• Tree growth response to climate warming depends on timing

  Trees growing at treeline at high latitudes are generally thought to be limited by available warmth, and most studies on treeline report tree growth increases with warmer temperatures. However, population-wide responses of treeline trees to climate remain largely unexamined. Scientists filled this knowledge gap by systematically sampling white spruce trees at treeline sites in the Brooks and Alaska Ranges.

• Lichens indicate patterns of biodiversity, air quality, and climate

  Scientists found that lichen communities indicate key patterns in air quality, climate, and biodiversity in forests of Washington, Oregon, and California.

Fire and Environmental Research Applications (Peterson)

• Prefire fuel treatments can reduce postfire tree mortality

  Scientists used the 2006 Tripod Fire that burned through many well documented fuel treatments on the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest to demonstrate the value of wildfire hazard and severity reduction practices.

• New model predicts fuel consumption in sagebrush

  Scientists helped to quantify and model fuel consumption in shrub-dominated ecosystems.

• Station scientists identify climate change adaptation options

  Scientists contributed to the first effort to summarize climate change adaptation options for national forests, helping the Olympic National Forest with its management and long-term planning.

Science Delivery Team (Barbour)

• Nitrogen oxide fluxes from coastal Douglas-fir plantations identified

  Moist coastal forests of the Pacific Northwest often have more available soil nitrogen than inland forests. When combined with adequate soil moisture and warm temperatures, high soil nitrogen may create ideal conditions for producing and releasing a powerful greenhouse gas and a component of smog. Scientists explored the role these forests could have in contributing greenhouse gases.

• Biomass studies lead to strategic thinking regarding fuel reduction treatments

  Scientists found areas where the cost for fuel reduction treatments may potentially be offset by the sale of products removed during treatment.

• Study evaluates investments in fuel treatments and gains in resource protection

  Researchers evaluated the cost and effectiveness of prescribed fire, mechanical treatments, and mechanical treatments plus fire on seven long-term study sites that are part of the national Fire and Fire Surrogates Program.

• Progress made toward managing fish and fire in the same landscape

  Scientists developed summaries of existing research, theories, and models in response to fire managers' information needs for managing aquatic ecosystems in fire-prone areas.

Reducing Fire Risk to People and Resources Issue (Barbour)

• Landscape analysis facilitates cross-ownership restoration projects and evaluation of potential biomass supply

  Scientists conducted a landscape analysis to reveal the effects policy and land management activities have on forest ecosystems across multiple ownerships in eastern Washington.

Sustainable Wood Production Issue (Deal)

• Featured Publication-Integrated Restoration of Forested Ecosystems to Achieve Multiresource Benefits

Forest Genetics (St. Clair)

• Scientists develop cost-effective methods for genome sequencing

  To address the need for genetic sequencing methods that are suited for population studies, scientists developed a cost-effective approach that they are now using to characterize the genetic diversity of threatened tree species.

• Scientists map seed zones for oceanspray based on climatic variables

  Oceanspray is an important restoration shrub in the Pacific Northwest. In a recent study, geneticists identified the patterns of genetic diversity within the species related to climatic variables.

• Climate change task force begins evaluating genetic and silvicultural options

  Station scientists have formed a task force to explore management options for adapting to the effects of climate change on western U.S. forests.

Forest Landscapes and Ecosystems (Spies)

• Sandy River responds well to Marmot Dam removal

  The removal of the 45-foot-high Marmot Dam on Oregon's Sandy River in 2007 was the largest sediment release accompanying any dam removal to date and provided an unprecedented scientific opportunity to predict, monitor, and evaluate how a large energetic river "digests" a mammoth meal of sediment.

• Small streams are important sites for nitrogen uptake and processing

  Nitrogen is an essential element for life and, historically, the Pacific Northwest has had a limited supply. Station scientists found that river networks, particularly small streams, can remove and retain nitrogen, but their effectiveness is partly determined by surrounding land use.

• Changes in stream temperatures are species-specific

  Stream temperature is a major influence on aquatic insects. In laboratory experiments, FLE scientists examined the effects of three thermal regimes on emergence timing and adult body size of three species of common stream macroinvertebrates.

• Biomass in Oregon Coast Range is lower than in the past

  Scientists examined the historical variation in live and dead tree biomass under the historical disturbance regime of the Oregon Coast Range.

• Peak flow assessment completed for BLM Plan Revisions

  Station scientists assessed the science relating to the effects of forest management on peak streamflows in the Pacific Northwest, ultimately helping the Bureau of Land Management with its management plan for western Oregon.

• Featured Publication-In the Blast Zone: Catastrophe and Renewal on Mount St. Helens

Inventory Reporting (Campbell)

• New 5-year reports summarize forest conditions in California and Oregon

  Scientists summarized and interpreted basic information about the public and private forest land in California and Oregon. These reports establish a baseline against which future conditions can be compared and trends can be identified.

Land Use and Land Cover Dynamics (Alig)

• Case studies identify factors leading to development on private forests

  Each year, approximately 1 million acres of forest are converted to more developed uses. Scientists found that 44 million acres of private forest are projected to be affected by residential development in the coming decades.

• Different timber harvest scenarios lead to significant differences in future carbon sequestration on U.S. public timberlands

  To help decisionmakers understand the carbon implications of potential changes in public timberland management, researchers compared a baseline timber harvest scenario with two alternative harvest scenarios and estimated annual carbon stock changes associated with each.

• Visitors differ in their preference for managing postfire recreation

  Scientists queried visitors to areas burned by the 2003 B&B Fire to gauge their preferences for managing postfire forest recreation. Their findings were used by the Willamette National Forest to develop a postfire recreation monitoring plan.

Mapped Atmosphere-Plant-Soil Systems (Neilson)

• Lynx likely to lose habitat in United States, may gain it in Canada

  Scientists investigated potential impacts of climate change on the habitat of the endangered Canada lynx.

• Scientists model potential impacts of climate change on California's ecosystem services

  Station scientists were key contributors in a project examining the potential impact of climate change on services provided by California ecosystems.

• Tool: Enhanced MAPSS Fire Forecasting System

Portland Economics Team (Barbour)

• The benefits of street trees in Portland, Oregon, far outweigh their costs

  A study found that crown area within 100 feet of a house and the number of trees fronting it were significant, adding an average of $7,020 to the price of a house.

Rural Urban Wildland Interactions (Blahna)

• Tourism affects resident interactions with natural and social environment

  Scientists found that in coastal Alaska, growth of the tourism industry affects the ways rural residents interact with their natural and social environments.

• Applying ecosystem resilience theory to communities aids understanding of social and economic changes

  Scientists applied the concept of adaptive cycles from ecosystem resilience theory to display historical changes in three amenity-transition communities in Idaho, Washington, and Oregon.

Silviculture and Ecology of Southeast Alaska (McClellan)

• Scientists quantify carbon fluxes in southeast Alaska

  As the climate warms, the rate at which carbon is released from the soils of coastal temperate rain forests could increase. Station scientists continue to measure rates and controls of major fluxes to better understand the carbon cycle and the interplay between terrestrial and aquatic systems.

• Glacier-fed watersheds differ from those without glaciers and have climate change implications

  Watersheds in southeast Alaska will be significantly altered as the climate warms. As warming continues, the loss of glacial inputs and changes in the timing of runoff related to changes in snowpack and snow-to-rain ratios will dramatically affect stream habitats and the annual pattern of carbon and nutrient inputs to the marine system.

• New technique identifies sources of soil and stream productivity

  Soils provide important ecosystem services in the maintenance of terrestrial and aquatic biological systems, but it is difficult to identify the source of this easily degraded material that sustains primary production in soils and streams. Scientists used a novel modeling technique to determine if the type of organic material in watersheds is usable by stream microorganisms, an indicator of proper ecosystem function.

• Western hemlock and Sitka spruce respond well to thinning

  Twenty years after it was begun, a long-term silviculture experiment on Alaska's Tongass National Forest is helping scientists understand how western hemlock Sitka spruce stands of different ages and site productivities respond to a range of thinning intensities.

Silviculture and Forest Models (Reutebuch)

• Logging-induced soil compaction not always detrimental to tree growth

  Scientists found that on equipment trails-where soil is compacted from logging activities- tree growth of seedlings or growth of adjacent older trees was not reduced, and in some cases was increased.

• Tool: The Canopy Fuel Estimator
• Root competition limits development of Douglas-fir saplings

  Scientists found that the development of Douglas-fir saplings is likely limited by intense root competition from overstory trees.

• Tool: Improved oak growth equations

Sustainable Ecosystem Productivity (Bormann)

• Central Oregon 's sandy loam soils tolerant to postfire logging

  Logging activities can compact the soil, reducing its pore size and decreasing oxygen availability and the movement of water and nutrients to tree roots. In a recent study, scientists examined the effects of compaction and subsoiling-a practice in which the subsoil is fractured to release compaction-on soil microbes.

• Intense wildfire alters forest soil

  For the first time, scientists were able to directly measure the effects of an intense wildfire on forest soils.

Western Wildland Environmental Threat Assessment Center

• Interaction between climate change and invasive species may intensify threats

  Scientists developed a set of rapid threat assessments, syntheses, and modeling projects that focused on the interaction of climate change and invasive exotic and native species on wildland resources in the Western United States.

• Imported bark beetle forms new fungal associations in China

  About 10 years ago, the red turpentine bark beetle was introduced to China. Scientists have discovered that while there, the bark beetle-which is a benign species native to the U.S.-has formed new associations with fungal species, raising the concern that it may be reintroduced back into the country.

• Atlas maps current and potential distribution of Mexican bark beetle

  As the climate changes, Mexican bark beetles-a wide-ranging and important disturbance agent in Mexican pine forests-may migrate north into U.S. forests, potentially causing widespread mortality. A new atlas maps the present and potential distribution for bark beetle species.

• Tool: ArcFuels
• New framework helps assess wildfire risk

  Scientists developed a framework for assessing wildfire risk that can be used in fuel treatment planning.

• Decision framework helps evaluate risks

  Station scientists developed a series of questions to guide fire research and a framework to address these questions.

• Tool: Annotated bibliography on fire-bark beetle interactions
• Large-scale thinning may push bark beetles into other stands

  Scientists used the Westwide Pine Beetle Model and Fire and Fuels Extensions of the Forest Vegetation Simulator (FVS) to simulate a bark beetle outbreak under different fuel treatment scenarios.

• Pilot study refines techniques for mapping ecology, climate, and topography

  Scientists completed initial work on a pilot study to develop and refine "nearest neighbor" mapping techniques for a nationwide project that is constructing a national data set of forest attributes.

• Scientists teach course on climate change, vegetation models, and decisionmaking

  Station scientists developed and taught a course that examined different classes of vegetation models with particular emphasis on their utility for management and planning under climate uncertainties.