Pacific Northwest Research Station

The Corvallis Aquatic and Land Interactions (ALI) Team

2008 Science Accomplishments

Pivotal research contributes to amphibian conservation worldwide

For juvenile salmon, the amount of sand in spawning beds and distance from pools to spawning bed are particularly important. Credit: Pete Bisson

Working with researchers around the world, a station scientist determined the geographic and taxonomic scope of chytridiomycosis, an amphibian disease implicated in amphibian species decline and species extinctions. The aquatic fungus that causes the disease is widely detected in the Americas and Australia, patchy in Africa and Europe, and not yet seen in wild amphibian populations in Asia.

The disease has been detected in 59 percent of countries sampled, 85 percent of U.S. states, and 56 percent of the species sampled, including 17 anuran (frog and toad) families and 5 caudate (salamander) families.

This project is an unparalleled example of collaboration among scientists. Data were collated from more than 2,000 sites worldwide. The data are accessible on an interactive Web portal with mapping capabilities (http://www.spatialepidemiology.net). Maps associated with the project have been used in various publications such as Nature and the Seattle Times to increase awareness of this disease.

Partners: Amphibian Specialist Group, World Conservation Union; Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Imperial College, London, UK; Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation

To learn more, contact Dede Olson at dedeolson@fs.fed.us.

Landslide model useful in managing fish habitat

The role of landslides in creating and maintaining fish habitat is a much-debated topic among scientists and land managers. Land managers traditionally worked to minimize the occurrence of all landslides. However, recent research suggests that landslides may be important sources of wood and spawning gravels, which are building blocks for fish habitat.

Scientists developed a model for western Oregon that identifies landslide initiation sites and assesses the likelihood that a landslide from that site will reach a fishbearing stream. The model has been adapted to estimate relative volumes of wood that might be delivered to a stream. When using the model, managers will be able to identify and prioritize landslide sites with a high probability of affecting a fish-bearing stream either positively or negatively. The model facilitates analysis of alternative management scenarios, enabling the user to assess the potential for cumulative management effects.

This model was used extensively by the Oregon Bureau of Land Management to develop and evaluate options for their new land management plan. It was also used by the Aquatic and Riparian Effectiveness Monitoring Plan of the Northwest Forest Plan.

Outcome: Federal agencies use landslide initiation and runout model to develop and evaluate land management plans.

Partners: Earth Systems Institute, USDI Bureau of Land Management Oregon, Oregon Headwaters Research Consortium, USGS Biological Resources Division

To learn more, contact Kelly Burnett at kmburnett@fs.fed.us.

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. For adult salmon, researchers found conditions across a large scale helped explain salmon distribution and abundance. Mean precipitation of the watershed, for example, and the percentage of large trees in the riparian buffer at the subbasin level were significant variables. For juvenile salmon, however, researchers found local conditions, such as the percentage of sand in spawning beds and the distance from pools to spawning beds explained juvenile abundance and habitat occupancy better than did large-scale landscape conditions.

This information is useful when designing management activities to maintain and recover stream ecosystems and when developing monitoring programs to evaluate the effectiveness of management activities.

Partners: Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Oregon State University

To learn more, contact Rebecca Flitcroft at rflitcroft@fs.fed.us.

Juvenile coho salmon move through culverts at lower flows than expected

Streams that are intermittent during the summer but flow during the winter period can be critical rearing areas for juvenile coho salmon in the Oregon Coast Range. During the dry summer, these streams become disconnected from the main stem. This study 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. Most of their movement occurs, however, during low to moderate flows. Current design criteria for culverts assume that fish move through them during a wide range of flows.

These results provide management and regulatory agencies with valuable insights about the timing of coho salmon movements through culverts and will influence the design and placement criteria for culverts.

Partners: Environmental Protection Agency, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Oregon State University, USDI Bureau of Land Management

To learn more, contact Bruce Hansen at bhansen@fs.fed.us.