Forestry Impacts on Freshwater Habitat of Anadromous Salmonids in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska: requirements for protection and restoration

This synthesis presents a science overview of the major forest management Issues involved in the recovery of anadromous salmonids affected by timber harvest in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska. The issues involve the components of ecosystem-based watershed management and how best to implement them, including how to: Design buffer zones to protect fish habitat while enabling economic timber production; Implement effective Best Management Practices (BMPs) to prevent nonpoint-source pollution; Develop watershed-level procedures across property boundaries to prevent cumulative impacts; Develop restoration procedures to contribute to recovery of ecosystem processes; and Enlist support of private landowners in watershed planning, protection, and restoration. Buffer zones, BMPs, cumulative impact prevention, and restoration are essential elements of what must be a comprehensive approach to habitat protection and restoration applied at the watershed level within a larger context of resource concerns in the river basin, species status under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), and regional environmental and economic issues (Fig. ES. 1). This synthesis 1) reviews salmonid habitat requirements and potential effects of logging; 2) describes the technical foundation of forest practices and restoration; 3) analyzes current federal and non-federal forest practices; and 4) recommends required elements of comprehensive watershed management for recovery of anadromous salmonids.

An oceanographic characterizations of the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary and Pacific Northwest: interpretive summary of ocean climate and regional processes through satellite remote sensing

This report presents the results of a two-year investigation and summary of oceanographic satellite data obtained from multiple operational data providers and sources, spanning years of operational data collection. Long-term summaries of Sea Surface Temperature (SST) and SST fronts, Sea Surface Height Anomalies (SSHA), surface currents, ocean color chlorophyll and turbidity, and winds are provided. Merged satellite oceanographic data revealed information on: (1) seasonal cycles and timing of transition periods; (2) linkages between seasonal effects (warming and cooling), upwelling processes and transport; and (3) nutrient/sediment sources, sinks, and physical limiting factors controlling surface response for Olympic Coast marine environments. These data and information can be used for building relevant hind cast models, ecological forecasts, and regional environmental indices (e.g. upwelling, climate, “hot spot”) on biological distribution and/or response in the PNW.

Wind climate trends in the Pacific Northwest and the implications to renewable energy supply

EXTRACT (SEE PDF FOR FULL ABSTRACT): This paper examines the influence of wind climate variations on new Pacific Northwest renewable energy sources. Wind represents a potentially valuable supplemental source of energy in the region. ... The recent period of weaker winds may be associated with a stronger North Pacific Low in the last decade. This would result in winter storms more often being deflected farther north, to Canada. Also, in the last dozen years, lower SOI values were common. Other investigators have found low SOI to be associated with drier conditions in the Pacific Northwest.

Evidence from the Pacific Northwest for solar modulation of climate and of northern ecosystems

EXTRACT (SEE PDF FOR FULL ABSTRACT): The 250-year net annual snow accumulation, or mass balance, time series derived from the Mt. Logan (Yukon) ice core has been spectrally analyzed and is found to contain a nominal 11-year waveform. The stable isotope time series contains a significant amount of power between 9 and 13 years, although this record is evidently not a straightforward proxy for air temperatures. The signal in the mass balance time series exhibits a close relationship with the sunspot cycle waveform and is, therefore, assumed to be related to it. Waveforms showing a high correlation with the solar cycle are found in other climate data in the region. ... Taken collectively, the data point to a link between solar variability, atmospheric variability, climate, and selected ecological dynamics in the Pacific Northwest, but other data, not presented, indicate these relationships may hold elsewhere. So far, the evidence is empirical; complete details of the physical mechanisms involved have yet to be synthesized in a satisfactory way.

Offshore coho salmon populations near the Pacific Northwest and large-scale atmospheric events

EXTRACT (SEE PDF FOR FULL ABSTRACT): Catch of coho salmon off the coast of Washington and Oregon since 1925 appears to be related to large-scale events in the atmosphere, which in turn affect ocean currents and coastal upwelling intensities in the northeastern Pacific. At least two time scales of variations can be identified. The first is that of the El Nino/Southern Oscillation phenomenon giving rise to an irregular cycle of between 3 to 7 years. ... The second time scale of variation seems to have a periodicity of about 20 years, although this is based on a limited dataset. ... This paper endeavors to describe how, if real, these atmospheric/oceanic effects are integrated and might affect the salmon catch. The possibility must also be considered that the atmospheric events are symbiotically related to the oceanic events and, further, that both may be enmeshed in even longer-term variability of climate.

Response of Pacific Northwest vegetation to large-scale changes in climate during the last 100,000 years [abstract]

EXTRACT (SEE PDF FOR FULL ABSTRACT): Paleoclimatic variations in western North America depend on a hierarchy of temporal and spatial controls that can be examined using a combination of modeling studies and data synthesis. ... The regional vegetation response to large-scale changes in the climate system of the last 21,000 years is used as a conceptual model to help explain earlier vegetation and climate at two localities.

BURROW-BUILDING STRATEGIES AND HABITAT USE OF VOLES IN PACIFIC NORTHWEST ORCHARDS

Seidel and Booth (1960) wrote that the "life histories of the genus Microtus are not numerous in the literature." In support of his observation he cited 6 publications, all dated between 1891 and 1953. Since then the literature has exploded with a proliferation of publications. An international literature review recently revealed over 3,500 citations for the genus. When Pitymys and Clethrionomys are included another 350 and 1,880, respectively, were found. Over the last 10 years approximately 3 new publications on voles appeared every 4 days; a significant output for what some would consider such an insignificant species. Most of the publications were the result of graduate research projects on population dynamics and species ecology. As such, many do not explore more than the rudimentary ecological relationships between the animal and their environments. Unfortunate, as well, is that all but one confined their observations to only a small part of their total environment. For many of these animals, their life underground may be more important for their survival than that above ground. Trapping studies conducted by Godfrey and Askham (1988) with permanently placed pitfall live traps in orchards revealed a significant inverse population fluctuation during the year. During the winter, when populations are expected to decrease, as many as 6 to 8 mature Microtus montanus were collected at any 1 time in the traps after several centimeters of snow accumulation. During the summer, when populations are expected to increase, virtually no animals were collected in the traps. According to current population dynamics theory, greater numbers of animals, including increasingly larger numbers of immature members of the community, should appear in any sample between the onset of the breeding period, generally in the spring, taper off during the latter part of the production season, usually late summer, and then decline as the limiting factors begin to take effect. For us, we trapped more animals in the fall and early winter than we did during the spring and summer. A review of the above literature did little to answer our question. Where are the animals going during the summer and why?

Soil characteristics and Collembola and Acari abundance in control and warming plots at Abisco Research Station

Extreme weather events can have negative impacts on species survival and community structure when surpassing lethal thresholds. Extreme winter warming events in the Arctic rapidly melt snow and expose ecosystems to unseasonably warm air (2-10 °C for 2-14 days), but returning to cold winter climate exposes the ecosystem to lower temperatures by the loss of insulating snow. Soil animals, which play an integral part in soil processes, may be very susceptible to such events depending on the intensity of soil warming and low temperatures following these events. We simulated week-long extreme winter warming events - using infrared heating lamps, alone or with soil warming cables - for two consecutive years in a sub-Arctic dwarf shrub heathland. Minimum temperatures were lower and freeze-thaw cycles were 2-11 times more frequent in treatment plots compared with control plots. Following the second event, Acari populations decreased by 39%; primarily driven by declines of Prostigmata (69%) and the Mesostigmatic nymphs (74%). A community-weighted vertical stratification shift occurred from smaller soil dwelling (eu-edaphic) Collembola species dominance to larger litter dwelling (hemi-edaphic) species dominance in the canopy-with-soil warming plots compared with controls. The most susceptible groups to these winter warming events were the smallest individuals (Prostigmata and eu-edaphic Collembola). This was not apparent from abundance data at the Collembola taxon level, indicating that life forms and species traits play a major role in community assembly following extreme events. The observed shift in soil community can cascade down to the micro-flora affecting plant productivity and mineralization rates. Short-term extreme weather events have the potential to shift community composition through trait composition with potentially large consequences for ecosystem development.

Jobs in the forests of the Pacific Northwest /

Bibliography: p. 73-77.

Bioassay of acephate-treated foliage on three instars of the Douglas-fir tussock moth /

Bibliography: p. 6-7.

Forest pest conditions in the Pacific Northwest.

Some issues have a distinctive title.

Evaluation of the Bell 205A-1 turbojet helicopter and spray system for forest application of insecticide /

"GPO 990-424"--P. [4] of cover.

Colonial nesting sea and wading bird use of estuarine islands in the Pacific Northwest /

"Final report."

Organization and conduct of forest insect aerial surveys in Oregon and Washington,

Mode of access: Internet.