Effect of Green Macroalgal Blooms on the Behavior, Growth, and Survival of Cockles (Clinocardium nuttallii) in Pacific NW Estuaries

EPA Science Inventory

Nutrient over-enrichment can produce adverse ecological effects within coastal ecosystems and negatively impact the production of ecosystem goods and services. In small estuaries of the U.S. Pacific Northwest, seasonal blooms of green macroalgae (GMA; Ulva spp.) are primarily ass...

PACIFIC NORTHWEST CYBER SUMMIT

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lesperance, Ann M.; Matlock, Gordon W.; Becker-Dippmann, Angela S.

2013-08-07

On March 26, 2013, the Snohomish County Public Utility District (PUD) and the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) jointly hosted the Pacific Northwest Cyber Summit with the DOE’s Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, the White House, Washington State congressional delegation, Washington State National Guard, and regional energy companies.

Predicting change in eelgrass distribution due to sea level rise in three Pacific Northwest estuaries

EPA Science Inventory

The eelgrass species Zostera marina is the dominant estuarine seagrass on the Pacific Northwest coast of North America and provides important ecosystem services and functions. The loss of eelgrass bed acreage due to environmental pressures is of world-wide concern, yet predicted...

Measuring the contribution of benthic ecosystem engineering species to the ecosystem services of an estuary: A case study of burrowing shrimps in Yaquina Estuary, Oregon

EPA Science Inventory

Burrowing shrimps are regarded as ecosystem engineering species in many coastal ecosystems worldwide, including numerous estuaries of the west coast of North America (Baja California to British Columbia). In estuaries of the U.S. Pacific Northwest, two species of large burrowing...

MODIS water quality algorithms for northwest Florida estuaries

EPA Science Inventory

Synoptic and frequent monitoring of water quality parameters from satellite is useful for determining the health of aquatic ecosystems and development of effective management strategies. Northwest Florida estuaries are classified as optically-complex, or waters influenced by chlo...

EFFECTS OF THE INVASIVE, NONINDIGENOUS SEAGRASS ZOSTERA JAPONICA ON NUTRIENT FLUXES BETWEEN THE WATER COLUMN AND BENTHOS IN A NE PACIFIC ESTUARY

EPA Science Inventory

Since its introduction in the early to mid-20th century, the Asian seagrass Zostera japonica has become established in marine and mesohaline portions of many estuaries in the Pacific Northwest. Z. japonica forms dense patches from 0.3-2.4m above mean lower low water, a zone that...

Macroalgae, pore water sulfides and eelgrass in Yaquina estuary, Oregon

EPA Science Inventory

The hypothesis that relatively high nutrients in estuaries of the Pacific Northwest (PNW) can lead to eutrophication and degradation of critical eelgrass habitat was examined. Yaquina estuary was surveyed for cover and above-ground biomass of benthic macroalgae (Ulva spp.) and n...

Measuring the contribution of benthic ecosystem engineering species to the ecosystem services of an estuary: A case study of burrowing shrimps in Yaquina Estuary, Oregon - April 2009

EPA Science Inventory

Burrowing shrimps are regarded as ecosystem engineering species in many coastal ecosystems worldwide, including numerous estuaries of the west coast of North America (Baja California to British Columbia). In estuaries of the U.S. Pacific Northwest, two species of large burrowing...

7 CFR 1124.2 - Pacific Northwest marketing area.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 9 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Pacific Northwest marketing area. 1124.2 Section 1124.2 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Marketing Agreements and Orders; Milk), DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE MILK IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST...

7 CFR 1124.2 - Pacific Northwest marketing area.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 9 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Pacific Northwest marketing area. 1124.2 Section 1124.2 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (MARKETING AGREEMENTS AND ORDERS; MILK), DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE MILK IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST...

7 CFR 1124.2 - Pacific Northwest marketing area.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 9 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Pacific Northwest marketing area. 1124.2 Section 1124.2 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Marketing Agreements and Orders; Milk), DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE MILK IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST...

7 CFR 1124.2 - Pacific Northwest marketing area.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 9 2014-01-01 2013-01-01 true Pacific Northwest marketing area. 1124.2 Section 1124.2 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (MARKETING AGREEMENTS AND ORDERS; MILK), DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE MILK IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST MARKETING AREA Order...

7 CFR 1124.2 - Pacific Northwest marketing area.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 9 2010-01-01 2009-01-01 true Pacific Northwest marketing area. 1124.2 Section 1124.2 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Marketing Agreements and Orders; Milk), DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE MILK IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST MARKETING AREA Order...

Approaches for Development of Nutrient Criteria in Oregon Estuaries With a Focus on Tillamook Estuary

EPA Science Inventory

Development of nutrient criteria for all water body types of the US remains a top priority for EPA. Estuaries in the Pacific Northwest receive nutrients from both the watershed and the coastal ocean, and thus are particularly complex systems in which to establish water quality c...

The Pacific Northwest Research Station.

Treesearch

Forest Service U.S. Department of Agriculture

1937-01-01

The research organization of the United States Forest Service in the North Pacific Region is the Pacific Northwest Forest and Range Experiment Station, one of the 12 regional experiment stations maintained by the service. This station, which has headquarters in Portland, Oregon, is making studies and surveys in the fields of economics, forest management, forest...

POLICY CONUNDRUM: RESTORING WILD SALMON TO THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST

EPA Science Inventory

Across the Pacific Northwest region of North America, many runs of wild (in contrast to hatchery-bred) salmon have declined and some have been extirpated. Restoring wild salmon runs to the Pacific Northwest is technically challenging, politically nasty, socially divisive, and ...

Climate change and its impacts on estuaries

EPA Science Inventory

Past, present, and future research by WED scientists in the TEP region will be described to lay the foundation for examination of potential climate change effects on estuaries and the broader coastal zone in the Pacific Northwest (PNW). Results from National Coastal Assessments,...

Delimiting communities in the Pacific Northwest.

Treesearch

Ellen M. Donoghue

2003-01-01

The paper presents an approach for delimiting communities in the Northwest Forest Plan (NWFP) region of the Pacific Northwest that responds to the need to assess impacts and issues associated with broad-scale ecosystem management. Census block groups are aggregated to provide an alternative to more commonly used geographic delimitations of communities, specifically...

Coastal Upwelling Supplies Oxygen-Depleted Water to the Columbia River Estuary

PubMed Central

Roegner, G. Curtis; Needoba, Joseph A.; Baptista, António M.

2011-01-01

Low dissolved oxygen (DO) is a common feature of many estuarine and shallow-water environments, and is often attributed to anthropogenic nutrient enrichment from terrestrial-fluvial pathways. However, recent events in the U.S. Pacific Northwest have highlighted that wind-forced upwelling can cause naturally occurring low DO water to move onto the continental shelf, leading to mortalities of benthic fish and invertebrates. Coastal estuaries in the Pacific Northwest are strongly linked to ocean forcings, and here we report observations on the spatial and temporal patterns of oxygen concentration in the Columbia River estuary. Hydrographic measurements were made from transect (spatial survey) or anchor station (temporal survey) deployments over a variety of wind stresses and tidal states during the upwelling seasons of 2006 through 2008. During this period, biologically stressful levels of dissolved oxygen were observed to enter the Columbia River estuary from oceanic sources, with minimum values close to the hypoxic threshold of 2.0 mg L−1. Riverine water was consistently normoxic. Upwelling wind stress controlled the timing and magnitude of low DO events, while tidal-modulated estuarine circulation patterns influenced the spatial extent and duration of exposure to low DO water. Strong upwelling during neap tides produced the largest impact on the estuary. The observed oxygen concentrations likely had deleterious behavioral and physiological consequences for migrating juvenile salmon and benthic crabs. Based on a wind-forced supply mechanism, low DO events are probably common to the Columbia River and other regional estuaries and if conditions on the shelf deteriorate further, as observations and models predict, Pacific Northwest estuarine habitats could experience a decrease in environmental quality. PMID:21533083

Meeting the challenge: invasive plants in Pacific Northwest ecosystems.

Treesearch

Timothy B. Harrington; Sarah H. Reichard

2007-01-01

During September 19-20, 2006, a conference was held at the University of Washington Botanic Gardens, Seattle, WA, with the title "Meeting the challenge: invasive plants in Pacific Northwest Ecosystems." The mission of the conference was to create strategies and partnerships to understand and manage invasions of non-native plants in the Pacific Northwest. The...

Pacific Northwest regional AGU meeting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hyndman, Roy

The 27th Annual Pacific Northwest Regional American Geophysical Union Meeting, held September 25 and 26, 1980, was hosted by the Pacific Geoscience Centre at the Institute of Ocean Sciences, near Victoria, British Columbia. A total of 79 papers was presented to the 150 registrants in six general sessions: seismology; electromagnetic induction; general geophysics; volcanology; hydrology; and oceanography, and in three special symposia: ‘The Queen Charlotte-Fairweather fault system and other active faults of the Pacific Northwest’ ‘Coastal circulation in the northeast Pacific’ and ‘Studies of the eruption of Mount St. Helens.’

NEKTON-HABITAT ASSOCIATIONS IN A PACIFIC NORTHWEST (USA) ESTUARY

EPA Science Inventory

Nekton−habitat associations were determined in Yaquina Bay, Oregon, United States, using a stratified-by-habitat, random, estuary-wide sampling design. Three habitats (intertidal eelgrass [Zostera marina], mud shrimp [Upogebia pugettensis], and ghost shrimp [Neotrypaea californie...

Best Pears for the Western Pacific Northwest

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

A "Favorite Pears" panel was held at the Northwest Washington Research and Extension Center in Mount Vernon, Washington in March 2017 featuring 6 Pacific Northwest pear experts. The panelists selected and described pear varieties they recommend for planting in the most western parts of Oregon and Wa...

REGIONAL TRANSPORT AND SECONDARY SPREAD OF INVASIVE SPECIES ACROSS PACIFIC ESTUARIES

EPA Science Inventory

San Francisco Bay is considered to be the most highly invaded estuary in North America, and is suspected of acting as a local source pool for secondary invasions of other Pacific estuaries. With support from the Regional Applied Research Effort programs in EPA Regions 9 and 10, ...

Acid Precipitation in the Pacific Northwest.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baldwin, John; Kozak, David

1988-01-01

Discusses the causes, sources, and problems associated with acid deposition in the Pacific Northwest. Includes a learning activity about acid rain, "Deadly Skies," which was adapted from the Project WILD Aquatic Supplement. (TW)

Approaches for Development of Nutrient Criteria in Oregon Estuaries

EPA Science Inventory

Development of nutrient criteria for all water body types of the US remains a top priority for EPA. Estuaries in the Pacific Northwest receive nutrients from both the watershed and the coastal ocean, and thus are particularly complex systems in which to establish water quality c...

Identifying Local Factors that May Exacerbate Coastal Acidification in Pacific Northwest Estuaries

EPA Science Inventory

US EPA initiated a study in the Tillamook estuary and watershed focused on the impact of changes in watershed land use, ocean conditions, and weather on estuarine water quality and ecosystem goods and services production within the estuary. This project is a collaboration betwee...

AN APPROACH TO DEVELOPING NUTRIENT CRITERIA FOR PACIFIC NORTHWEST ESTUARIES: A CASE STUDY OF YAQUINA ESTUARY, OREGON

EPA Science Inventory

NHEERL scientists have developed an approach that could be used by the State of Oregon for development of nutrient and other water quality criteria for the Yaquina Estuary, Oregon. The principle objective in setting protective criteria is to prevent future degradation of estuari...

Sediment Evaluation Framework for the Pacific Northwest

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The Sediment Evaluation Framework provides a regional framework for assessment, characterization and management of sediments in the Pacific Northwest to determine suitability for unconfined in-water disposal.

Reference Condition Approach for Numeric Nutrient Criteria for Oregon Estuaries

EPA Science Inventory

Development of nutrient criteria for all water body types of the US remains a top priority for EPA. Estuaries in the Pacific Northwest receive nutrients from both the watershed and the coastal ocean, and thus are particularly complex systems in which to establish water quality c...

WestuRe: U.S. Pacific Coast estuary/watershed data and R tools

EPA Science Inventory

There are about 350 estuaries along the U.S. Pacific Coast. Basic descriptive data for these estuaries, such as their size and watershed area, are important for coastal-scale research and conservation planning. However, this information is spread among many sources and can be dif...

Verticillium wilt in the Pacific Northwest

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Verticillium wilt is a serious disease of many economically important agricultural and horticultural crops in the Pacific Northwest (PNW). The disease affects herbaceous annuals and perennials as well as woody trees and shrubs. Plants affected by Verticillium wilt exhibit chlorosis, wilting, defolia...

The Pacific northwest stream quality assessment

USGS Publications Warehouse

Van Metre, Peter C.; Morace, Jennifer L.; Sheibley, Rich W.

2015-01-01

The Pacific Northwest study will be the third regional study by the NAWQA program, and it will be of similar design and scope as the first two—the Midwest in 2013 and the Southeast in 2014 (Van Metre and others, 2012, 2014).

Endangered Species in the Pacific Northwest.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clearing: Nature and Learning in the Pacific Northwest, 1985

1985-01-01

Suggests that students can learn how society works by studying threatened and endangered plant and animal species which occur in the local environments. Pictures, descriptions, habitats, and niche information are given for 21 threatened or endangered species of the Pacific Northwest. (DH)

Raindrop Characteristics in the Pacific Northwest

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The U.S. Pacific Northwest, influenced by maritime air masses for most of the year, generally exhibits low rainfall intensities. The drop-size characteristics of such low-intensity storms are rarely studied. An investigation of natural drop sizes and their distribution was conducted at the Palouse ...

Cognitive styles of Forest Service scientists and managers in the Pacific Northwest.

Treesearch

Andrew B. Carey

1997-01-01

Preferences of executives, foresters, and biologists of the Pacific Northwest Research Station and executives, District Rangers, foresters, engineers, and biologists of the Pacific Northwest Region, National Forest System (USDA Forest Service), were compared for various thinking styles. Herrmann brain dominance profiles from 230 scientists and managers were drawn from...

Burrowing shrimp as foundation species in NE Pacific estuaries

EPA Science Inventory

My talk will be about the my research to characterize the role that burrowing shrimp play as foundation/engineering species in Pacific NW estuaries. My research has focused on measuring the abundance & distribution of two species (ghost shrimp & mud shrimp) at ecosystem scales, ...

2. Oil House, Southern Pacific Railroad Carlin Shops, northwest elevation, ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

2. Oil House, Southern Pacific Railroad Carlin Shops, northwest elevation, view to southeast (135mm lens). - Southern Pacific Railroad, Carlin Shops, Oil House, Foot of Sixth Street, Carlin, Elko County, NV

Has the rapidly expanding invasive dwarf eelgrass Zostera japonica in Yaquina estuary, Oregon impacted the distribution of native eelgrass Zostera marina – a critical intertidal habitat?

EPA Science Inventory

Native eelgrass, Zostera marina, occupies a significant portion of marine-dominated intertidal and near-subtidal sectors of many coastal estuaries. In recent decades an invasive congener, Z. japonica, has become established in many Pacific Northwest estuaries. We measured the h...

MORE THAN JUST BAIT: BURROWING SHRIMP AS ECOSYSTEM ENGINEERS IN OREGON ESTUARIES - SEPTEMBER 2006

EPA Science Inventory

Burrowing shrimp may be most widely known as excellent fishing bait, but they also play important roles in estuaries of the Pacific Northwest. These shrimps strongly affect carbon and nutrient cycling, phytoplankton abundance, food web structure and dynamics, sediment stability,...

Fluvial processes in Puget Sound rivers and the Pacific Northwest [Chapter 3

Treesearch

John M. Buffington; Richard D. Woodsmith; Derek B. Booth; David R. Montgomery

2003-01-01

The variability of topography, geology, climate; vegetation, and land use in the Pacific Northwest creates considerable spatial and temporal variability of fluvial processes and reach-scale channel type. Here we identify process domains of typical Pacific Northwest watersheds and examine local physiographic and geologic controls on channel processes and response...

Has the rapidly expanding invasive dwarf eelgrass Zostera japonica in Yaquina estuary, Oregon impacted the distribution of native eelgrass Zostera marina – a critical intertidal habitat? - CERF

EPA Science Inventory

Native eelgrass, Zostera marina, occupies a significant portion of marine-dominated intertidal and near-subtidal sectors of many coastal estuaries. In recent decades an invasive congener, Z. japonica, has become established in many Pacific Northwest estuaries. We measured the h...

5. Northwest elevation, Roundhouse Machine Shop Extension, Southern Pacific Railroad ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

5. Northwest elevation, Roundhouse Machine Shop Extension, Southern Pacific Railroad Carlin Shops, view to southeast (90mm lens). - Southern Pacific Railroad, Carlin Shops, Roundhouse Machine Shop Extension, Foot of Sixth Street, Carlin, Elko County, NV

A research framework for natural resource-based communities in the Pacific Northwest.

Treesearch

Harriet H. Christensen; Ellen M. Donoghue

2001-01-01

The Pacific Northwest (PNW) Research Station developed a problem analysis to direct the research on natural resource-based communities in the Pacific Northwest over the next 5 years. The problem analysis identifies four problem areas: (1) social values related to rural peoples, communities, and development, and their ties to resource management are largely unknown; (2...

Chip prices as a proxy for nonsawtimber prices in the Pacific Northwest.

Treesearch

Richard W. Haynes

1999-01-01

The heavy focus on Pacific Northwest saw-log prices makes it difficult for land managers to develop price expectations for stands that contain both sawtimber and nonsawtimber logs. This raises the question: What is a reasonable proxy (or measure) for nonsawtimber prices in the Pacific Northwest? One such proxy is export chip prices, which serve as a reasonable measure...

REALITY, DELUSIONS, AND OTHER ASSORTED TRUTHS: THE FUTURE OF SALMON IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST

EPA Science Inventory

Are professional fisheries scientists collectively guilty of encouraging delusions about the possibilities for restoring wild salmon to the Pacific Northwest? Do they perpetuate the fantasy that the Pacific Northwest will (or could, absent pervasive life-style changes) support w...

Species Profiles: Life Histories and Environmental Requirements of Coastal Fishes and Invertebrates (Pacific Northwest), Pacific Oyster

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-09-01

Requirements of Coastal Fishes o and Invertebrates (Pacific Northwest) LEICT o PACIFIC OYSTER E2I 8 Coastal Ecology Group Fish and Wildlife Service Waterways...Profiles-: Life Histories and Environmental Requirements of Coastal Fishes and Invertebrates (Pacific N rthwest) PACIFIC OYSTER by Gilbert B. Pauley...Fish and Wildlife Service. 1983-19. Species profiles: life histories and environmental requirements of coastal fishes and invertebrates . U.S. Fish

Solar Energy for Pacific Northwest Buildings.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reynolds, John S.

Data presented in this report indicate that solar space and water heating are possible in the Pacific Northwest. The first section of the report contains solar records from several stations in the region illustrating space heating needs that could be met, on an average daily basis, by solar energy. The data are summarized, and some preliminary…

Competition for national forest timber in the Northern, Pacific Southwest, and Pacific Northwest regions.

Treesearch

Richard W. Haynes

1980-01-01

Competition for National Forest timber was examined in the Northern, Pacific Southwest, and Pacific Northwest Regions of the Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture. The impacts of sealed bidding and the Small Business Set-Aside Program were found to vary widely among the different appraisal zones. Noncompetitive sales were screened for collusive activity; and...

2013 White Book, Pacific Northwest Loads and Resources Study (summary)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

None

The 2013 Pacific Northwest Loads and Resources Study (2013 White Book) is BPA's latest projection of the Pacific Northwest regional retail loads, contract obligations, contract purchases, and resource capabilities. The 2013 White Book is a snapshot of conditions as of October 1, 2013, documenting the loads and resources for the Federal system and region for the 10-year study period OY 2014 through 2023. The White Book contains projections of regional and Federal system load and resource capabilities, along with relevant definitions and explanations. The White Book also contains information obtained from formalized resource planning reports and data submittals including thosemore » from individual utilities, the Northwest Power and Conservation Council (Council), and the Pacific Northwest Utilities Conference Committee (PNUCC). Starting with the 2012 White Book, BPA changed the annual production schedule for future White Books. BPA is scheduled to publish a complete White Book, which includes a Federal System Needs Assessment analysis, every other year (even years). In the odd-numbered years, BPA will publish a biennial summary update (Supplement) that only contains major changes to the Federal System and Regional System analyses that have occurred since the last White Book. http://www.bpa.gov/power/pgp/whitebook/2013/index.shtml.« less

78 FR 70858 - Safety Zones; Pacific Northwest Grain Handlers Association Facilities; Columbia and Willamette...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-11-27

... 1625-AA00 Safety Zones; Pacific Northwest Grain Handlers Association Facilities; Columbia and... establishing temporary safety zones around the following Pacific Northwest Grain Handlers Association... Commodities facility on the Willamette River in Portland, OR. These safety zones extend approximately between...

SCIENCE, POLICY, AND PACIFIC NORTHWEST SALMON RECOVERY

EPA Science Inventory

Throughout the Pacific Northwest, since 1850, all wild salmon runs have declined and some have disappeared. Billions of dollars have been spent in a so-far failed attempt to reverse the long-term decline. Each year, hundreds of millions of dollars continue to be spent in variou...

SCIENCE, POLITICS, AND PACIFIC NORTHWEST SALMON RECOVERY

EPA Science Inventory

Throughout the Pacific Northwest, since 1850, all wild salmon runs have declined and some have disappeared. Billions of dollars have been spent in a so-far failed attempt to reverse the long-term decline. Each year, hundreds of millions of dollars continue to be spent in variou...

QUANTIFYING SEASONAL SHIFTS IN NITROGEN SOURCES TO OREGON ESTUARIES. PART I: EMPIRICAL 15N MACROALGAE DATA

EPA Science Inventory

“Green Tides” are typically considered to be a symptom of eutrophication associated with anthropogenic nutrient loading. In many estuaries along the Pacific Northwest (PNW), the seasonal development of macroalgal mats or “Green Tides” coincides with the initiation of coastal upw...

Pulse crop diseases in the Pacific Northwest

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The United Nations declared that 2016 is the International Year of Pulses (IYP). This UN declaration of IYP will certainly increase awareness of pulses and likely position pulses as a primary source of protein and other essential nutrients for human diets. The US Pacific Northwest region (Idaho, Or...

Fire and birds in maritime Pacific Northwest

Treesearch

Mark H. Huff; Nathaniel E. Seavy; John D. Alexander; C. John Ralph

2005-01-01

Resource managers face the challenge of understanding how numerous factors, including fire and fire suppression, influence habitat composition and animal communities. We summarize information on fire effects on major vegetation types and bird/fire relations within the maritime Pacific Northwest, and pose management related questions and research considerations....

1956 bibliography of Pacific Northwest forest soils publications.

Treesearch

Robert F. Tarrant

1957-01-01

In 1956, a summary of references on Pacific Northwest forest soils research was developed to begin a systematic annual recording of regionally published material in this comparatively new field. This summary included references for all years through 1955.

Streamflow Duration Assessment Method for the Pacific Northwest

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The Streamflow Duration Assessment Method for the Pacific Northwest is a scientific tool developed by EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to provide a rapid assessment framework to distinguish between ephemeral, intermittent and perennial streams.

Planting native oak in the Pacific Northwest

Treesearch

Warren D. Devine; Constance A. Harrington

2010-01-01

The extent of oak woodland and savanna habitat in the Pacific Northwest has been dramatically reduced since settlement in the mid-1800s. This report presents a practical guide for landowners and managers who are interested in reestablishing native oak by planting seedlings. Keys to successful establishment are (1) planting quality...

PACIFIC NORTHWEST SALMON: FORECASTING THEIR STATUS IN 2100

EPA Science Inventory

Throughout the Pacific Northwest (northern California, Oregon, Idaho, Washington, and the Columbia Basin portion of British Columbia), many wild salmon stocks (a group of interbreeding individuals that is roughly equivalent to a "population") have declined and some have disappear...

A TWO CENTURY HISTORY OF PACIFIC NORTHWEST SALMON: LESSONS LEARNED FOR ACHIEVING A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE

EPA Science Inventory

Achieving ecological sustainability is a daunting challenge. In the Pacific Northwest one of the most highly visible public policy debates concerns the future of salmon populations. Throughout the Pacific Northwest, many wild salmon stocks have declined and some have disappeare...

Evaluation of electrical power alternatives for the Pacific Northwest

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

This study evaluates the concept of implementation of large-scale energy conservation to reduce end-use demand for electrical energy as an alternative to the need for continued construction of new power plants to meet projected energy requirements for the Pacific Northwest. In particular, the numerical accuracy, economic feasibility, and institutional impact of a conservation-oriented scenario developed by the Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., is assessed, relative to the energy forecast prepared by the Pacific Northwest Utilities Conference Commission. The results of this study are presented in four detailed sections following an introductory and summary section: Reconstruction and Numerical Evaluation of Alternativemore » Scenario; Economic Analysis; Institutional Impact; and Impact of New National Energy Policy.« less

A program of forest soils research for the Pacific Northwest.

Treesearch

Robert F. Tarrant

1949-01-01

Pacific Northwest" and "great forests" are closely associated terms in the minds of most people. A great share of the regional income is derived from forest products, many towns in Oregon and Washington being established squarely on a base of forest harvests. A prosperous Northwest depends heavily on continued growth of trees on its large forest areas....

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Annual Site Environmental Report for Calendar Year 2013

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Duncan, Joanne P.; Sackschewsky, Michael R.; Tilden, Harold T.

2014-09-30

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), one of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science’s 10 national laboratories, provides innovative science and technology development in the areas of energy and the environment, fundamental and computational science, and national security. DOE’s Pacific Northwest Site Office (PNSO) is responsible for oversight of PNNL at its Campus in Richland, Washington, as well as its facilities in Sequim, Seattle, and North Bonneville, Washington, and Corvallis and Portland, Oregon.

FY 1999 Annual Self-Evaluation Report of the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Randy R. LaBarge

1999-11-05

This is a report of the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory's (Pacific Northwest's) FY1999 Annual Self-Evaluation Report. This report summarizes our progress toward accomplishment of the critical outcomes, objectives, and performance indicators as delineated in the FY1999 Performance Evaluation & Fee Agreement. It also summarizes our analysis of the results of Pacific Northwest's Division and Directorate annual self-assessments, and the implementation of our key operational improvement initiatives. Together, these provide an indication of how well we have used our Integrated Assessment processes to identify and plan improvements for FY2000. As you review the report you will find areas of significantly positivemore » progress; you will also note areas where I believe the Laboratory could make improvements. Overall, however, I believe you will be quite pleased to note that we have maintained, or exceeded, the high standards of performance we have set for the Laboratory.« less

EFFECTS OF EROSION AND MACROALGAE ON INTERTIDAL EELGRASS (ZOSTERA MARINA) IN A NORTHEASTERN PACIFIC ESTUARY (USA)

EPA Science Inventory

Eelgrass (Zostera marina) in open-coast northeastern Pacific estuaries is primarily intertidal, yet little research has been done on the natural factors controlling its upper intertidal growth limits. This two-year study in the Yaquina Estuary (Newport, Oregon, USA) evaluated the...

Regional classification of Pacific Northwest estuaries by wetland and land cover patterns

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lee,; Brown, A; Clinton, J; Hagerty,

2009-01-01

harmful algal blooms, and detrimental increases in benthic macroalgae. The nature and severity of the impacts vary with the level of nutrient loading as well as with the estuary type and regional drivers.

Development and validation of a MODIS colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM) algorithm in northwest Florida estuaries

EPA Science Inventory

Satellite remote sensing provides synoptic and frequent monitoring of water quality parameters that aids in determining the health of aquatic ecosystems and the development of effective management strategies. Northwest Florida estuaries are classified as optically-complex, or wat...

An analysis of MODIS algorithms for surface salinity and dissolved organic carbon in northwest Florida estuaries

EPA Science Inventory

Synoptic and frequent monitoring of water quality parameters from satellite is useful for determining the health of aquatic ecosystems and development of effective management strategies. Northwest Florida estuaries are classified as optically-complex, or waters influenced by chlo...

1958 bibliography of Pacific Northwest forest soils publications.

Treesearch

Robert F. Tarrant

1959-01-01

This fourth annual summary of references is compiled to maintain a systematic recording of publications in the comparatively new field of forest soils research in the Pacific Northwest. It is intended to serve both as a checklist and as a record of development of knowledge.

75 FR 70026 - Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-11-16

... DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR National Park Service [2253-665] Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Region, Gifford Pinchot National Forest... the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Region, Gifford Pinchot National...

Intertidal Eelgrass Response to Benthic Macroalgal Accumulation in a Pacific Northwest Estuary

EPA Science Inventory

High accumulations of benthic macroalgae from excessive nutrient inputs to estuaries is commonly cited as a major cause of seagrass decline. Two measures of macroalgal abundance, biomass and percent cover, have been used in an assessment framework for estuarine condition propose...

Recent population decline of the Marbled Murrelet in the Pacific Northwest

Treesearch

Sherri L. Miller; Martin G. Raphael; Gary A. Falxa; Craig Strong; Jim Baldwin; Thomas Bloxton; Beth M. Galleher; Monique Lance; Deanna Lynch; Scott F. Pearson; C. John Ralph; Richard D. Young

2012-01-01

We document here a decline of nearly 30% in the Marbled Murrelet (Brachyramphus marmoratus) population of Washington, Oregon, and northern California between 2000 and 2010. The Northwest Forest Plan is an ecosystem-management plan for federal forest lands in the Pacific Northwest of the United States that incorporates monitoring to determine if...

Secondary Climate Change Education in the Pacific Northwest

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

White, P. Troy; Wolf, Kattlyn J.; Johnson-Maynard, Jodi L.; Velez, Jonathan J.; Eigenbrode, Sanford D.

2014-01-01

Climate change (CC) is an important issue students should understand to be productive members of society. The objectives were to evaluate the instruction and teacher perceptions relating to CC in the Inland Pacific Northwest (IPNW) secondary (7-12) classes across disciplines. The teacher perceptions, instructional frequency, perceived barriers to…

Macroalgal accumulation in a Pacific Northwest estuary - evidence of poor eutrophic condition?

EPA Science Inventory

A five year study of benthic macroalgal dynamics was conducted in Yaquina estuary, Oregon, yielding 400 surveys of average macroalgal cover and biomass within three intertidal bathymetric zones at six sites covering the range of native eelgrass habitat. Application of a publishe...

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory institutional plan FY 1997--2002

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

NONE

1996-10-01

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory`s core mission is to deliver environmental science and technology in the service of the nation and humanity. Through basic research fundamental knowledge is created of natural, engineered, and social systems that is the basis for both effective environmental technology and sound public policy. Legacy environmental problems are solved by delivering technologies that remedy existing environmental hazards, today`s environmental needs are addressed with technologies that prevent pollution and minimize waste, and the technical foundation is being laid for tomorrow`s inherently clean energy and industrial processes. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory also applies its capabilities to meet selected nationalmore » security, energy, and human health needs; strengthen the US economy; and support the education of future scientists and engineers. Brief summaries are given of the various tasks being carried out under these broad categories.« less

POLICY CONUNDRUM: RESTORING WILD SALMON TO THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST

EPA Science Inventory

Restoring wild salmon runs to the Pacific Northwest is technically challenging, politically nasty, and socially divisive. Past restoration efforts have been largely unsuccessful. Society's failure to reverse the continuing decline of wild salmon has the characteristics of a pol...

Teacher Certification: The Problem in the Pacific Northwest.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Leonard, Leo D.

1985-01-01

Teacher certification procedures in the Pacific Northwest are used to illustrate the kinds of problems facing the nation in terms of teacher certification and program accreditation. Proposals for change include: cooperation between public schools and universities; five year programs; and use of research to study the teacher education process. (DF)

Ecosystem services provided by pacific NW Estuaries: State of knowledge

EPA Science Inventory

Coastal regions in the United States are rapidly developing areas, with increasing urbanization and growing populations. Estuarine and nearshore coastal marine waters provide valuable ecosystem services to resident and transient human communities. In the Pacific Northwest (PNW)...

HYDRAULIC REDISTRIBUTION IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST: TWEAKING THE SYSTEM

EPA Science Inventory

Hydraulic redistribution (HR) has recently been documented in Pacific Northwest forests, but the controls governing this process and its importance to shallow-rooted species are poorly understood. Our objective in this study was to manipulate the soil-root system to tease apart ...

Comparative analysis of hospital energy use: pacific northwest and scandinavia.

PubMed

Burpee, Heather; McDade, Erin

2014-01-01

This study aimed to establish the potential for significant energy reduction in hospitals in the United States by providing evidence of Scandinavian operational precedents with high Interior Environmental Quality (IEQ) and substantially lower energy profiles than comparable U.S. facilities. These facilities set important precedents for design teams seeking operational examples for achieving aggressive energy and interior environmental quality goals. This examination of operational hospitals is intended to offer hospital owners, designers, and building managers a strong case and concrete framework for strategies to achieve exceptionally high performing buildings. Energy efficient hospitals have the potential to significantly impact the U.S.'s overall energy profile, and key stakeholders in the hospital industry need specific, operationally grounded precedents in order to successfully implement informed energy reduction strategies. This study is an outgrowth of previous research evaluating high quality, low energy hospitals that serve as examples for new high performance hospital design, construction, and operation. Through extensive interviews, numerous site visits, the development of case studies, and data collection, this team has established thorough qualitative and quantitative analyses of several contemporary hospitals in Scandinavia and the Pacific Northwest. Many Scandinavian hospitals demonstrate a low energy profile, and when analyzed in comparison with U.S. hospitals, such Scandinavian precedents help define the framework required to make significant changes in the U.S. hospital building industry. Eight hospitals, four Scandinavian and four Pacific Northwest, were quantitatively compared using the Environmental Protection Agency's Portfolio Manager, allowing researchers to answer specific questions about the impact of energy source and architectural and mechanical strategies on energy efficiency in operational hospitals. Specific architectural, mechanical

Predicting logging residue volumes in the Pacific Northwest

Treesearch

Erik C. Berg; Todd A. Morgan; Eric A. Simmons; Stan Zarnoch; Micah G. Scudder

2016-01-01

Pacific Northwest forest managers seek estimates of post-timber-harvest woody residue volumes and biomass that can be related to readily available site- and tree-level attributes. To better predict residue production, researchers investigated variability in residue ratios, growing-stock residue volume per mill-delivered volume, across Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and...

Estimating postfire water production in the Pacific Northwest

Treesearch

Donald F. Potts; David L. Peterson; Hans R. Zuuring

1989-01-01

Two hydrologic models were adapted to estimate postfire changer in water yield in Pacific Northwest watersheds. The WRENSS version of the simulation model PROSPER is used for hydrologic regimes dominated by rainfall: it calculates water available for streamflow onthe basis of seasonal precipitation and leaf area index. The WRENSS version of the simulation model WATBAL...

Forest Management Policy and Community Well-Being in the Pacific Northwest

Treesearch

Susan Charnley; Ellen M. Donoghue; Cassandra Moseley

2008-01-01

This study uses a multiscale, multimethods approach to examine the effects of declining timber harvests on the well-being of forest communities in the Pacific Northwest as a result of the Northwest Forest Plan (the Plan). We found that the effects of declining timber harvests were variable and depended on the importance of the timber sector in a community in the late...

Forest management policy and community well-being in the Pacific Northwest

Treesearch

Susan Charnley; Ellen M. Donoghue; Cassandra Moseley

2008-01-01

This study uses a multiscale, multimethods approach to examine the effects of declining timber harvests on the well-being of forest communities in the Pacific Northwest as a result of the Northwest Forest Plan (the Plan). We found that the effects of declining timber harvests were variable and depended on the importance of the timber sector in a community in the late...

Impact of multiple stressors on juvenile fish in estuaries of the northeast Pacific.

PubMed

Toft, Jason D; Munsch, Stuart H; Cordell, Jeffery R; Siitari, Kiira; Hare, Van C; Holycross, Brett M; DeBruyckere, Lisa A; Greene, Correigh M; Hughes, Brent B

2018-05-01

A key step in identifying global change impacts on species and ecosystems is to quantify effects of multiple stressors. To date, the science of global change has been dominated by regional field studies, experimental manipulation, meta-analyses, conceptual models, reviews, and studies focusing on a single stressor or species over broad spatial and temporal scales. Here, we provide one of the first studies for coastal systems examining multiple stressor effects across broad scales, focused on the nursery function of 20 estuaries spanning 1,600 km of coastline, 25 years of monitoring, and seven fish and invertebrate species along the northeast Pacific coast. We hypothesized those species most estuarine dependent and negatively impacted by human activities would have lower presence and abundances in estuaries with greater anthropogenic land cover, pollution, and water flow stress. We found significant negative relationships between juveniles of two of seven species (Chinook salmon and English sole) and estuarine stressors. Chinook salmon were less likely to occur and were less abundant in estuaries with greater pollution stress. They were also less abundant in estuaries with greater flow stress, although this relationship was marginally insignificant. English sole were less abundant in estuaries with greater land cover stress. Together, we provide new empirical evidence that effects of stressors on two fish species culminate in detectable trends along the northeast Pacific coast, elevating the need for protection from pollution, land cover, and flow stressors to their habitats. Lack of response among the other five species could be related to differing resistance to specific stressors, type and precision of the stressor metrics, and limitations in catch data across estuaries and habitats. Acquiring improved measurements of impacts to species will guide future management actions, and help predict how estuarine nursery functions can be optimized given anthropogenic

PACIFIC NORTHWEST SALMON: IN SEARCH OF A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE

EPA Science Inventory

Throughout the Pacific Northwest, all wild salmon runs have declined since 1850 and some have disappeared. A sustainable future for wild salmon remains elusive. Billions of dollars have been spent in a so-far failed attempt to reverse the long-term decline. Each year, hundreds...

Green Mansions: The Evergreen Forests of the Pacific Northwest.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Philipek, Frances; Smith, Shelley; Brook, Richard

2000-01-01

Explores the ecosystem in Pacific Northwest Coastal America and investigates land management issues. Discusses the impact of canopy trees on temperature and the forest itself. Explains fungi's relationship with trees and presents activities on stream flow, wood, volcanoes, and plants for the classroom. (YDS)

Recent sediments of the St. Marks River coast, northwest Florida, a low-energy, sediment-starved estuary

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Highly, A.B.; Donoghue, J.F.; Garrett, C.

1994-03-01

The St. Marks river of northwest Florida drains parts of the central panhandle of northwestern Florida, and a small area in southwestern Georgia. It traverses nearly 56.3 kilometers through a watershed of 1,711 square kilometers. The slow-moving river carries little sediment and terminates in Apalachee Bay, a low-energy embayment in the northeasternmost Gulf of Mexico. The coastal region is characterized by mudflats, seagrass beds, and an absence of sandy beaches and barrier islands. Clastic sediments of the coast and shelf rest on a shallow-dipping carbonate platform. The upper surface of the platform is locally karstic. As a result, like othermore » rivers in this region of northwest Florida, the St. Marks watershed is marked by sinkholes and disappearing streams. The fact that the river travels underground through part of its lower watershed serves to trap or sieve some of its clastic load. In the estuary, the undulating karst topography causes the estuarine sediments to vary in thickness from 0 to 4+ meters. The concave shape of the coastline and its orientation with respect to prevailing winds result in low average wave energy. Sedimentation is therefore controlled by riverine and tidal forces. The relatively low energy conditions result in good preservation of the sedimentary record in the St. Marks estuary. A suite of sediment cores has been collected in the lower river, estuary and adjacent Gulf of Mexico. Lead-210 dating results indicate a slow average sedimentation rate ([approximately] 1mm/yr). Investigation of sedimentation rates and sediment characteristics over time in the St. Marks estuary indicate that sedimentologic conditions in this low-energy environment have been relatively stable during the recent geologic history of the estuary.« less

1995 Pacific Northwest Loads and Resources Study, Technical Appendix: Volume 1.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

United States. Bonneville Power Administration.

1995-12-01

The Pacific Northwest Loads and Resources Study (WhiteBook), is published annually by BPA, and establishes the planning basis for supplying electricity to customers. It serves a dual purpose. First, the White Book presents projections of regional and Federal system load and resource capabilities, along with relevant definitions and explanations. Second, the White Book serves as a benchmark for annual BPA determinations made pursuant to the 1981 regional power sales contracts. Specifically, BPA uses the, information in the White Book for determining the notice required when customers request to increase or decrease the amount of power purchased from BPA. Aside frommore » these purposes, the White Book is used for input to BPA`s resource planning process. The White Book compiles information obtained from several formalized resource planning reports and data submittals, including those from the Northwest Power Planning Council (Council) and the Pacific Northwest Utilities Conference Committee (PNUCC).« less

1957 bibliography of Pacific Northwest forest soils publications.

Treesearch

Robert F. Tarrant

1958-01-01

In 1956, The Forest Soils Committee of the Douglas-fir Region endorsed preparation of an annual bibliography dealing with forest soils research in the Pacific Northwest. The first list, published as Research Note No. 130, summarized all forest soils publications pertaining to the region through 1955. A summary of such publications appearing in 1956 was released as...

Harvesting minor forest products in the Pacific Northwest.

Treesearch

Thomas C. Adams

1960-01-01

Forests of the Pacific Northwest yield a number of secondary or so-called minor forest products. These include those smaller, side-line items of commercial value that can usually be harvested without intensive management or cultivation. They are generally only incidental to a primary use of the land for sawtimber or pulpwood production. In most cases they can be...

Silvicultural use of herbicides in Pacific Northwest forests.

Treesearch

H. Gratkowski

1975-01-01

After a brief description of silvicultural problems, the author tells how to prescribe herbicidal sprays for aerial, application in Pacific Northwest forests. The publication offers a detailed discussion of the five basic considerations: (1) selection of the best herbicide or herbicides, (2) amount of herbicide to be applied per acre, (3) carriers, (4) volume of spray...

The Pacific Northwest region vegetation and monitoring system.

Treesearch

Timothy A. Max; Hans T. Schreuder; John W. Hazard; Daniel D. Oswald; John Teply; Jim. Alegria

1996-01-01

A grid sampling strategy was adopted for broad-scale inventory and monitoring of forest and range vegetation on National Forest System lands in the Pacific North-west Region, USDA Forest Service. This paper documents the technical details of the adopted design and discusses alternative sampling designs that were considered. A less technical description of the selected...

Community structure of elasmobranchs in estuaries along the northwest Gulf of Mexico

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Plumlee, Jeffrey D.; Dance, Kaylan M.; Matich, Philip; Mohan, John A.; Richards, Travis M.; TinHan, Thomas C.; Fisher, Mark R.; Wells, R. J. David

2018-05-01

Estuaries promote high levels of productivity and biodiversity by providing habitat for many biological communities due to their wide range of environmental conditions. Estuarine systems serve as nurseries, areas for parturition, and feeding grounds for elasmobranchs. However, estuaries face an array of anthropogenic pressures, including overfishing, altered flow regimes, pollution, and habitat destruction. Given the vulnerability of estuarine ecosystems, observing long-term changes in community structure is essential to understanding the effects of anthropogenic stressors. Elasmobranch community structure was analyzed among eight estuaries in the northwest Gulf of Mexico to evaluate spatial and temporal variability in species abundance and diversity using bi-annual fisheries independent gillnet survey data over three decades (1985-2014). Ten species comprised 99.4% of elasmobranchs caught which included 35.3% bull sharks (Carcharhinus leucas), 18.1% bonnetheads (Sphyrna tiburo), 17.0% cownose rays (Rhinoptera bonasus), 13.4% blacktip sharks (Carcharhinus limbatus), 5.9% Atlantic stingrays (Dasyatis sabina), 3.1% Atlantic sharpnose sharks (Rhizoprionodon terraenovae), 2.7% spinner sharks (Carcharhinus brevipinna), 2.1% scalloped hammerheads (Sphyrna lewini), 1.7% finetooth sharks (Carcharhinus isodon), and 0.7% lemon sharks (Negaprion brevirostris). During the study period, elasmobranch community structure changed among estuaries and among decades. Bull sharks, bonnetheads, cownose rays, blacktip sharks, and spinner sharks all increased in abundance during the study period, whereas finetooth sharks and lemon sharks decreased over time. Higher latitude estuaries were dominated by bull sharks while lower latitude estuaries were dominated by cownose rays. Salinity was the most important environmental variable in predicting individual elasmobranch species abundance (deviance explained: 14.4 ± 6.5 SD), while temperature and depth also played a role in shaping community

Sciurids in Pacific Northwest managed and old-growth forests.

Treesearch

A.B. Carey

1995-01-01

An understanding of the factors governing sciurid abundance in the Pacific Northwest is essential for prescribing forest management practices for second-growth forests where recovery of Spotted Owl (Strix occidentalis) populations and enhancement of biodiversity are objectives. We compared results of companion studies of sciurids in western...

Pacific Northwest

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-12-08

The Rocky, Cascade, and Coast Mountain Ranges dominate the landscape of the Pacific Northwest in this image created June 11-17, 2012 from the Visible-Infrared Imager/Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument aboard the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership or Suomi NPP satellite, a partnership between NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA. Potato and other agriculture can be seen in the bottom center of the image, as the Rockies transition to the plains of Idaho. High values of Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, or NDVI, represent dense green functioning vegetation and low NDVI values represent sparse green vegetation or vegetation under stress from limiting conditions, such as drought. Credit: NASA/NOAA To read more go to: www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/NPP/news/vegetation.html NASA image use policy. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Find us on Instagram

Predicting Waves in the Pacific Northwest of the US

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ozkan-Haller, H. T.; Oskamp, J. A.; Garcia, G.; Kassem, S.; McNutt, J.

2010-12-01

The Pacific Northwest region of the US is characterized by an energetic deep water wave climate with large swell and sea waves that can approach from multiple directions. As these waves propagate from the open ocean over the continental shelf towards shore, they are affected by the underwater topography (or bathymetry) of the shelf. The US West Coast shelf is characterized by complicated bathymetry with numerous canyons and large banks. Such features can at places focus wave energy and at others divert waves away. As a result the wave field near the coast (in 10-50m water depth) varies significantly along the coast. Although a comprehensive prediction and validation effort for waves exists for the California shoreline, it is currently lacking for the Pacific Northwest shorelines. Herein, we present comprehensive long-term wave model simulations for several regions within the Oregon coastline, show validation of the results with existing nearshore observations, and discuss the dominant dynamics responsible for the observed wave transformation.

Glacial - interglacial changes of northwest Pacific stratification, inferred from deep and shallow living radiolarians

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hays, J. D.

2009-12-01

Shallow (0-200m) and deep (200 to1000m) living radiolarian flux is used to measure past production from within discrete intervals of the ocean’s water column. Deep-living faunas can also be used as proxies for export production, for they remineralize it and respond geographically and temporally to varying export. Few members of the mesopelagic community leave a fossil record, but of those that do, radiolarians are the most abundant and diverse group. In northwest Pacific late Pleistocene (glacial) sediments, deep-living radiolarian flux dominates over shallow-living flux, but the reverse is true in Holocene sediments, with the dramatic dominance change occurring across the Pleistocene-Holocene boundary. Changing primary productivity can’t cause these flux changes, for shallow-living faunas have access to the same carbon flux as do deep-living faunas, but rather they signal a major reorganization of the radiolarian fauna within the water column and suggest greater glacial than Holocene carbon export. In the Holocene world-ocean, the only region where deep-living radiolarian flux dominates over shallow-living flux is in the Sea of Okhotsk, suggesting environmental similarities between this sea and the northwest Pacific. In winter, cold Siberian air chills the upper hundred meters of the Sea of Okhotsk, promoting the spread of vast sea ice fields. High productivity in a thin (10-15m) summer mixed layer depletes nutrients Between 15 and about 150m exists a layer of cold (-1 to 0 degrees C.) intermediate water, within which radiolarian concentrations are low, but these concentrations increase between 200 and 500m in warmer intermediate water (Nimmergut and Abelmann, 2002). This radiolarian stratification results in greater deep- than shallow-living radiolarian flux to the sea floor. A similar water structure in the glacial northwest Pacific is the probable cause of similar flux patterns between the glacial northwest Pacific and Holocene Sea of Okhotsk. If so then

Pacific Northwest Storms Situation Report # 2

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

None

2006-12-16

Severe wind and snow storms hit the Pacific Northwest region on December 14 – 15, 2006 resulting in major power outagesin the region. The storm is now moving off into southern Canada. A new weather disturbance nearing the Northwest coast may generate a few rain and snow showers across the Seattle and Portland areas today, but widespread active weather is not expected. There are roughly 950,000 customers in the region (including Canada) without power as a result of the Pacific Northweststorms, down from a peak of 1.8 million customers. This represents about 26 percent of customers in affected utility servicemore » areas in Oregon and Washington. See table below. As of 12:30 PM EST, the Renton Control Center for the Olympic Pipeline (petroleum products) had power restored. The pipeline, serviced by Puget Sound Energy, was shut down after it lost power during the storm. According to a pipeline official, the pipeline is expected to restart in approximately 2-3 hours with some reduced throughput later today. SeaTac International Airport receives jet fuel from the pipeline; however, it’s been reported that the airport has approximately eight days of jet fuel inventories on hand. There are no reports of problems regarding fuel production. There are some temporary and minor distribution at retail gas stations due to lack of power. Fuel delivery is also slowed in some areas due to delays on some roads. ESF #12 has not been deployed« less

Patterns and sources of nitrogen and microbial contamination in a Pacific Northwest estuarine watershed

EPA Science Inventory

Tillamook Bay, a National Estuary Program site, is located on the northwest coast of Oregon. The Bay is one of Oregon’s leading producers of shellfish for human consumption. However, high levels of fecal indicator bacteria that exceed state water quality standards often r...

FUTURE OF PACIFIC NORTHWEST SALMON: SCIENCE AND POLICY IN ACTION

EPA Science Inventory

Throughout the Pacific Northwest (northern California, Oregon, Idaho, Washington, and the Columbia Basin portion of British Columbia), many wild salmon stocks (a group of interbreeding individuals that is roughly equivalent to a "population") have declined and some have disappear...

RESTORING WILD SALMON TO THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST: CHASING AN ILLUSION

EPA Science Inventory

Throughout the Pacific Northwest (northern California, Oregon, Idaho, Washington, and the Columbia Basin portion of British Columbia), many wild salmon "stocks" (a group of interbreeding individuals that is roughly equivalent to a "population") have declined and some have been ...

Views, Beliefs, & Opinions of Business Education by State Employment Service Managers in the Pacific Northwest, Secondary Principals in the Pacific Northwest, Chief State School Officers throughout the United States, State Directors of Employment & Training throughout the U.S.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yopp, Martha C.

State employment service managers in the Pacific Northwest, secondary principals in the Pacific Northwest, chief state school officers throughout the United States, and state directors of employment and training throughout the United States were asked to rate students on a list of 15 attributes seen as key to performance on the job. Their…

RESTORING WILD SALMON TO THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST: CHASING AN ILLUSION?

EPA Science Inventory

Throughout the Pacific Northwest (northern California, Oregon, Idaho, Washington, and the Columbia Basin portion of British Columbia), many wild salmon "stocks" (a group of interbreeding individuals that is roughly equivalent to a "population) have declined and some have been e...

The rise and fall of the Pacific Northwest log export market.

Treesearch

Jean M. Daniels

2005-01-01

For decades, softwood log exports were an important component of international wood products trade from the Pacific Northwest (PNW) region of the United States. Log exports to the Pacific Rim began in earnest after the Columbus Day Storm of 1962 generated billions of board feet of salvaged timber. This market was maintained and expanded owing to Japan’s demand for high...

Wave Velocity Attenuation and Sediment Retention among Different Vegetation Types in a Pacific Northwest Estuary

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lemein, T.; Cox, D. T.; Albert, D.; Blackmar, P.

2012-12-01

Feedbacks between vegetation, wave climate, and sedimentation create stable ecosystem states within estuaries that provide ecosystem services such as wildlife habitat, erosion control, and pollution filtration. Flume and field studies conducted with cordgrass (Spartina spp.) and sea grasses (Zostera spp., Halodule spp.) have demonstrated that the presence of vegetation reduces wave energy and increases sediment retention. Since the spatial distribution of plant species and the presence of unique plant species differ between estuaries, there is a need to understand how individual plant species, or groups of species with similar morphology, influence wave characteristics and sedimentation. Within Tillamook Bay, Oregon, three species of emergent vascular vegetation species (Carex lyngbyei, Eleocharis sp., Schoenoplectus pungens) and one species of submergent vascular vegetation species (Zostera marina) are present in the high wave energy portion of the estuary at the border of open water and the start of vegetation. These species represent three distinct growth forms (emergent reeds, emergent grasses, submergent grasses) and occur at varying densities relative to each other, as well as within the estuary. Using paired acoustic Doppler velocimeters (ADVs), we quantify the relative attenuation of wave velocity between vegetation types and densities within the estuary and compare these results with published attenuation rates from flume and field studies in different environments. The effect of decreased wave velocity on sediment retention is measured using permanent sediment markers within and outside of vegetation stands and paired with ADV data. Sediment retention is predicted to vary seasonally with seasonal vegetation composition changes and remain constant in unvegetated areas. From this experiment we expect to identify like groups of plant species whose attenuation characteristics are the same, allowing for models of wave-vegetation-sediment interaction to be

Watershed analysis on federal lands of the Pacific northwest

Treesearch

Leslie M. Reid; Robert R. Ziemer; Michael J. Furniss

1994-01-01

Abstract - Watershed analysis-the evaluation of processes that affect ecosystems and resources in a watershed-is now being carried out by Federal land-management and regulatory agencies on Federal lands of the Pacific Northwest. Methods used differ from those of other implementations of watershed analysis because objectives and opportunities differ. In particular,...

Monitoring late-successional forest biodiversity in the Pacific Northwest, U.S.A.

Treesearch

Thomas A. Spies; Jon R. Martin

2006-01-01

The era of ecosystem management for federal forest lands in the Pacific Northwest began in 1994 with the adoption of the Northwest Forest Plan. This plan was designed to maintain and restore species and ecosystems associated with late successional and old-growth forests on over 10 million ha. of federal lands in Washington, Oregon and California. The plan called for...

Investigations of Fusarium diseases within Inland Pacific Northwest forest nurseries

Treesearch

Robert L. James; R. Kasten Dumroese

2007-01-01

Fusarium spp. cause important diseases that limit production of seedlings in forest nurseries worldwide. Several aspects of these diseases have been investigated for many years within Inland Pacific Northwest nurseries to better understand disease etiology, pathogen inoculum sources, and epidemiology. Investigations have also involved improving...

Structure and vulnerability of Pacific Northwest tidal wetlands – A summary of wetland climate change research by the Western Ecology Division, U.S. EPA

USGS Publications Warehouse

Folger, Christina L; Lee, Henry; Janousek, Christopher N.; Reusser, Deborah A.

2014-01-01

Climate change poses a serious threat to the tidal wetlands of the Pacific Northwest (PNW) region of the U.S. In response to this threat, scientists at the Western Ecology Division of the U.S. EPA at and the Western Fisheries Research Center of the U.S. Geological Survey, along with other partners, initiated a series of studies on the structure and vulnerability of tidal wetlands to climate change. One research thrust was to evaluate community structure of PNW marshes, experimentally assess the vulnerability of marsh plants to inundation and salinity stress (as would happen with sea level rise), and evaluate the utility of the National Wetland Inventory (NWI) classification system. Another research thrust was to develop tools that provide insights into possible impacts of climate change. This effort included enhancing the Sea Level Affecting Marshes Model (SLAMM) to predict the effects of sea level rise on submerged aquatic vegetation (Zostera marina) distributions, evaluating changes in river flow into coastal estuaries in response to precipitation changes, and synthesizing Pacific Coast estuary, watershed, and climate data in a downloadable tool. Because the research resulting from these efforts was published in multiple venues, we summarized them in this document. We anticipate that future research efforts by the U.S. EPA will continue with a focus on climate change impacts on a regional scale.

EstuRe Project: U.S. Pacific Coast Estuary/Watershed Data and R Tools

EPA Science Inventory

The EstuRe Project is a collaborative effort of the U.S. EPA and USGS to standardize and improve the accessibility of data for U.S. Pacific Coast estuaries and their corresponding watersheds. We are presenting a preview of the datasets and tools that will soon be available from ...

Bibliography of Pacific Northwest forest soils publications through 1955.

Treesearch

Robert F. Tarrant

1956-01-01

During the past ten years, interest and development of research in forest soils has grown steadily in the Pacific Northwest. Prior to 1946, no full-time work in forest soils was being done in the region. Today, both private and public land-management organizations employ forest soils research technicians. In addition, two colleges in the region offer instruction in...

Interagency strategy for the Pacific Northwest Natural Areas Network

Treesearch

Todd M. Wilson; Reid Schuller; Russ Holmes; Curt Pavola; Robert A. Fimbel; Cynthia N. McCain; John G. Gamon; Pene Speaks; Joan I. Seevers; Thomas E. DeMeo; Steve Gibbons

2009-01-01

Over the past 30 years, the Pacific Northwest Interagency Natural Areas Committee has promoted the establishment and management of natural areas in Oregon and Washington—protected areas devoted to research, education, and conservation of biodiversity. This growing collection of sites is now unmatched in its diversity and representation of both common and unique natural...

PACIFIC NORTHWEST SALMON: THE MOST LIKELY FUTURE AND SOME ALTERNATIVES

EPA Science Inventory

Throughout the Pacific Northwest, all wild salmon runs have declined since 1850 and some have disappeared. A sustainable future for wild salmon remains elusive. Billions of dollars have been spent in a so-far failed attempt to reverse the long-term decline. Each year, hundreds of...

2009 Science Accomplishments Report of the Pacific Northwest Research Station

Treesearch

Rhonda Mazza

2010-01-01

This report highlights significant research findings and accomplishments by scientists at the Pacific Northwest (PNW) Research Station during fiscal year 2009. The mission of the PNW Research Station is to generate and communicate scientific knowledge that helps people understand and make informed choices about people, natural resources...

Environmental conditions and biological community of the Penzhina and Talovka hypertidal estuary (northwest Kamchatka) in the ice-free season

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koval, M. V.; Gorin, S. L.; Romanenko, F. A.; Lepskaya, E. V.; Polyakova, A. A.; Galyamov, R. A.; Esin, E. V.

2017-07-01

New data on the abiotic conditions; species composition; abundance, distribution, and migrations of fauna; and feeding interactions in an estuary ecosystem were obtained during expeditions in the mouths of Penzhina and Talovka rivers (northwest Kamchatka). It is revealed that in the ice-free season, the hydrological regime of the estuary is determined by seasonal fluctuations of river runoff, as well as fortnightly and daily variation of tides. The estuary is characterized by hypertidal fluctuations (up to 10-12 m); strong reverse flows (up to 1.0-1.5 m/s), considerable tidal variations in salinity (from 0 to 6-9‰ at the river boundary and from 6-8 to 14-16‰ at the offshore boundary), and high water turbidity (up to 1 000 NTU or more). Based on the spatial structure of the community, three ecological zones with mobile boundaries are distinguished: freshwater (salinity 0-0.1‰), estuarine (0-12.3‰), and neritic (11.2-18.9‰). High turbidity prevents the development of phytoplankton in the estuarine zone (EZ), and the local benthic community is significantly depleted due to the desalination and wide spread of aleuritic silts. Neritic copepods and nektobenthic brackish- water crustaceans generate the maximum abundance and biomass here. The species that have adapted to the local extreme hydrologic conditions dominate and form the basis of the estuarine food chain. Dominant among the EZ vertebrates are such groups as anadromous fishes (smelts, pacific salmons, charrs, and sticklebacks); waterfowl (terns, kittiwakes, cormorants, fulmars, puffins, guillemots, auklets, and wadepipers); and predatory marine mammals (larga, ringed seal, bearded seal, and white whale). The total abundance and biomass of these animals are much higher in the pelagic EZ in comparison to neighboring zones.

Pacific Northwest Aquatic Monitoring Partnership 2017 Annual Report

USGS Publications Warehouse

Puls, Amy L.; Scully, Rebecca A.; Dethloff, Megan M.; Bayer, Jennifer M.; Olson, Sheryn J.; Cimino, Samuel A.

2018-01-01

The Pacific Northwest Aquatic Monitoring Partnership (PNAMP) continued to promote the integration of monitoring resources and development of tools to support monitoring in 2017. Improved coordination and integration of goals, objectives, and activities among Pacific Northwest monitoring programs is essential to improving the quality and consistency of monitoring in the region.PNAMP operates through inter-organizational teams to make progress on a variety of projects identified to support partner needs and PNAMP goals. These teams are largely ad hoc and formed for the specific purpose of achieving the objectives of the identified projects. For each project, the PNAMP Coordination Team identified interested Steering Committee (SC) members and subject matter experts to form the working teams that provide guidance and leadership. In addition, the teams acted as an intermediate between the larger group of interested participants and the SC, thus maintaining the concept of better SC/participant exchange. The PNAMP Coordination Team continued to facilitate dialog among experts to move forward with ongoing and new projects. In addition, the Coordination Team continued their efforts to track in-kind contributions of time from participants at meetings, workshops, and other PNAMP hosted events; in 2017 this estimate amounted to 2,039 hours by 67 organizations.

2011 Science Accomplishments Report of the Pacific Northwest Research Station

Treesearch

Rhonda Mazza

2012-01-01

Expertise, dedication, and partnership: these are key elements to success within the Pacific Northwest Research Station. Fostering these elements enables the station to generate timely scientific information for land managers and policymakers to use for decisions about managing natural resources. In 2011, several projects examined ecosystem processes across...

Risk assessment for biodiversity conservation planning in Pacific Northwest forests

Treesearch

Becky K. Kerns; Alan Ager

2007-01-01

Risk assessment can provide a robust strategy for landscape-scale planning challenges associated with species conservation and habitat protection in Pacific Northwest forests. We provide an overview of quantitative and probabilistic ecological risk assessment with focus on the application of approaches and influences from the actuarial, financial, and technical...

Potato psyllid vector of zebra chip disease in Pacific Northwest

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Zebra chip is a destructive disease of potatoes in the Pacific Northwest and other potato production regions of North America. The pathogen associated with this disease is transmitted by the potato psyllid. A team of researchers which included a scientist at the ARS in Wapato, WA updated an extens...

Watershed management in the Pacific Northwest: The historical legacy

Treesearch

Robert L. Beschta

2000-01-01

The last 100 years marks a period of accelerating land use and consequent effects upon the water resources of the Pacific Northwest. In contrast, federal and state efforts to reduce land use impacts to water resources have largely emerged only during the last 35 years. While university courses in watershed management were generally available in the 1950s, the number of...

Potential canopy interception of nitrogen in the Pacific Northwest, USA

Treesearch

Jeffrey M. Klopatek; Matthew J. Barry; Dale W. Johnson

2006-01-01

Nitrogen deposition is increasing worldwide from anthropogenic sources and encroactring upon previously N limited ecosystems. Recent literature reports increases in inorganic N deposition in Pacific Northwest forests of the United States due to expanding urbanization. We examined the contributions of atmospheric deposition of inorganic N to old-growth and second-growth...

2006 Pacific Northwest Loads and Resources Study.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

United States. Bonneville Power Administration.

2006-03-01

The Pacific Northwest Loads and Resources Study (White Book), which is published annually by the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), establishes one of the planning bases for supplying electricity to customers. The White Book contains projections of regional and Federal system load and resource capabilities, along with relevant definitions and explanations. The White Book also contains information obtained from formalized resource planning reports and data submittals including those from individual utilities, the Northwest Power and Conservation Council (Council), and the Pacific Northwest Utilities Conference Committee (PNUCC). The White Book is not an operational planning guide, nor is it used for determiningmore » BPA revenues, although the database that generates the data for the White Book analysis contributes to the development of BPA's inventory and ratemaking processes. Operation of the Federal Columbia River Power System (FCRPS) is based on a set of criteria different from that used for resource planning decisions. Operational planning is dependent upon real-time or near-term knowledge of system conditions that include expectations of river flows and runoff, market opportunities, availability of reservoir storage, energy exchanges, and other factors affecting the dynamics of operating a power system. The load resource balance of both the Federal system and the region is determined by comparing resource availability to an expected level of total retail electricity consumption. Resources include projected energy capability plus contract purchases. Loads include a forecast of retail obligations plus contract obligations. Surplus energy is available when resources are greater than loads. This surplus energy could be marketed to increase revenues. Energy deficits occur when resources are less than loads. These energy deficits will be met by any combination of the following: better-than-critical water conditions, demand-side management and conservation

Assessment of the risk of invasion of national forest streams in the Pacific Northwest by farmed Atlantic salmon.

Treesearch

Peter A. Bisson

2006-01-01

This report describes the evidence for invasion of Pacific Northwest streams by Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) that have escaped from marine salmon farms, and assesses the potential impact of farmed salmon invasion on native fishes inhabiting streams on National Forest System lands. The current risk to streams on National Forest lands in the Pacific Northwest from...

Tropical land-sea couplings: Role of watershed deforestation, mangrove estuary processing, and marine inputs on N fluxes in coastal Pacific Panama.

PubMed

Valiela, Ivan; Elmstrom, Elizabeth; Lloret, Javier; Stone, Thomas; Camilli, Luis

2018-07-15

We review data from coastal Pacific Panama and other tropical coasts with two aims. First, we defined inputs and losses of nitrogen (N) mediating connectivity of watersheds, mangrove estuaries, and coastal sea. N entering watersheds-mainly via N fixation (79-86%)-was largely intercepted; N discharges to mangrove estuaries (3-6%), small compared to N inputs to watersheds, nonetheless significantly supplied N to mangrove estuaries. Inputs to mangrove estuaries (including watershed discharges, and marine inputs during flood tides) were matched by losses (mainly denitrification and export during ebb tides). Mangrove estuary subsidies of coastal marine food webs take place by export of forms of N [DON (62.5%), PN (9.1%), and litter N (12.9%)] that provide dissimilative and assimilative subsidies. N fixation, denitrification, and tidal exchanges were major processes, and DON was major form of N involved in connecting fluxes in and out of mangrove estuaries. Second, we assessed effects of watershed forest cover on connectivity. Decreased watershed forest cover lowered N inputs, interception, and discharge into receiving mangrove estuaries. These imprints of forest cover were erased during transit of N through estuaries, owing to internal N cycle transformations, and differences in relative area of watersheds and estuaries. Largest losses of N consisted of water transport of energy-rich compounds, particularly DON. N losses were similar in magnitude to N inputs from sea, calculated without considering contribution by intermittent coastal upwelling, and hence likely under-estimated. Pacific Panama mangrove estuaries are exposed to major inputs of N from land and sea, which emphasizes the high degree of bi-directional connectivity in these coupled ecosystems. Pacific Panama is still lightly affected by human or global changes. Increased deforestation can be expected, as well as changes in ENSO, which will surely raise watershed-derived loads of N, as well as significantly

Silvicultural approaches to animal damage management in Pacific Northwest forests.

Treesearch

Hugh C. Black

1992-01-01

This book examines the potential of Silvicultural approaches for managing animal damage in forests at two levels: management of free-to-grow stands and sitespecific practices that foster prompt and successful regeneration. Introductory chapters provide a historical perspective of animal damage management in the Pacific Northwest, describe the elements of an integrated...

2008 Science Accomplishments Report of the Pacific Northwest Research Station

Treesearch

Rhonda Mazza

2009-01-01

This report highlights significant research findings and accomplishments by scientists at the Pacific Northwest (PNW) Research Station during fiscal year 2008. The mission of the PNW Research Station is to generate and communicate scientific knowledge that helps people understand and make informed choices about people, natural resources, and the environment. The work...

Forest economics research at the Pacific Northwest Research Station, to 2000.

Treesearch

Donald F. Flora

2003-01-01

The contributions for over 80 years by scientists at the Pacific Northwest Research Station to developments in economic theory, economic tools, policies, and economic issues are summarized. This is a story of progressive accomplishments set against a constantly changing background of economic and social events.

RESTORING WILD SALMON TO THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST: FRAMING THE RISK QUESTION

EPA Science Inventory

In the Pacific Northwest of the United States, it is urgent to assess accurately the various options proposed to restore wild salmon. For the past 125 years, a variety of analytic approaches have been employed to assess the ecological consequences of salmon management options. ...

An index of biological integrity (IBI) for Pacific Northwest rivers

USGS Publications Warehouse

Mebane, C.A.; Maret, T.R.; Hughes, R.M.

2003-01-01

The index of biotic integrity (IBI) is a commonly used measure of relative aquatic ecosystem condition; however, its application to coldwater rivers over large geographic areas has been limited. A seven-step process was used to construct and test an IBI applicable to fish assemblages in coldwater rivers throughout the U.S. portion of the Pacific Northwest. First, fish data from the region were compiled from previous studies and candidate metrics were selected. Second, reference conditions were estimated from historical reports and minimally disturbed reference sites in the region. Third, data from the upper Snake River basin were used to test metrics and develop the initial index. Fourth, candidate metrics were evaluated for their redundancy, variability, precision, and ability to reflect a wide range of conditions while distinguishing reference sites from disturbed sites. Fifth, the selected metrics were standardized by being scored continuously from 0 to 1 and then weighted as necessary to produce an IBI ranging from 0 to 100. The resulting index included 10 metrics: number of native coldwater species, number of age-classes of sculpins Cottus spp., percentage of sensitive native individuals, percentage of coldwater individuals, percentage of tolerant individuals, number of alien species, percentage of common carp Cyprinus carpio individuals, number of selected salmonid age-classes, catch per unit effort of coldwater individuals, and percentage of individuals with selected anomalies. Sixth, the IBI responses were tested with additional data sets from throughout the Pacific Northwest. Last, scores from two minimally disturbed reference rivers were evaluated for longitudinal gradients along the river continuum. The IBI responded to environmental disturbances and was spatially and temporally stable at over 150 sites in the Pacific Northwest. The results support its use across a large geographic area to describe the relative biological condition of coolwater and

Sampling methods for amphibians in streams in the Pacific Northwest.

Treesearch

R. Bruce Bury; Paul Stephen Corn

1991-01-01

Methods describing how to sample aquatic and semiaquatic amphibians in small streams and headwater habitats in the Pacific Northwest are presented. We developed a technique that samples 10-meter stretches of selected streams, which was adequate to detect presence or absence of amphibian species and provided sample sizes statistically sufficient to compare abundance of...

2007 Science Accomplishments Report of the Pacific Northwest Research Station.

Treesearch

Rhonda Mazza

2008-01-01

As I look back at 2007 for the Pacific Northwest (PNW) Research Station, I am very gratified at the contributions of our scientists and support staff in producing scientific knowledge and tools. This year has brought unprecedented recognition of the contributions of our scientists. Ralph Alig (research forester), Ron Neilson (bioclimatologist), and David L. Peterson (...

Special forest products: species information guide for the Pacific Northwest.

Treesearch

Nan C. Vance; Melissa Borsting; David Pilz; Jim Freed

2001-01-01

This guide is a collection of information about economically important vascular and nonvascular plants and fungi found in the Pacific Northwest that furnish special forest products. Many of these plants and fungi are also found in Alaska, northern Idaho, and western Montana. They contribute to many botanical, floral, woodcraft, and decorative industries and to the...

Pacific Northwest ecoclass codes for seral and potential natural communities.

Treesearch

Frederick C. Hall

1998-01-01

Lists codes for identification of potential natural communities (plant association, habitat types), their seral status, and vegetation structure in and around the Pacific Northwest. Codes are a six-digit alphanumeric system using the first letter of tree species, life-form, seral status, and structure so that most codes can be directly interpreted. Seven appendices...

Ex situ gene conservation for conifers in the Pacific Northwest.

Treesearch

Sara R. Lipow; J. Bradley St. Clair; G.R. Johnson

2002-01-01

Recently, a group of public and private organizations responsible for managing much of the timberland in western Oregon and Washington formed the Pacific Northwest forest tree Gene Conservation Group (GCG) to ensure that the evolutionary potential of important regional tree species is maintained. The group is first compiling data to evaluate the genetic resource status...

MAPPING GREEN MACROALGAE BLOOMS IN A PACIFIC NORTHWEST ESTUARY VIA 35-MM AERIAL PHOTOS

EPA Science Inventory

Summer blooms of green macroalgae (mainly Ulva spp. and Enteromorpha spp.) on intertidal mudflats of Oregon's Yaquina Bay estuary were documented using oblique 35-mm color-infrared aerial photographs taken at low tide. Costs were controlled by use of a small airplane from a loc...

1,500 year quantitative reconstruction of winter precipitation in the Pacific Northwest

PubMed Central

Steinman, Byron A.; Abbott, Mark B.; Mann, Michael E.; Stansell, Nathan D.; Finney, Bruce P.

2012-01-01

Multiple paleoclimate proxies are required for robust assessment of past hydroclimatic conditions. Currently, estimates of drought variability over the past several thousand years are based largely on tree-ring records. We produced a 1,500-y record of winter precipitation in the Pacific Northwest using a physical model-based analysis of lake sediment oxygen isotope data. Our results indicate that during the Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA) (900–1300 AD) the Pacific Northwest experienced exceptional wetness in winter and that during the Little Ice Age (LIA) (1450–1850 AD) conditions were drier, contrasting with hydroclimatic anomalies in the desert Southwest and consistent with climate dynamics related to the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO). These findings are somewhat discordant with drought records from tree rings, suggesting that differences in seasonal sensitivity between the two proxies allow a more compete understanding of the climate system and likely explain disparities in inferred climate trends over centennial timescales. PMID:22753510

The Pacific Northwest Research Station biodiversity initiative: collaborating for biodiversity management.

Treesearch

Peter Nelson; Rachel White; Randy Molina

2006-01-01

The Pacific Northwest Research Station launched a biodiversity initiative to assist natural resource professionals in integrating complex biodiversity concepts into natural resource management processes. We canvassed clients from various affiliations to determine the main challenges they face in biodiversity management, to define their information needs, and to...

Soil wet aggregate stability in dryland Pacific Northwest intensified crop rotations

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Improving soil aggregation in the semiarid inland Pacific Northwest cropping region can reduce the erodibility and improve water infiltration in the silt loam soils. We compared the individual crop phases of six different crop rotations in plots located in 300 mm mean annual precipitation area of t...

2013 Science Accomplishments Report of the Pacific Northwest Research Station

Treesearch

Rhonda Mazza

2014-01-01

Communicating the scientific knowledge generated by the Pacific Northwest Research Station is integral to our mission. The 2013 Science Accomplishments reports highlights the breadth of the station’s research, the relevance of our science findings, and the application of these findings. The photographs throughout the report showcase the region where we work and how...

2014 Science Accomplishments Report of the Pacific Northwest Research Station

Treesearch

Rhonda Mazza

2015-01-01

Communicating the scientific knowledge generated by the Pacific Northwest Research Station is integral to our mission. The 2014 Science Accomplishments reports highlights the breadth of the station’s research, the relevance of our science findings, and the application of these findings. The photographs throughout the report showcase the region where we work and how...

Pacific Northwest Storms Situation Report # 3

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

None

2006-12-17

Significant progress has been made in restoring power to customers in the Pacific Northwest region. Currently, 468,200 customers, including Canada, remain without power. This is down from 1.8 million customers who lost power following severe wind and snow storms on December 14-15, 2006. The customers without power represent about 16 percent of customers in the affected utility service areas of Oregon and Washington. See table below. The Olympic pipeline reports that the pipeline is operational; however, pipeline throughput remains reduced since one substation along the line remains without power. Complete power restoration is expected later today. There are no reportsmore » of problems regarding fuel distribution and production.« less

Living With Earthquakes in the Pacific Northwest: A Survivor's Guide, 2nd edition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hutton, Kate

In 1995, Robert S.Yeats found himself teaching a core curriculum class at Oregon State University for undergraduate nonscience majors, linking recent discoveries on the earthquake hazard in the Pacific Northwest to societal response to those hazards. The notes for that course evolved into the first edition of this book, published in 1998. In 2001, he published a similar book, Living With Earthquakes in California: A Survivors Guide (Oregon State University Press).Recent earthquakes, such as the 2001 Nisqually Mw6.8, discoveries, and new techniques in paleoseismology plus changes in public policy decisions, quickly outdated the first Pacific Northwest edition. This is especially true with the Cascadia Subduction Zone and crustal faults, where our knowledge expands with every scientific meeting.

Causes and effects of a highly successful marine invasion: Case-study of the introduced Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas in continental NW European estuaries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Troost, Karin

2010-10-01

Since the 1960's, the Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas has been introduced for mariculture at several locations within NW Europe. The oyster established itself everywhere and expanded rapidly throughout the receiving ecosystems, forming extensive and dense reef structures. It became clear that the Pacific oyster induced major changes in NW European estuaries. This paper reviews the causes of the Pacific oyster's remarkably successful establishment and spread in The Netherlands and neighbouring countries, and includes a comprehensive review of consequences for the receiving communities. Ecosystem engineering by C. gigas and a relative lack of natural enemies in receiving ecosystems are identified as the most important characteristics facilitating the invader's successful establishment and expansion. The Pacific oyster's large filtration capacity and eco-engineering characteristics induced many changes in receiving ecosystems. Different estuaries are affected differently; in the Dutch Oosterschelde estuary expanding stocks saturate the carrying capacity whereas in the Wadden Sea no such problems exist. In general, the Pacific oyster seems to fit well within continental NW European estuarine ecosystems and there is no evidence that the invader outcompetes native bivalves. C. gigas induces changes in plankton composition, habitat heterogeneity and biodiversity, carrying capacity, food webs and parasite life cycles. The case of the Pacific oyster in NW European estuaries is only one example in an increasing series of biological invasions mediated by human activities. This case-study will contribute to further elucidating general mechanisms in marine invasions; invasions that sometimes appear a threat, but can also contribute to ecological complexity.

WILD SALMON RESTORATION IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST: FORECASTING THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY

EPA Science Inventory

Restoring wild salmon runs to the Pacific Northwest is technically challenging, politically nasty, and socially divisive. Past restoration efforst have been largely unsuccessful. Society's failure to reverse the continuing decline of wild salmon has the characteristics of a pol...

Distance Education in the Pacific Northwest: Program Benefits and Implementation Barriers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yap, Kim O.

In 1990, the Satellite Telecommunications Educational Programming (STEP) Network in Spokane (Washington) joined with state education agencies from Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington to form the Pacific Northwest Star Schools partnership for distance education. The STEP network offers telecast courses to 500 schools, 90% of which are in…

Ecosystem services provided by Pacific NW estuaries: State of knowledge - March 3, 2011

EPA Science Inventory

Coastal regions in the United States are rapidly developing areas, with increasing urbanization and growing populations. Estuarine and nearshore coastal marine waters provide valuable ecosystem services to resident and transient human communities. In the Pacific Northwest (PNW) ...

Economic impacts of interregional competition in the forest products industry during the 1970's: the South and the Pacific Northwest.

Treesearch

Con H. Schallau; Wilbur R. Maki

1986-01-01

Until the 1970's, the Pacific Northwest dominated national markets for softwood lumber and plywood. During the 1970's, however, the region's share declined while production increased in the South. Meanwhile, the South's and the Pacific Northwest's shares of the Nation's employment in lumber and wood products declined. This resulted mainly...

Bed Stability and sedimentation associated with human disturbances in Pacific Northwest streams

EPA Science Inventory

To evaluate anthropogenic sedimentation in United States (U.S.) Pacific Northwest coastal streams, we applied an index of relative bed stability (LRBS*) to summer low flow survey data collected using the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Environmental Monitoring and Assessme...

Geographies of Indigenous Leaders: Landscapes and Mindscapes in the Pacific Northwest

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marker, Michael

2015-01-01

This essay features three stories of "place-based" leadership in two Indigenous communities in the Pacific Northwest. Author Michael Marker weaves together stories from Nisga'a Elders in the Nass Valley of British Columbia, Coast Salish Elders in Washington State, and his own experiences as a researcher, teacher educator, and community…

DESIGN AND PERFORMANCE OF SLOW SAND FILTERS IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST

EPA Science Inventory

This paper was prepared as a review of slow sand filtration design and operating practices at 13 filtration plants constructed between 1958 and 1988 in the Pacific Northwest. t represents an attempt to learn from the past in order to do a better job in the future. mong the topics...

75 FR 20812 - Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request; Northwest Region Pacific Whiting Shoreside...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-04-21

... DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request; Northwest Region Pacific Whiting Shoreside Fishery Monitoring and Catch Accounting Program AGENCY: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce. ACTION: Notice...

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory institutional plan: FY 1996--2001

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

NONE

1996-01-01

This report contains the operation and direction plan for the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory of the US Department of Energy. The topics of the plan include the laboratory mission and core competencies, the laboratory strategic plan; the laboratory initiatives in molecular sciences, microbial biotechnology, global environmental change, complex modeling of physical systems, advanced processing technology, energy technology development, and medical technologies and systems; core business areas, critical success factors, and resource projections.

US EPA Sustainable and Healthy Communities Research: A Pacific Northwest Demonstration Study

EPA Science Inventory

This 2-page fact sheet is a communication product aimed at EPA clients, cooperators and stakeholders. It describes ecosystem services research being conducted in the Pacific Northwest (PNW) by the EPA Western Ecology Division, in association with EPA’s Sustainable and Healthy Com...

33 CFR 334.961 - Pacific Ocean, San Clemente Island, California, naval danger zone off the northwest shore.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 3 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Pacific Ocean, San Clemente... RESTRICTED AREA REGULATIONS § 334.961 Pacific Ocean, San Clemente Island, California, naval danger zone off the northwest shore. (a) The danger zone: The waters of the Pacific Ocean adjacent to San Clemente...

33 CFR 334.961 - Pacific Ocean, San Clemente Island, California, naval danger zone off the northwest shore.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 3 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Pacific Ocean, San Clemente... RESTRICTED AREA REGULATIONS § 334.961 Pacific Ocean, San Clemente Island, California, naval danger zone off the northwest shore. (a) The danger zone: The waters of the Pacific Ocean adjacent to San Clemente...

33 CFR 334.961 - Pacific Ocean, San Clemente Island, California, naval danger zone off the northwest shore.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 3 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Pacific Ocean, San Clemente... RESTRICTED AREA REGULATIONS § 334.961 Pacific Ocean, San Clemente Island, California, naval danger zone off the northwest shore. (a) The danger zone: The waters of the Pacific Ocean adjacent to San Clemente...

33 CFR 334.961 - Pacific Ocean, San Clemente Island, California, naval danger zone off the northwest shore.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 3 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Pacific Ocean, San Clemente... RESTRICTED AREA REGULATIONS § 334.961 Pacific Ocean, San Clemente Island, California, naval danger zone off the northwest shore. (a) The danger zone: The waters of the Pacific Ocean adjacent to San Clemente...

2003 Pacific Northwest Loads and Resources Study.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

United States. Bonneville Power Administration.

2003-12-01

The Pacific Northwest Loads and Resources Study (White Book), which is published annually by the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), establishes one of the planning bases for supplying electricity to customers. The White Book contains projections of regional and Federal system load and resource capabilities, along with relevant definitions and explanations. The White Book also contains information obtained from formalized resource planning reports and data submittals including those from individual utilities, the Northwest Power and Conservation Council (Council), and the Pacific Northwest Utilities Conference Committee (PNUCC). The White Book is not an operational planning guide, nor is it used for determiningmore » BPA revenues, although the database that generates the data for the White Book analysis contributes to the development of BPA's inventory and ratemaking processes. Operation of the Federal Columbia River Power System (FCRPS) is based on a set of criteria different from that used for resource planning decisions. Operational planning is dependent upon real-time or near-term knowledge of system conditions that include expectations of river flows and runoff, market opportunities, availability of reservoir storage, energy exchanges, and other factors affecting the dynamics of operating a power system. In this loads and resources study, resource availability is compared to an expected level of total retail electricity consumption. The forecasted annual energy electricity retail load plus contract obligations are subtracted from the sum of the projected annual energy capability of existing resources and contract purchases to determine whether BPA and/or the region will be surplus or deficit. Surplus energy is available when resources are greater than loads. This energy could be marketed to increase revenues. Deficits occur when resources are less than loads. Energy deficits could be met by any combination of the following: better-than-critical water

2004 Pacific Northwest Loads and Resources Study.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

United States. Bonneville Power Administration.

2004-12-01

The Pacific Northwest Loads and Resources Study (White Book), which is published annually by the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), establishes one of the planning bases for supplying electricity to customers. The White Book contains projections of regional and Federal system load and resource capabilities, along with relevant definitions and explanations. The White Book also contains information obtained from formalized resource planning reports and data submittals including those from individual utilities, the Northwest Power and Conservation Council (Council), and the Pacific Northwest Utilities Conference Committee (PNUCC). The White Book is not an operational planning guide, nor is it used for determiningmore » BPA revenues, although the database that generates the data for the White Book analysis contributes to the development of BPA's inventory and ratemaking processes. Operation of the Federal Columbia River Power System (FCRPS) is based on a set of criteria different from that used for resource planning decisions. Operational planning is dependent upon real-time or near-term knowledge of system conditions that include expectations of river flows and runoff, market opportunities, availability of reservoir storage, energy exchanges, and other factors affecting the dynamics of operating a power system. The load resource balance of BPA and/or the region is determined by comparing resource availability to an expected level of total retail electricity consumption. Resources include projected energy capability plus contract purchases. Loads include a forecast of retail obligations plus contract obligations. Surplus energy is available when resources are greater than loads. This energy could be marketed to increase revenues. Energy deficits occur when resources are less than loads. These deficits could be met by any combination of the following: better-than-critical water conditions, demand-side management and conservation programs, permanent loss of loads

Thresholds for protecting Pacific Northwest ecosystems from atmospheric deposition of nitrogen: state of knowledge report

USGS Publications Warehouse

Cummings, Tonnie; Blett, Tamara; Porter, Ellen; Geiser, Linda; Graw, Rick; McMurray, Jill; Perakis, Steven S.; Rochefort, Regina

2014-01-01

The National Park Service and U.S. Forest Service manage areas in the states of Idaho, Oregon, and Washington – collectively referred to in this report as the Pacific Northwest - that contain significant natural resources and provide many recreational opportunities. The agencies are mandated to protect the air quality and air pollution-sensitive resources on these federal lands. Human activity has greatly increased the amount of nitrogen emitted to the atmosphere, resulting in elevated amounts of nitrogen being deposited in park and forest ecosystems. There is limited information in the Pacific Northwest about the levels of nitrogen that negatively affect natural systems, i.e., the critical loads. The National Park Service and U.S. Forest Service, with scientific input from the U.S. Geological Survey, have developed an approach for accumulating additional nitrogen critical loads information in the Pacific Northwest and using the data in planning and regulatory arenas. As a first step in that process, this report summarizes the current state of knowledge about nitrogen deposition, effects, and critical loads in the region. It also describes ongoing research efforts and identifies and prioritizes additional data needs.

Smoke exposure among firefighters at prescribed burns in the Pacific Northwest.

Treesearch

Timothy E. Reinhardt; Roger D. Ottmar; Andrew J.S. Hanneman

2000-01-01

Smoke exposure measurements among firefighters during prescribed burns in the Pacific Northwest between 1991 and 1994 showed that a small but significant percentage of workers experienced exposure to carbon monoxide and respiratory irritants that exceeded occupational exposure limits. This most often was caused by unfavorable winds or fire behavior and occurred mostly...

Maturation and reproduction of northern flying squirrels in Pacific Northwest forests.

Treesearch

Lisa J. Villa; Andrew B. Carey; Todd M. Wilson; Karma E. Glos

1999-01-01

Northern flying squirrels are the primary prey of northern spotted owls and are important dispersers of fungal spores in Pacific Northwest forests. Despite the importance of these squirrels in forest ecosystems, information is lacking on life history and methods for determining age and reproductive condition. In the laboratory, we measured epiphyseal notch, femur...

Regional Approaches to Climate Change for Inland Pacific Northwest Cereal Production Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eigenbrode, S. D.; Abatzoglou, J. T.; Burke, I. C.; Capalbo, S.; Gessler, P.; Huggins, D. R.; Johnson-Maynard, J.; Kruger, C.; Lamb, B. K.; Machado, S.; Mote, P.; Painter, K.; Pan, W.; Petrie, S.; Paulitz, T. C.; Stockle, C.; Walden, V. P.; Wulfhorst, J. D.; Wolf, K. J.

2011-12-01

The long-term environmental and economic sustainability of agriculture in the Inland Pacific Northwest (northern Idaho, north central Oregon, and eastern Washington) depends upon improving agricultural management, technology, and policy to enable adaptation to climate change and to help realize agriculture's potential to contribute to climate change mitigation. To address this challenge, three land-grant institutions (Oregon State University, the University of Idaho and Washington State University) (OSU, UI, WSU) and USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) units are partners in a collaborative project - Regional Approaches to Climate Change for Pacific Northwest Agriculture (REACCH-PNA). The overarching goal of REACCH is to enhance the sustainability of Inland Pacific Northwest (IPNW) cereal production systems under ongoing and projected climate change while contributing to climate change mitigation. Supporting goals include: - Develop and implement sustainable agricultural practices for cereal production within existing and projected agroecological zones throughout the region as climate changes, - Contribute to climate change mitigation through improved fertilizer, fuel, and pesticide use efficiency, increased sequestration of soil carbon, and reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions consistent with the 2030 targets set by the USDA National Institute for Food and Agriculture (NIFA), - Work closely with stakeholders and policymakers to promote science-based agricultural approaches to climate change adaptation and mitigation, - Increase the number of scientists, educators, and extension professionals with the skills and knowledge to address climate change and its interactions with agriculture. In this poster, we provide an overview of the specific goals of this project and activities that are underway since its inception in spring of 2011.

2011 Annual Ecological Survey: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Site

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Becker, James M.; Chamness, Michele A.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Pacific Northwest Site Office (PNSO) oversees and manages the DOE contract for the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), a DOE Office of Science multi-program laboratory located in Richland, Washington. PNSO is responsible for ensuring that all activities conducted on the PNNL site comply with applicable laws, policies, and DOE Orders. The DOE Pacific Northwest Site Office Cultural and Biological Resources Management Plan (DOE/PNSO 2008) addresses the requirement for annual surveys and monitoring for species of concern and to identify and map invasive species. In addition to the requirement for an annual survey, proposed projectmore » activities must be reviewed to assess any potential environmental consequences of conducting the project. The assessment process requires a thorough understanding of the resources present, the potential impacts of a proposed action to those resources, and the ultimate consequences of those actions. The PNNL site is situated on the southeastern corner of the DOE Hanford Site, located at the north end of the city of Richland in south-central Washington. The site is bordered on the east by the Columbia River, on the west by Stevens Drive, and on the north by the Hanford Site 300 Area (Figure 1). The environmental setting of the PNNL site is described in Larson and Downs (2009). There are currently two facilities on the PNNL site: the William R. Wiley Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory and the Physical Sciences Facility. This report describes the annual survey of biological resources found on the undeveloped upland portions of the PNNL site. The annual survey is comprised of a series of individual field surveys conducted on various days in late May and throughout June 2011. A brief description of the methods PNNL ecologists used to conduct the baseline surveys and a summary of the results of the surveys are presented. Appendix A provides a list of plant and animal species identified

Climate Change Impact Assessment for Surface Transportation in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2012-01-01

The states in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska region share interconnected transportation networks for people, goods, and services that support the : regional economy, mobility, and human safety. Regional weather has and will continue to affect the p...

Understanding key issues of sustainable wood production in the Pacific Northwest.

Treesearch

Robert L. Deal; Seth M. White

2005-01-01

Researchers involved with the Pacific Northwest (PNW) Research Station Sustainable Wood Production Initiative have outlined some of the barriers and opportunities for sustainable wood production in the region. Sustainable wood production is defined as the capacity of forests to produce wood, products, and services on a long-term basis and in the context of human...

Ties that bind: Pacific Northwest truffles, trees, and animals in symbiosis

Treesearch

Marie Oliver; Randy Molina; Jane E.  Smith

2009-01-01

Soil organisms play essential roles in forest health, and truffle fungi are one of the more fascinating groups of these important organisms. After 40 years of specimen collection and study, scientists with Pacific Northwest Research Station have published a report documenting how truffle fungi affect tree survival and growth, perform valuable functions in nutrient...

2010 Ecological Survey of the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Site

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chamness, Michele A.; Perry, Christopher; Downs, Janelle L.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Pacific Northwest Site Office (PNSO) oversees and manages the DOE contract for the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), a DOE Office of Science multi-program laboratory located in Richland, Washington. PNSO is responsible for ensuring that all activities conducted on the PNNL Site comply with applicable laws, policies, and DOE orders. The DOE Pacific Northwest Site Office Cultural and Biological Resources Management Plan (DOE/PNSO 2008) addresses the requirement for annual surveys and monitoring for species of concern and to identify and map invasive species. In addition to the requirement for an annual survey, proposed projectmore » activities must be reviewed to assess any potential environmental consequences of conducting the project. The assessment process requires a thorough understanding of the resources present, the potential impacts of a proposed action to those resources, and the ultimate consequences of those actions. The PNNL Site is situated on the southeastern corner of the DOE Hanford Site, located at the north end of the city of Richland in south-central Washington. The site is bordered on the east by the Columbia River, on the west by Stevens Drive, and on the north by the Hanford Site 300 Area (Figure 1). The environmental setting of the PNNL Site is described in Larson and Downs (2009). There are currently two facilities on the PNNL Site: the William R. Wiley Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL), and the recently completed Physical Sciences Facility (PSF). This report describes the results of the annual survey of the biological resources found on the undeveloped portions of the PNNL Site in 2010. A brief description of the methods PNNL ecologists used to conduct the surveys and the results of the surveys are presented. Actions taken to fully delineate noxious weed populations discovered in 2009 and efforts in 2010 to control those weeds also are described. Appendix A provides a list of

Cryptococcus gattii infections in multiple states outside the US Pacific Northwest.

PubMed

Harris, Julie R; Lockhart, Shawn R; Sondermeyer, Gail; Vugia, Duc J; Crist, Matthew B; D'Angelo, Melissa Tobin; Sellers, Brenda; Franco-Paredes, Carlos; Makvandi, Monear; Smelser, Chad; Greene, John; Stanek, Danielle; Signs, Kimberly; Nett, Randall J; Chiller, Tom; Park, Benjamin J

2013-10-01

Clonal VGII subtypes (outbreak strains) of Cryptococcus gattii have caused an outbreak in the US Pacific Northwest since 2004. Outbreak-associated infections occur equally in male and female patients (median age 56 years) and usually cause pulmonary disease in persons with underlying medical conditions. Since 2009, a total of 25 C. gattii infections, 23 (92%) caused by non-outbreak strain C. gattii, have been reported from 8 non-Pacific Northwest states. Sixteen (64%) patients were previously healthy, and 21 (84%) were male; median age was 43 years (range 15-83 years). Ten patients who provided information reported no past-year travel to areas where C. gattii is known to be endemic. Nineteen (76%) patients had central nervous system infections; 6 (24%) died. C. gattii infection in persons without exposure to known disease-endemic areas suggests possible endemicity in the United States outside the outbreak-affected region; these infections appear to differ in clinical and demographic characteristics from outbreak-associated C. gattii. Clinicians outside the outbreak-affected areas should be aware of locally acquired C. gattii infection and its varied signs and symptoms.

SALMON IN CRISIS: IN SEARCH OF A SOLUTION FOR THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST

EPA Science Inventory

Throughout the Pacific Northwest, since 1850, all wild salmon runs have declined and some have disappeared. Billions of dollars have been spent in a so-far failed attempt to reverse the long-term decline. Each year, hundreds of millions of dollars continue to be spent in variou...

Assessing the capacity of the Pacific Northwest as an intermodal freight transportation hub.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2015-08-01

This project synthesizes information from multiple sources about the capacity of the Pacific Northwest region to handle intermodal : freight transportation demand. The findings from this research are intended to be used as a framework to start a rese...

Spread of Cryptococcus gattii into Pacific Northwest Region of the United States

PubMed Central

Datta, Kausik; Bartlett, Karen H.; Baer, Rebecca; Byrnes, Edmond; Galanis, Eleni; Heitman, Joseph; Hoang, Linda; Leslie, Mira J.; MacDougall, Laura; Magill, Shelley S.; Morshed, Muhammad G.

2009-01-01

Cryptococcus gattii has emerged as a human and animal pathogen in the Pacific Northwest. First recognized on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada, it now involves mainland British Columbia, and Washington and Oregon in the United States. In Canada, the incidence of disease has been one of the highest worldwide. In the United States, lack of cryptococcal species identification and case surveillance limit our knowledge of C. gattii epidemiology. Infections in the Pacific Northwest are caused by multiple genotypes, but the major strain is genetically novel and may have emerged recently in association with unique mating or environmental changes. C. gattii disease affects immunocompromised and immunocompetent persons, causing substantial illness and death. Successful management requires an aggressive medical and surgical approach and consideration of potentially variable antifungal drug susceptibilities. We summarize the study results of a group of investigators and review current knowledge with the goal of increasing awareness and highlighting areas where further knowledge is required. PMID:19757550

Pacific Northwest forest tree seed zones: a template for native plants?

Treesearch

GR Johnson; Frank C Sorensen; J Bradley St Clair; Richard C. Cronn

2004-01-01

Seed movement guidelines for restoration activities are lacking for most native grasses, forbs, and shrubs. The forestry community has decades of experience in establishing seed zones and seed movement guidelines that may be of value to restoration managers. We review the history of seed zone development in forest trees, with emphasis on the Pacific Northwest, and make...

Knock on wood: Is wood production sustainable in the Pacific Northwest?

Treesearch

Jonathan Thompson

2006-01-01

The Pacific Northwest is one of the world’s major timber-producing regions, and its capacity to produce wood on a sustained-yield basis is widely recognized. Nonetheless, there has been increasing public interest in assuring that forests are being sustainably managed, as well as a desire by landowners to demonstrate their commitment to responsible stewardship.

Predicting moisture content: fuel moisture indicator sticks in the Pacific Northwest.

Treesearch

Owen P. Cramer

1961-01-01

Successful day-to-day planning of presuppression activities requires accurate prediction of burning index. In the Pacific Northwest, forecasts of burning index are prepared by the fire-control man and are based on predictions of windspeed and fuel moisture. Although fuel moisture is affected by a number of weather elements and is consequently difficult to predict, the...

GEOMORPHOLOGY AND ANTHROPOGENIC INFLUENCES ON FISH AND AMPHIBIANS IN PACIFIC NORTHWEST COASTAL STREAMS

EPA Science Inventory

Physical habitat degradation has been implicated as a major contributor to the historic decline of salmonids in Pacific Northwest streams. Native aquatic vertebrate assemblages in the Oregon and Washington Coast Range consist primarily of coldwater salmonids, cottids, and amphib...

Connectivity among straits of the northwest Pacific marginal seas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cho, Yang-Ki; Seo, Gwang-Ho; Choi, Byoung-Ju; Kim, Sangil; Kim, Young-Gyu; Youn, Yong-Hoon; Dever, Edward P.

2009-06-01

The connectivity among straits of the northwest Pacific marginal seas is investigated with a primitive-equation ocean circulation model simulated for 10 years from 1994 to 2003. Over the simulation interval the temporal and spatial means and variations of the model sea surface temperature are comparable to those of the satellite sea surface temperature. The model transport through the straits shows good agreement with the available observations and a high seasonality in the Taiwan Strait, the Korea Strait, and the Soya Strait but relatively low seasonality in the Tsugaru Strait. The Kuroshio and Taiwan Warm Current (TWC) are two sources of water flowing through the Korea Strait. The volume transport in the Korea Strait is dominated by the Kuroshio in winter (83%) and by the TWC in summer (66%). Relative to the transport through the Korea Strait, the transport percentages of the Tsugaru Strait connecting to the northwest Pacific Ocean are 79% in winter and 65% in summer. The seasonality of the Korea Strait transport is positively correlated with the cross-strait wind stress. The drifter experiments show that it takes about 4 months for most of the drifters deployed in the Taiwan Strait to enter the Korea Strait and more than 2 months to travel from the Korea Strait to the Tsugaru and Soya straits.

Balancing conflicting values: ecosystem solutions in the Pacific Northwest of the United States and Canada.

Treesearch

Richard W. Haynes; Robert C. Szaro; Dennis P. Dykstra

2005-01-01

Ecosystem approaches to sustainable forest management in the Pacific Northwest of the United States and Canada have arisen in response to significant changes that have occurred in these societies over the past century or so (Interagency Ecosystem Management Task Force, 1995). One such change as been rapid population growth along the Pacific Coast, where the mild...

Spatial and temporal distribution of Pu in the Northwest Pacific Ocean using modern coral archives.

PubMed

Lindahl, Patric; Andersen, Morten B; Keith-Roach, Miranda; Worsfold, Paul; Hyeong, Kiseong; Choi, Min-Seok; Lee, Sang-Hoon

2012-04-01

Historical (239)Pu activity concentrations and (240)Pu/(239)Pu atom ratios were determined in skeletons of dated modern corals collected from three locations (Chuuk Lagoon, Ishigaki Island and Iki Island) to identify spatial and temporal variations in Pu inputs to the Northwest Pacific Ocean. The main Pu source in the Northwest Pacific is fallout from atmospheric nuclear weapons testing which consists of global fallout and close-in fallout from the former US Pacific Proving Grounds (PPG) in the Marshall Islands. PPG close-in fallout dominated the Pu input in the 1950s, as was observed with higher (240)Pu/(239)Pu atom ratios (>0.30) at the Ishigaki site. Specific fallout Pu contamination from the Nagasaki atomic bomb and the Ivy Mike thermonuclear detonation at the PPG were identified at Ishigaki Island from the (240)Pu/(239)Pu atom ratios of 0.07 and 0.46, respectively. During the 1960s and 1970s, global fallout was the major Pu source to the Northwest Pacific with over 60% contribution to the total Pu. After the cessation of the atmospheric nuclear tests, the PPG again dominated the Pu input due to the continuous transport of remobilised Pu from the Marshall Islands along the North Equatorial Current and the subsequent Kuroshio Current. The Pu contributions from the PPG in recent coral bands (1984 onwards) varied over time with average estimated PPG contributions between 54% and 72% depending on location. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Low thermal tolerances of stream amphibians in the Pacific Northwest: Implications for riparian and forest management

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bury, R.B.

2008-01-01

Temperature has a profound effect on survival and ecology of amphibians. In the Pacific Northwest, timber harvest is known to increase peak stream temperatures to 24??C or higher, which has potential to negatively impact cold-water stream amphibians. I determined the Critical Thermal Maxima (CT max) for two salamanders that are endemic to the Pacific Northwest. Rhyacotriton variegatus larvae acclimated at 10??C had mean CTmax of 26.7 ?? 0.7 SD??C and adults acclimated at 11??C had mean CT max of 27.9 ?? 1.1??C. These were among the lowest known values for any amphibian. Values were significantly higher for larval Dicamptodon tenebrosus acclimated at 14??C (x = 29.1 ?? 0.2??C). Although the smallest R. variegatus had some of the lowest values, size of larvae and adults did not influence CTmax in this species. Current forest practices retain riparian buffers along larger fish-bearing streams; however, such buffers along smaller headwaters and non-fish bearing streams may provide favorable habitat conditions for coldwater-associated species in the Pacific Northwest. The current study lends further evidence to the need for protection of Northwest stream amphibians from environmental perturbations. Forest guidelines that include riparian buffer zones and configurations of upland stands should be developed, while monitoring amphibian responses to determine their success. ?? 2008 Brill Academic Publishers.

Environmental Report on the Northwest Pacific for the Marine Seismic System (MSS)

DTIC Science & Technology

1980-12-01

Kuroshio Cur rent is I oca t ed. F. Surface Currents Surface current circulation in the Northwest Pacific consists of the eastward-flowing warm water...overlying surface waters back to early late Miocene time. Prior to this, and through the Oligocene , the seamount was buried beneath a nearly equally

THE SALMON 2100 PROJECT -- AN ALTERNATIVES FUTURES PERSPECTIVE ON PACIFIC NORTHWEST SALMON RECOVERY

EPA Science Inventory

The primary goal of the Salmon 2100 Project is to identify practical options that have a high probability of maintaining biologically significant, sustainable populations of wild salmon in the Pacific Northwest and California. Wild salmon recovery efforts in western North Americ...

RELATING FINE ROOT BIOMASS TO SOIL AND CLIMATE CONDITIONS IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST

EPA Science Inventory

The additive contribution of fine root biomass for Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco var. menziesii) and western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla (Raf.) Sarg.) to the stand average fine root biomass were estimated for eight conifer stands in the Pacific Northwest. Base...

IMPLEMENTING REGIONAL SCALE MONITORING IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST REGION OF THE U.S.

EPA Science Inventory

Vast forest greeted the early non-native explorers and settlers as they traversed the Pacific Northwest, currently the states of Washington, Oregon and Northern California, west of the Cascade Mountains. This natural resource supported an ever-expanding logging industry, with su...

Representative Agricultural Pathways and Climate Impact Assessment for Pacific Northwest Agricultural Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

MU, J.; Antle, J. M.; Zhang, H.; Capalbo, S. M.; Eigenbrode, S.; Kruger, C.; Stockle, C.; Wolfhorst, J. D.

2013-12-01

Representative Agricultural Pathways (RAPs) are projections of plausible future biophysical and socio-economic conditions used to carry out climate impact assessments for agriculture. The development of RAPs iss motivated by the fact that the various global and regional models used for agricultural climate change impact assessment have been implemented with individualized scenarios using various data and model structures, often without transparent documentation or public availability. These practices have hampered attempts at model inter-comparison, improvement, and synthesis of model results across studies. This paper aims to (1) present RAPs developed for the principal wheat-producing region of the Pacific Northwest, and to (2) combine these RAPs with downscaled climate data, crop model simulations and economic model simulations to assess climate change impacts on winter wheat production and farm income. This research was carried out as part of a project funded by the USDA known as the Regional Approaches to Climate Change in the Pacific Northwest (REACCH). The REACCH study region encompasses the major winter wheat production area in Pacific Northwest and preliminary research shows that farmers producing winter wheat could benefit from future climate change. However, the future world is uncertain in many dimensions, including commodity and input prices, production technology, and policies, as well as increased probability of disturbances (pests and diseases) associated with a changing climate. Many of these factors cannot be modeled, so they are represented in the regional RAPS. The regional RAPS are linked to global agricultural and shared social-economic pathways, and used along with climate change projections to simulate future outcomes for the wheat-based farms in the REACCH region.

AN ECOSYSTEM MODEL OF A RIVER-DOMINATED PACIFIC NORTHWEST ESTUARY: ROLES OF SALT MARSH-, RIVER- AND OCEAN-DERIVED MATERIALS

EPA Science Inventory

The Salmon River estuary on the central Oregon coast is river-dominated, with hydraulic residence times ranging from <1 day during winter high flows to a week during low flows. The estuary receives organic matter and nutrients from the river, the coastal ocean, and a bordering s...

Challenges of Avian Conservation on Non-Federal Forests in the Pacific Northwest

Treesearch

Joseph B. Buchanan

2005-01-01

Conservation of species associated with mature forest habitats remains an important objective for non-federal lands in the Pacific Northwest. With few exceptions, state forest practices rules, a Washington state pilot landscape planning program, and federal Habitat Conservation Plans provide little functional habitat for species, like the Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus...

Specialty fruit production in the Pacific Northwest: Adaptation strategies for a changing climate

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Specialty crops, defined by the USDA as fruits and vegetables, tree nuts, dried fruits and horticulture and nursery crops, including floriculture, represent a substantial portion of agricultural production in the Pacific Northwest. Climate change may threaten water sources, lengthen the dry season, ...

Characteristics of lightning and wildland fire ignition in the Pacific Northwest.

Treesearch

Miriam L. Rorig; Sue A. Ferguson

1999-01-01

Lightning is the primary cause of fire in the forested regions of the Pacific Northwest, especially when it occurs without significant precipitation at the surface. Using thunderstorm occurrence and precipitation observations for the period 1948–77, along with automated lightning strike data for the period 1986–96, it was possible to classify convective days as either...

Native Transformations in the Pacific Northwest: A strength-based model of protection against substance use disorder.

PubMed

Rasmus, Stacy; Allen, James; Connor, William; Freeman, William; Skewes, Monica

2016-01-01

This paper presents findings from the Native Transformations Project, an exploratory community-based participatory research study that aims to identify sources of strength and protection against substance use disorder in three tribal communities in the coastal Pacific Northwest. Preliminary results from the study describe the specific settings, acts, and behaviors that build strengths and provide protection at the family, community, individual, and spiritual levels within coastal Pacific Northwest local tribal cultures. Findings from this study give voice to stated community preferences for grassroots Native intervention programs based in local cultural knowledge, worldviews, values, and theories of change, that operate at the local level on their own terms.

NATIVE TRANSFORMATIONS IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST: A STRENGTH-BASED MODEL OF PROTECTION AGAINST SUBSTANCE USE DISORDER

PubMed Central

Rasmus, Stacy; Allen, James; Connor, William; Freeman, William; Skewes, Monica

2016-01-01

This paper presents findings from the Native Transformations Project, an exploratory community-based participatory research study that aims to identify sources of strength and protection against substance use disorder in three tribal communities in the coastal Pacific Northwest. Preliminary results from the study describe the specific settings, acts, and behaviors that build strengths and provide protection at the family, community, individual, and spiritual levels within coastal Pacific Northwest local tribal cultures. Findings from this study give voice to stated community preferences for grassroots Native intervention programs based in local cultural knowledge, worldviews, values, and theories of change, that operate at the local level on their own terms. PMID:27383091

NANOOS, the Northwest Association of Networked Ocean Observing Systems: a regional Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) for the Pacific Northwest US

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Newton, J.; Martin, D.; Kosro, M.

2012-12-01

NANOOS is the Northwest Association of Networked Ocean Observing Systems, the Pacific Northwest Regional Association of the United States Integrated Ocean Observing System (US IOOS). User driven since its inception in 2003, this regional observing system is responding to a variety of scientific and societal needs across its coastal ocean, estuaries, and shorelines. Regional priorities have been solicited and re-affirmed through active engagement with users and stakeholders. NANOOS membership is composed of an even mix of academic, governmental, industry, and non-profit organizations, who appoint representatives to the NANOOS Governing Council who confirm the priority applications of the observing system. NANOOS regional priorities are: Maritime Operations, Regional Fisheries, Ecosystem Assessment, Coastal Hazards, and Climate. NANOOS' regional coastal ocean observing system is implemented by seven partners (three universities, three state agencies, and one industry). Together, these partners conduct the observations, modeling, data management and communication, analysis products, education and outreach activities of NANOOS. Observations, designed to span coastal ocean, shorelines, and estuaries, include physical, chemical, biological and geological measurements. To date, modeling has been more limited in scope, but has provided the system with increased coverage for some parameters. The data management and communication system for NANOOS, led by the NANOOS Visualization System (NVS) is the cornerstone of the user interaction with NANOOS. NVS gives users access to observational data, both real time and archived, as well as modeling output. Given the diversity of user needs, measurements, and the complexity of the coastal environment, the challenge for the system is large. NANOOS' successes take advantage of technological advances, including real-time data transmission, profiling buoys, gliders, HF radars, and modeling. The most profound challenges NANOOS faces stem

A guide to ozone injury in vascular plants of the Pacific Northwest.

Treesearch

Sarah Brace; David L. Peterson; Darci Bowers

1999-01-01

Controlled-exposure studies have shown that several plant species native to the Pacific Northwest are potentially sensitive to elevated ambient concentrations of tropospheric ozone. This guide reports visual and descriptive documentation of ozone injury symptoms for common tree, shrub, and herbaceous species in the region. Symptoms observed in leaves of these species...

Comparing algorithms for estimating foliar biomass of conifers in the Pacific Northwest

Treesearch

Crystal L. Raymond; Donald McKenzie

2013-01-01

Accurate estimates of foliar biomass (FB) are important for quantifying carbon storage in forest ecosystems, but FB is not always reported in regional or national inventories. Foliar biomass also drives key ecological processes in ecosystem models. Published algorithms for estimating FB in conifer species of the Pacific Northwest can yield signifi cantly different...

Feral rye (Secale cereal) control in winter canola in the Pacific Northwest

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

In the Pacific Northwest (PNW) feral rye is a predominant winter annual grass weed in the low-rainfall region where a winter wheat-tillage fallow rotation has been practiced for more than 130 yrs and winter canola has been introduced recently. A 3-yr study was conducted in Washington to determine th...

Simultaneous Semi-Distributed Model Calibration Guided by Hydrologic Landscapes in the Pacific Northwest, USA

EPA Science Inventory

Modelling approaches to transfer hydrologically-relevant information from locations with streamflow measurements to locations without such measurements continues to be an active field of research for hydrologists. The Pacific Northwest Hydrologic Landscapes (PNW HL) provide a sol...

Cryptococcus gattii Infections in Multiple States Outside the US Pacific Northwest

PubMed Central

Lockhart, Shawn R.; Sondermeyer, Gail; Vugia, Duc J.; Crist, Matthew B.; D’Angelo, Melissa Tobin; Sellers, Brenda; Franco-Paredes, Carlos; Makvandi, Monear; Smelser, Chad; Greene, John; Stanek, Danielle; Signs, Kimberly; Nett, Randall J.; Chiller, Tom; Park, Benjamin J.

2013-01-01

Clonal VGII subtypes (outbreak strains) of Cryptococcus gattii have caused an outbreak in the US Pacific Northwest since 2004. Outbreak-associated infections occur equally in male and female patients (median age 56 years) and usually cause pulmonary disease in persons with underlying medical conditions. Since 2009, a total of 25 C. gattii infections, 23 (92%) caused by non–outbreak strain C. gattii, have been reported from 8 non–Pacific Northwest states. Sixteen (64%) patients were previously healthy, and 21 (84%) were male; median age was 43 years (range 15–83 years). Ten patients who provided information reported no past-year travel to areas where C. gattii is known to be endemic. Nineteen (76%) patients had central nervous system infections; 6 (24%) died. C. gattii infection in persons without exposure to known disease-endemic areas suggests possible endemicity in the United States outside the outbreak-affected region; these infections appear to differ in clinical and demographic characteristics from outbreak-associated C. gattii. Clinicians outside the outbreak-affected areas should be aware of locally acquired C. gattii infection and its varied signs and symptoms. PMID:24050410

Dynamic Agroecological Zones for the Inland Pacific Northwest, USA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huggins, D. R.; Rupp, R.; Gessler, P.; Pan, W.; Brown, D. J.; Machado, S.; Walden, V. P.; Eigenbrode, S.; Abatzoglou, J. T.

2011-12-01

Agroecological zones (AEZ's) have traditionally been defined by integrating multiple layers of biophysical (e.g. climate, soil, terrain) and occasionally socioeconomic data to create unique zones with specific ranges of land use constraints and potentials. Our approach to defining AEZ's assumes that current agricultural land uses have emerged as a consequence of biophysical and socioeconomic drivers. Therefore, we explore the concept that AEZ's can be derived from classifying the geographic distribution of current agricultural systems (e.g. the wheat-fallow cropping system zone) based on spatially geo-referenced annual cropland use data that is currently available through the National Agricultural Statistical Service (NASS). By defining AEZ's in this way, we expect to: (1) provide baseline information that geographically delineates the boundaries of current AEZ's and subzones and therefore the capacity to evaluate shifts in AEZ boundaries over time; (2) assess the biophysical (e.g. climate, soils, terrain) and socioeconomic factors (e.g. commodity prices) that are most useful for predicting and correctly classifying current AEZ's, subzones or future shifts in AEZ boundaries; (3) identify and develop AEZ-relevant climate mitigation and adaptation strategies; and (4) integrate biophysical and socioeconomic data sources to pursue a transdisciplinary examination of climate-driven AEZ futures. Achieving these goals will aid in realizing major objectives for a USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Agriculture and Food Research Initiative, Cooperative Agricultural Project entitled "Regional Approaches to Climate Change (REACCH) for Pacific Northwest Agriculture". REACCH is a research, education and extension project under the leadership of the University of Idaho with significant collaboration from Washington State University, Oregon State University and the USDA Agricultural Research Service that is working towards increasing the capacity of Inland Pacific

Detection of a ULVZ at the base of the mantle beneath the northwest Pacific

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Yan; Koper, Keith D.

2009-09-01

We used the Yellowknife seismic array (YKA) to measure the slowness of 1,371 P and P diff waves from earthquakes occurring in the circum-Pacific region. The corresponding anomalies in P-velocity show a sharp reduction of up to 6% across a patch of the lowermost mantle beneath the Northwest Pacific with lateral dimensions of several hundred kilometers. The location of this ultra low velocity zone (ULVZ) correlates with a long-wavelength compositional boundary revealed by probabilistic mantle tomography. We interpret the ULVZ as partial melt created by paleo-slab material that is being swept laterally from northwestern Pacific subduction zones towards the large, chemically distinct province beneath the south-central Pacific.

Traditional and local ecological knowledge about forest biodiversity in the Pacific Northwest.

Treesearch

Susan Charnley; A. Paige Fischer; Eric T. Jones

2008-01-01

This paper synthesizes the existing literature about traditional and local ecological knowledge relating to biodiversity in Pacific Northwest forests in order to assess what is needed to apply this knowledge to forest biodiversity conservation efforts. We address four topics: (1) views and values people have relating to biodiversity, (2) the resource use and management...

Emergent lessons from a century of experience with Pacific Northwest timber markets.

Treesearch

Richard W. Haynes

2008-01-01

Timber markets in the United States are areas where timber prices tend to be uniform because of the continuous interactions of buyers and sellers. These markets are highly competitive, volatile, and change relentlessly. This paper looks at how market interactions in the Pacific Northwest have responded to changes in underlying determinants of market behavior and...

Economic Analysis in the Pacific Northwest Land Resources Project: Theoretical Considerations and Preliminary Results

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Morse, D. R. A.; Sahlberg, J. T.

1977-01-01

The Pacific Northwest Land Resources Inventory Demonstration Project i s an a ttempt to combine a whole spectrum of heterogeneous geographic, institutional and applications elements in a synergistic approach to the evaluation of remote sensing techniques. This diversity is the prime motivating factor behind a theoretical investigation of alternative economic analysis procedures. For a multitude of reasons--simplicity, ease of understanding, financial constraints and credibility, among others--cost-effectiveness emerges as the most practical tool for conducting such evaluation determinatIons in the Pacific Northwest. Preliminary findings in two water resource application areas suggest, in conformity with most published studies, that Lands at-aided data collection methods enjoy substantial cost advantages over alternative techniques. The pntential for sensitivity analysis based on cost/accuracy tradeoffs is considered on a theoretical plane in the absence of current accuracy figures concerning the Landsat-aided approach.

Proceedings: Second Annual Pacific Northwest Alternative and Renewable Energy Resources Conference.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

None

1980-01-01

Papers presented at the conference are published in this volume. The purpose of the conference was to solicit regional cooperation in the promoting of near-term development of such alternative and renewable energy resources in the Pacific Northwest as: cogeneration; biomass; wind; small hydro; solar end-use applications; and geothermal direct heat utilization. Separate abstracts of selected papers were prepared for inclusion in the Energy Data Base.

Prediction of Growth and Mortality of Oregon White Oak in the Pacific Northwest

Treesearch

Peter J. Gould; David D. X. Marshall; Constance A. Harrington

2008-01-01

We developed new equations to predict Oregon white oak (Quercus garryano Dougl. ex Hook.) development within ORGANON, a stand-development model that is widely used in the Pacific Northwest. Tree size, competitive status, crown ratio, and site productivity were statistically significant predictors of growth and mortality. Three...

Cleanup Verification Package for the 100-F-20, Pacific Northwest Laboratory Parallel Pits

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

M. J. Appel

2007-01-22

This cleanup verification package documents completion of remedial action for the 100-F-20, Pacific Northwest Laboratory Parallel Pits waste site. This waste site consisted of two earthen trenches thought to have received both radioactive and nonradioactive material related to the 100-F Experimental Animal Farm.

Perceptions of earthquake and tsunami issues in U.S. Pacific Northwest port and harbor communities

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wood, Nathan J.; Good, James W.

2005-01-01

Although there is considerable energy focused on assessing natural hazards associated with earthquakes and tsunamis in the U.S. Pacific Northwest, little has been done to understand societal vulnerability to these hazards. Part of understanding societal vulnerability includes assessing the perceptions and priorities of public sector individuals with traditional emergency management responsibilities and of private citizens who could play key roles in community recovery. In response to this knowledge gap, we examine earthquake and tsunami perceptions of stakeholders and decision makers from coastal communities in the U.S. Pacific Northwest, focusing on perceptions of (1) regional hazards and societal vulnerability, (2) the current state of readiness, and (3) priorities for future hazard adjustment efforts. Results of a mailed survey suggest that survey participants believe that earthquakes and tsunamis are credible community threats. Most communities are focusing on regional mitigation and response planning, with less effort devoted to recovery plans or to making individual organizations more resilient. Significant differences in expressed perceptions and priorities were observed between Oregon and Washington respondents, mainly on tsunami issues. Significant perception differences were also observed between private and public sector respondents. Our results suggest the need for further research and for outreach and planning initiatives in the Pacific Northwest to address significant gaps in earthquake and tsunami hazard awareness and readiness.

Riparian communities associated with pacific northwest headwater streams: assemblages, processes, and uniqueness.

Treesearch

John S. Richardson; Robert J. Naiman; Frederick J. Swanson; David E. Hibbs

2005-01-01

Riparian areas of large streams provide important habitat to many species and control many instream processes - but is the same true for the margins of small streams? This review considers riparian areas alongside small streams in forested, mountainous areas of the Pacific Northwest and asks if there are fundamental ecological differences from larger streams and from...

Introducing winter canola to the winter wheat-fallow region of the Pacific Northwest

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Growers in the low-rainfall, winter wheat-fallow region of the Pacific Northwest are in need of an alternative crop to diversify their markets, manage pests, and increase wheat yields. Winter canola may be a viable crop option for growers in the region. However, agronomic research for winter canol...

Prediction of growth and mortality of Oregon White Oak in the Pacific Northwest.

Treesearch

Peter J. Gould; David D. Marshall; Constance A. Harrington

2008-01-01

We developed new equations to predict Oregon white oak (Quercus garryana Dougl. ex Hook.) development with ORGANON, a stand-development model that is widely used in the Pacific Northwest. Tree size, competitive status, crown ratio, and site productivity were statistically significant predictors of growth and mortality. Three scenarios were...

Seasonal hydrologic responses to climate change in the Pacific Northwest

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vano, Julie A.; Nijssen, Bart; Lettenmaier, Dennis P.

2015-04-01

Increased temperatures and changes in precipitation will result in fundamental changes in the seasonal distribution of streamflow in the Pacific Northwest and will have serious implications for water resources management. To better understand local impacts of regional climate change, we conducted model experiments to determine hydrologic sensitivities of annual, seasonal, and monthly runoff to imposed annual and seasonal changes in precipitation and temperature. We used the Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) land-surface hydrology model applied at 1/16° latitude-longitude spatial resolution over the Pacific Northwest (PNW), a scale sufficient to support analyses at the hydrologic unit code eight (HUC-8) basin level. These experiments resolve the spatial character of the sensitivity of future water supply to precipitation and temperature changes by identifying the seasons and locations where climate change will have the biggest impact on runoff. The PNW exhibited a diversity of responses, where transitional (intermediate elevation) watersheds experience the greatest seasonal shifts in runoff in response to cool season warming. We also developed a methodology that uses these hydrologic sensitivities as basin-specific transfer functions to estimate future changes in long-term mean monthly hydrographs directly from climate model output of precipitation and temperature. When principles of linearity and superposition apply, these transfer functions can provide feasible first-order estimates of the likely nature of future seasonal streamflow change without performing downscaling and detailed model simulations.

Pacific Northwest residential energy survey. Volume 3. Question-by-question results

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

None

1980-07-01

Tabulations are presented of responses to approximately 105 questions. Results are tabulated by 9 geographic regions: the four states of Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington; four climate zones in the region; and a weighted Pacific Northwest total. A description of the tabulated data is given in the Introduction. Tabulated data deal with questions on dwelling characteristics; heating and air-conditioning systems; water heating; appliances; demographic and swelling characteristics; and insulation.

Prescribed Fire Versus Air Quality in 2000 in the Pacific Northwest

Treesearch

David V. Sandberg

1987-01-01

In 1970, it was widely assumed that by 1980 in the Pacific Northwest, prescribed fire would be a thing of the past. By 1985, however, half way from 1970 to the end of the century, the area treated by fire increased. Now, the demise of forest burning is widely expected to occur by the year 2000. Can, and will, a compromise be found between the resurgence in appreciation...

Compendium of Low-Cost Pacific Salmon and Steelhead Trout Production Facilities and Practices in the Pacific Northwest.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Senn, Harry G.

1984-09-01

The purpose was to research low capital cost salmon and steelhead trout production facilities and identify those that conform with management goals for the Columbia Basin. The species considered were chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), coho salmon (O. kisutch), sockeye salmon (O. nerka), and steelhead trout (Salmo gairdneri). This report provides a comprehensive listing of the facilities, techniques, and equipment used in artificial production in the Pacific Northwest. (ACR)

Projected dryland cropping system shifts in the Pacific Northwest in response to climate change

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Agriculture in the dryland region of the Inland Pacific Northwest (IPNW, including northern Idaho, eastern Washington and northern Oregon) is typically characterized based on annual rainfall and associated distribution of cropping systems that have evolved in response to biophysical and socio-econom...

Mass failures and other processes of sediment production in Pacific northwest forest landscapes

Treesearch

Frederick J. Swanson; Lee E. Benda; Stanley H. Duncan; Gordon E. Grant; Walter F. Megahan; Leslie M. Reid; Robert R. Ziemer

1987-01-01

Abstract - Accelerated sediment production by mass failures and other erosion processes is an important link between management of forest resources and fish resources. Dominant processes and the rates of sediment production vary greatly throughout the Pacific Northwest in response to geologic and climatic factors. The complex sediment routing systems characteristic...

Assessment and management of animal damage in Pacific Northwest forests: an annotated bibliography.

Treesearch

D.M. Loucks; H.C. Black; M.L. Roush; S.R. Radosevich

1990-01-01

This annotated bibliography of published literature provides a comprehensive source of information on animal damage assessment and management for forest land managers and others in the Pacific Northwest. Citations and abstracts from more than 900 papers are indexed by subject and author. The publication complements and supplements A Silvicultural Approach to...

Editorial: Eutrophication and hypoxia and their impacts on the ecosystem of the Changjiang Estuary and adjacent coastal environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Jing; Xiao, Tian; Huang, Daji; Liu, Su Mei; Fang, Jianguang

2016-02-01

The Changjiang (Yangtze River) Estuary plays an important role in the land-ocean interactions of East Asia, particularly in regard to the fate of land-derived materials and their impact on marine ecosystems in the Northwest Pacific Ocean. The 12 papers included in this special issue describe results from the MEcoPAM Study, an IMBER-China project, which occurred in 2011-2015. This project used a multi-disciplinary approach to understand ecosystem function of the Changjiang Estuary in response to multiple stressors (i.e. combined external forcings). The results presented here show that human activities in the watersheds have greatly changed the flux and variation of dissolved and particulate materials from the river. Further interactions between the Changjiang Watersheds and the East China Sea can dramatically modify the pathways of biogeochemistry and food web dynamics of the estuary and adjacent coastal environment at seasonal and inter-annual scales.

Educating teenage drivers in the Pacific Northwest regarding the dangers of distracted driving (phase I).

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2014-09-01

The goal of this outreach project was to examine driver distraction among teenagers in the Pacific Northwest. Specifically, to identify secondary tasks they consider distracting and determine their self-reported engagement in those same secondary tas...

Educating younger drivers in the Pacific Northwest regarding the dangers of distracted driving (phase II).

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2015-07-01

The goal of this outreach project was to examine driver distraction among high school and college students in the Pacific Northwest. : Specifically, to identify secondary tasks they consider distracting and determine their self-reported engagement in...

Influence of background particulate matter (PM) on urban air quality in the Pacific Northwest.

PubMed

Timonen, H; Wigder, N; Jaffe, D

2013-11-15

Elevated particulate matter concentrations due to Asian long-range transport (LRT) are frequently observed in the free troposphere (FT) above the Pacific Northwest, U.S. Transport of this aerosol from the FT to the boundary layer (BL) and its effect to local air quality remain poorly constrained. We used data collected at the Mount Bachelor observatory (MBO, 2.8 km a.s.l) and from ground stations in the Pacific Northwest to study transport of fine particulate matter (PM) from the FT to the BL. During Asian LRT episodes PM concentrations were clearly elevated above the corresponding monthly averages at MBO as well as at low elevation sites across Washington and Oregon. Also, a clear correlation between MBO and low elevation sites was observed, indicating that LRT episodes are seen in both the FT and BL. In addition, drum impactor measurements show that the chemical composition of PM at MBO was similar to that measured at the BL sites. Using a simple regression model, we estimate that during springtime, when the transport from Asia is most effective, the contribution of Asian sources to PM2.5 in clean background areas of the Pacific Northwest was on average 1.7 μg m(-3) (representing approximately 50-80% of PM). The influence of LRT PM was also seen in measurement stations situated in the urban and urban background areas. However, the fraction of LRT PM was less pronounced (36-50% of PM) due to larger local emissions in the urban areas. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Determining bathymetric distributions of the eelgrass Zostera marina L. in three turbid estuaries of the eastern North Pacific coast

EPA Science Inventory

Improved methods for determining bathymetric distributions of dominant intertidal plants throughout their estuarine range are needed. Zostera marina is a seagrass native to estuaries of the northeastern Pacific and many other sectors of the world ocean. The technique described ...

Thinning ponderosa pine in the Pacific Northwest: a summary of present information.

Treesearch

Edwin L. Mowat

1953-01-01

Proper thinning of dense young stands of ponderosa pine increases the growth rate of remaining trees and thereby shortens the time required to grow timber of any desired size. The extent of improvement in growth is shown by thinning studies in the Pacific Northwest covering periods of 10 to 24 years. These studies, together with general experience and research in other...

Animal damage to conifers on national forests in the Pacific Northwest region.

Treesearch

Glenn L. Crouch

1969-01-01

Animal damage to conifers is a timely topic in the Pacific Northwest. Foresters in this Region are increasingly concerned and perplexed by damage caused by animals to natural and planted seedlings and larger growing stock. Nearly every animal inhabiting for st land is believed to injure seedlings and small trees to some degree. Mice girdle small trees, and bears girdle...

Intestinal helminths of river otters (Lutra canadensis) from the Pacific Northwest

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hoberg, Eric P.; Henny, Charles J.; Hedstrom, O.R.; Grove, Robert A.

1997-01-01

The intestinal helminth fauna of river otters, Lutra canadensis, from the Pacific Northwest was characterized by low species richness and intensity of infection. River otters from the lower Columbia River (n = 23) were infected with 9 species of helminths (83% prevalence); those from a relatively undisturbed reference area near the headwaters of the Trask and Wilson rivers on the Oregon coast (n = 6) were infected by 5 species of helminths (100% prevalence). Single species of Eucestoda (Schistocephalus solidus), Digenea (Euparyphium inerme), Acanthocephala (Corynosoma strumosum), and 8 species of Nematoda (Strongyloides lutrae; larvae of Eustrongylides sp., Anisakis sp., and Contracaecum sp.; 3 of Cystidicolidae, and Hedruris sp.) were collected. Most species are typical of piscine definitive hosts and were present as incidental parasites of river otters. Notably, specimens of Euparyphium inerme are reported for the first time in river otters from North America; occurrence of other helminths constitutes new host or geographic records for parasites in river otters in Oregon and Washington. Parasites with marine life cycles were acquired by river otters in freshwater habitats at a great distance from the ocean. The helminth fauna of river otters in the Pacific Northwest was influenced primarily by ecological factors and was indicative of eclectic food habits and the relatively extensive home ranges occupied by these mustelids.

Early-season wind erosion influenced by soil-incorporated green manure in the Pacific Northwest

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Management strategies are sought to minimize wind erosion of irrigated agricultural soils along the Columbia River of the Inland Pacific Northwest, particularly during the early season (March-April) when high winds coincide with sowing of vegetable crops. Early-season wind erosion potential from soi...

Predicting landscape sensitivity to present and future floods in the Pacific Northwest, USA

Treesearch

Mohammad Safeeq; Gordon E. Grant; Sarah L. Lewis; Brian Staab

2015-01-01

Floods are the most frequent natural disaster, causing more loss of life and property than any other in the USA. Floods also strongly influence the structure and function of watersheds, stream channels, and aquatic ecosystems. The Pacific Northwest is particularly vulnerable to climatically driven changes in flood frequency and magnitude, because snowpacks that...

Active faults newly identified in Pacific Northwest

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Balcerak, Ernie

2012-05-01

The Bellingham Basin, which lies north of Seattle and south of Vancouver around the border between the United States and Canada in the northern part of the Cascadia subduction zone, is important for understanding the regional tectonic setting and current high rates of crustal deformation in the Pacific Northwest. Using a variety of new data, Kelsey et al. identified several active faults in the Bellingham Basin that had not been previously known. These faults lie more than 60 kilometers farther north of the previously recognized northern limit of active faulting in the area. The authors note that the newly recognized faults could produce earthquakes with magnitudes between 6 and 6.5 and thus should be considered in hazard assessments for the region. (Journal of Geophysical Reserch-Solid Earth, doi:10.1029/2011JB008816, 2012)

A Southern Ocean trigger for Northwest Pacific ventilation during the Holocene?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rella, S. F.; Uchida, M.

2014-02-01

Holocene ocean circulation is poorly understood due to sparsity of dateable marine archives with submillennial-scale resolution. Here we present a record of mid-depth water radiocarbon contents in the Northwest (NW) Pacific Ocean over the last 12.000 years, which shows remarkable millennial-scale variations relative to changes in atmospheric radiocarbon inventory. Apparent decoupling of these variations from regional ventilation and mixing processes leads us to the suggestion that the mid-depth NW Pacific may have responded to changes in Southern Ocean overturning forced by latitudinal displacements of the southern westerly winds. By inference, a tendency of in-phase related North Atlantic and Southern Ocean overturning would argue against the development of a steady bipolar seesaw regime during the Holocene.

A Southern Ocean trigger for Northwest Pacific ventilation during the Holocene?

PubMed

Rella, S F; Uchida, M

2014-02-17

Holocene ocean circulation is poorly understood due to sparsity of dateable marine archives with submillennial-scale resolution. Here we present a record of mid-depth water radiocarbon contents in the Northwest (NW) Pacific Ocean over the last 12.000 years, which shows remarkable millennial-scale variations relative to changes in atmospheric radiocarbon inventory. Apparent decoupling of these variations from regional ventilation and mixing processes leads us to the suggestion that the mid-depth NW Pacific may have responded to changes in Southern Ocean overturning forced by latitudinal displacements of the southern westerly winds. By inference, a tendency of in-phase related North Atlantic and Southern Ocean overturning would argue against the development of a steady bipolar seesaw regime during the Holocene.

A Southern Ocean trigger for Northwest Pacific ventilation during the Holocene?

PubMed Central

Rella, S. F.; Uchida, M.

2014-01-01

Holocene ocean circulation is poorly understood due to sparsity of dateable marine archives with submillennial-scale resolution. Here we present a record of mid-depth water radiocarbon contents in the Northwest (NW) Pacific Ocean over the last 12.000 years, which shows remarkable millennial-scale variations relative to changes in atmospheric radiocarbon inventory. Apparent decoupling of these variations from regional ventilation and mixing processes leads us to the suggestion that the mid-depth NW Pacific may have responded to changes in Southern Ocean overturning forced by latitudinal displacements of the southern westerly winds. By inference, a tendency of in-phase related North Atlantic and Southern Ocean overturning would argue against the development of a steady bipolar seesaw regime during the Holocene. PMID:24509792

Seismic survey probes urban earthquake hazards in Pacific Northwest

USGS Publications Warehouse

Fisher, M.A.; Brocher, T.M.; Hyndman, R.D.; Trehu, A.M.; Weaver, C.S.; Creager, K.C.; Crosson, R.S.; Parsons, T.; Cooper, A. K.; Mosher, D.; Spence, G.; Zelt, B.C.; Hammer, P.T.; Childs, J. R.; Cochrane, G.R.; Chopra, S.; Walia, R.

1999-01-01

A multidisciplinary seismic survey earlier this year in the Pacific Northwest is expected to reveal much new information about the earthquake threat to U.S. and Canadian urban areas there. A disastrous earthquake is a very real possibility in the region. The survey, known as the Seismic Hazards Investigation in Puget Sound (SHIPS), engendered close cooperation among geologists, biologists, environmental groups, and government agencies. It also succeeded in striking a fine balance between the need to prepare for a great earthquake and the requirement to protect a coveted marine environment while operating a large airgun array.

Applicability of Hydrologic Landscapes for Model Calibration at the Watershed Scale in the Pacific Northwest

EPA Science Inventory

The Pacific Northwest Hydrologic Landscapes (PNW HL) at the assessment unit scale has provided a solid conceptual classification framework to relate and transfer hydrologically meaningful information between watersheds without access to streamflow time series. A collection of tec...

Nematodes in Dryland Field Crops in the Semiarid Pacific Northwest United States

PubMed Central

Smiley, Richard W.; Merrifield, Kathy; Patterson, Lisa-Marie; Whittaker, Ruth G.; Gourlie, Jennifer A.; Easley, Sandra A.

2004-01-01

Soils and roots of field crops in low-rainfall regions of the Pacific Northwest were surveyed for populations of plantparasitic and non-plant-parasitic nematodes. Lesion nematodes (Pratylenchus species) were recovered from 123 of 130 non-irrigated and 18 of 18 irrigated fields. Pratylenchus neglectus was more prevalent than P. thornei, but mixed populations were common. Population densities in soil were affected by crop frequency and rotation but not by tillage or soil type (P < 0.05). Many fields (25%) cropped more frequently than 2 of 4 years had potentially damaging populations of lesion nematodes. Pratylenchus neglectus density in winter wheat roots was inversely correlated with grain yield (r2 = 0.64, P = 0.002), providing the first field-derived evidence that Pratylenchus is economically important in Pacific Northwest dryland field crops. Stunt nematodes (Tylenchorhynchus clarus and Geocenamus brevidens) were detected in 35% of fields and were occasionally present in high numbers. Few fields were infested with pin (Paratylenchus species) and root-knot (Meloidogyne naasi and M. chitwoodi) nematodes. Nematodes detected previously but not during this survey included cereal cyst (Heterodera avenae), dagger (Xiphinema species), and root-gall (Subanguina radicicola) nematodes. PMID:19262788

The missing mountain water: Slower westerlies decrease orographic enhancement in the Pacific Northwest USA

Treesearch

C. H. Luce; J. T. Abatzoglou; Z. A. Holden

2013-01-01

Trends in streamflow timing and volume in the Pacific Northwest United States have been attributed to increased temperatures because trends in precipitation at lower elevation stations were negligible. We demonstrate that observed streamflow declines likely are associated with declines in mountain precipitation, revealing previously unexplored differential trends....

Sediment and PM10 flux from no-tillage cropping systems in the Pacific Northwest

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Wind erosion is a concern in the Inland Pacific Northwest (PNW) United States where the emission of fine particulates from winter wheat – summer fallow (WW/SF) dryland cropping systems during high winds degrade air quality. Although no-tillage cropping systems are not yet economically viable, these ...

Forest research notes, Pacific Northwest Forest Experiment Station, No. 31, November 30, 1940.

Treesearch

P.A. Briegleb; Theodore Kachin; L.A. Isaac; Fremont McComb; T.T. Munger

1940-01-01

The pulp and paper industry in the Pacific Northwest is able to compete successfully in national and world markets primarily bemuse it is favored with dense stands of high-grade pulpwood in its back yard. This natural advantage need not be temporary. Here industry can obtain such stands continuously because it can grow them.

Forest research notes, Pacific Northwest Forest Experiment Station, No. 01, November 1, 1928.

Treesearch

1928-01-01

The several research projects upon which the Pacific Northwest Forest Experiment Station is working are continually yielding results of interest and value to those engaged in forest enterprises. To make these results immediately available to those most likely to use them is the purpose of these "Forest Research Notes". They will be issued at irregular...

Diversity, ecology, and conservation of truffle fungi in forests of the Pacific Northwest

Treesearch

James M. Trappe; Randy Molina; Daniel L. Luoma; Efren Cázares; David Pilz; Jane E. Smith; Michael A. Castellano; Steven L. Miller; Matthew J. Trappe

2009-01-01

Forests of the Pacific Northwest have been an epicenter for the evolution of truffle fungi with over 350 truffle species and 55 genera currently identified. Truffle fungi develop their reproductive fruit-bodies typically belowground, so they are harder to find and study than mushrooms that fruit aboveground. Nevertheless, over the last five decades, the Corvallis...

Forest cover dynamics in the Pacific Northwest west side: regional trends and predictions.

Treesearch

Ralph J. Alig; Daolan Zheng; Thomas A. Spies; Brett J. Butler

2000-01-01

The objectives of this paper were to (1) analyze recent rates of transitions among forest cover types on private timberland, (2) identify differences by ownership class, and (3) project future changes under different scenarios related to current policy issues in the Pacific Northwest. Timber harvests are the dominant class of disturbance on private timberland in...

Wood productivity of Pacific Northwest Douglas-fir: estimates from growth-and-yield models.

Treesearch

David D. Marshall; Eric C. Turnblom

2005-01-01

With increases in harvest of forests in the Pacific Northwest during the late 1800s and early 1900s came a concern for future timber supplies. Unsuccessful attempts at selective logging in Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) France) and a better understanding of requirements for natural regeneration led to the adoption of moderate-sized...

Getting into trouble: perspectives on stress and suicide prevention among Pacific Northwest Indian youth.

PubMed

Strickland, C June; Cooper, Michelle

2011-07-01

Suicide rates among Indian youth in the United States are two to three times the national average. Although researchers have identified related risk and protective factors, they have limited understanding of the perspectives of youth at risk. In this descriptive, ethnographic study in a Pacific Northwest tribe, the goal was to gain an understanding of the life experiences of the youth. Focus groups and observations were conducted with 30 Indian youth aged between 14 and 19 years in a Pacific Northwest tribe. Youth were asked to talk about their stressors, sense of family/community support, and hopes for the future. Youth reported major stress and noted that friends and family were both a support and also a source of stress. They hoped for strengthening of cultural values, economic development, and opportunities to give their talents to the tribe. These findings provide further insight about suicide risk among Indian youth and advance the understanding of suicide prevention in a transcultural setting.

Inter-comparison of multiple statistically downscaled climate datasets for the Pacific Northwest, USA

PubMed Central

Jiang, Yueyang; Kim, John B.; Still, Christopher J.; Kerns, Becky K.; Kline, Jeffrey D.; Cunningham, Patrick G.

2018-01-01

Statistically downscaled climate data have been widely used to explore possible impacts of climate change in various fields of study. Although many studies have focused on characterizing differences in the downscaling methods, few studies have evaluated actual downscaled datasets being distributed publicly. Spatially focusing on the Pacific Northwest, we compare five statistically downscaled climate datasets distributed publicly in the US: ClimateNA, NASA NEX-DCP30, MACAv2-METDATA, MACAv2-LIVNEH and WorldClim. We compare the downscaled projections of climate change, and the associated observational data used as training data for downscaling. We map and quantify the variability among the datasets and characterize the spatio-temporal patterns of agreement and disagreement among the datasets. Pair-wise comparisons of datasets identify the coast and high-elevation areas as areas of disagreement for temperature. For precipitation, high-elevation areas, rainshadows and the dry, eastern portion of the study area have high dissimilarity among the datasets. By spatially aggregating the variability measures into watersheds, we develop guidance for selecting datasets within the Pacific Northwest climate change impact studies. PMID:29461513

Inter-comparison of multiple statistically downscaled climate datasets for the Pacific Northwest, USA.

PubMed

Jiang, Yueyang; Kim, John B; Still, Christopher J; Kerns, Becky K; Kline, Jeffrey D; Cunningham, Patrick G

2018-02-20

Statistically downscaled climate data have been widely used to explore possible impacts of climate change in various fields of study. Although many studies have focused on characterizing differences in the downscaling methods, few studies have evaluated actual downscaled datasets being distributed publicly. Spatially focusing on the Pacific Northwest, we compare five statistically downscaled climate datasets distributed publicly in the US: ClimateNA, NASA NEX-DCP30, MACAv2-METDATA, MACAv2-LIVNEH and WorldClim. We compare the downscaled projections of climate change, and the associated observational data used as training data for downscaling. We map and quantify the variability among the datasets and characterize the spatio-temporal patterns of agreement and disagreement among the datasets. Pair-wise comparisons of datasets identify the coast and high-elevation areas as areas of disagreement for temperature. For precipitation, high-elevation areas, rainshadows and the dry, eastern portion of the study area have high dissimilarity among the datasets. By spatially aggregating the variability measures into watersheds, we develop guidance for selecting datasets within the Pacific Northwest climate change impact studies.

Identifying block structure in the Pacific Northwest, USA

USGS Publications Warehouse

Savage, James C.; Wells, Ray E.

2015-01-01

We have identified block structure in the Pacific Northwest (west of 116°W between 38°N and 49°N) by clustering GPS stations so that the same Euler vector approximates the velocity of each station in a cluster. Given the total number k of clusters desired, the clustering procedure finds the best assignment of stations to clusters. Clustering is calculated for k= 2 to 14. In geographic space, cluster boundaries that remain relatively stable as k is increased are tentatively identified as block boundaries. That identification is reinforced if the cluster boundary coincides with a geologic feature. Boundaries identified in northern California and Nevada are the Central Nevada Seismic Belt, the west side of the Northern Walker Lane Belt, and the Bartlett Springs Fault. Three blocks cover all of Oregon and Washington. The principal block boundary there extends west-northwest along the Brothers Fault Zone, then north and northwest along the eastern boundary of Siletzia, the accreted oceanic basement of the forearc. East of this boundary is the Intermountain block, its eastern boundary undefined. A cluster boundary at Cape Blanco subdivides the forearc along the faulted southern margin of Siletzia. South of Cape Blanco the Klamath Mountains-Basin and Range block extends east to the Central Nevada Seismic Belt and south to the Sierra Nevada-Great Valley block. The Siletzia block north of Cape Blanco coincides almost exactly with the accreted Siletz terrane. The cluster boundary in the eastern Olympic Peninsula may mark permanent shortening of Siletzia against the Intermountain block.

Present-day vertical deformation of the Cascadia margin, Pacific Northwest, United States

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mitchell, Clifton E.; Vincent, Paul; Weldon, Ray J., III; Richards, Mark A.

1994-06-01

We estimate present-day uplift rates along hte Cascadia Subduction Zone in California, Oregon, and Washington in the Pacific Northwest, United States, by utilizing repeated leveling surveys and tide guage records. These two independent data sets give similar profiles for latitudinal variation of contemporary uplift rates along the coast. Uplift rates are extended inland through east-west leveling lines that connect the north-south line along hte coast to the north-south line along the inland valleys just west of the Cascades. The results are summarized as a contour map of present day uplift rates for the western Pacific Northwest. We find that rates of present day uplift vary latitudinally along the coast to the inland valleys. Long-term tial records of Neah Bay, Astoria, and Crescent City indicate uplift of land relative to sea level of 1.6 +/- 0.2, 0.0 +/- 0.2, 0.9 +/- 0.2 mm/yr, respectively (+/- 1 standard error). Unlike previous estimates of relative sea level change at Astoria, we adjust for discharge effects of the Columbia River, including human managment influences. After approximating an absolute framework by using 1.8 +/- 0.1 mm/yr to compensate for global sea level rise, results indicate that much of the western Pacific Northwest is rising at rates between 0 and 5 mm/ur. The most rapid uplift rates are near the coast, particularly near the Olympic Peninsula, the mouth of the Columbia River, Cape Blanco, and Cape Mendocino. Two axes of uplift are identified: one trends northeast from the southwest Oregon coast, and the other strends south-southeasterly from the Olympic Peninsula to the Columbia River. The Puget Sound vicinity and a small east-west region from the north cnetral Oregon coast ot he inland Willamette Valley are subiding at rates up to 1 mm/ur. We interpret the overall pattern of rapid present day uplift to be generated by interseismic strain accumulation in the subduction zone. This interseismic elastic strain accumulation implies

Forest research notes, Pacific Northwest Forest Experiment Station, No. 23, November 27, 1937.

Treesearch

J. Elton Lodewick; P.A. Briegleb; F.L. Moravets; Leo A. Isaac; William G. Morris; Wade. DeVries

1937-01-01

Douglas fir, the most abundant and most used lumber species in the forests of the Pacific Northwest, is being pulped on a commercial scale by the sulfate and soda processes. The markets for unbleached pulps are limited, and there has been much speculation as to the possibilities of developing pulping processes whereby the enormous quantities of otherwise unutilized...

Knowledge-Based Information Management for Watershed Analysis in the Pacific Northwest U.S.

Treesearch

Keith Reynolds; Richard Olson; Michael Saunders; Donald Latham; Michael Foster; Bruce Miller; Lawrence Bednar; Daniel Schmoldt; Patrick Cunningham; John Steffenson

1996-01-01

We are developing a knowledge-based information management system to provide decision support for watershed analysis in the Pacific Northwest region of the U.S. The system includes: (1) a GIS interface that allows users to graphically navigate to specific provinces and watersheds and display a variety of themes and other area-specific information, (2) an analysis...

Non-wadeable river bioassessment: spatial variation of benthic diatom assemblages in Pacific Northwest rivers, USA

EPA Science Inventory

Current bioassessment efforts are focused on small wadeable streams, at least partly because assessing ecological conditions in non-wadeable large rivers poses many additional challenges. In this study, we sampled 20 sites in each of seven large rivers in the Pacific Northwest, U...

YAQUINA BAY NUTRIENT CRITERIA CASE STUDY: APPROACHES TO ESTUARINE NUTRIENT CRITERIA IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST

EPA Science Inventory

The presentation presents an introduction to the Yaquina Bay Nutrient Case Study which provides approaches for development of estuarine nutrient criteria in the Pacific Northwest. As part of this effort, a database of historic and recent data has been assembled consisting of phy...

Potential climate change impacts on tidal wetland plant and algal assemblages in the Pacific Northwest

EPA Science Inventory

Tidal wetlands along the coast of the Pacific Northwest provide wildlife habitat and support important ecosystem functions such as primary productivity. The future structure and function of these ecosystems may be altered by sea-level rise (SLR) or other climate change effects. W...

Conservation and development of nontimber forest products in the Pacific Northwest: an annotated bibliography.

Treesearch

Bettina Von Hagen; James F. Weigand; Rebecca McLain; Roger Fight; Harriet H. Christensen

1996-01-01

This bibliography encompasses literature on the historic and current scope of nontimber forest product industries in the Pacific Northwest and includes references on international markets and trade that bear on these industries. Key themes in the bibliography are biological and socioeconomic aspects of resource management for sustainable production; procedures for...

The biology of amphibians and reptiles in old-growth forests in the Pacific Northwest.

Treesearch

A.P. Blaustein; J.J. Beatty; D.H. Olson; R.M. Storm

1995-01-01

The amphibian and reptile fauna of older forest ecosystems in the Pacific Northwest includes several endemic species, species with unique behavioral and ecological characteristics, and species whose populations have been in decline in recent years. We review the biology of these species and include information on their distinguishing characteristics, behavior, and...

Ecology of northern flying squirrels: implications for ecosystem management in the Pacific Northwest, USA.

Treesearch

Andrew B. Carey

2002-01-01

Northern flying squirrels (Glaucomys sabrinus) in the USA Pacific Northwest are keystone species that disseminate the spores of ectomycorrhizal fungi symbiotic with Pinaceae and that are preyed upon by a variety of vertebrate predators. Substantial research has shown that these squirrels tend to be most abundant in naturally regenerated forests...

REE in the Great Whale River estuary, northwest Quebec

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Goldstein, Steven J.; Jacobsen, Stein B.

1988-01-01

A report on REE concentrations within the estuary of the Great Whale River in northwest Quebec and in Hudson Bay is given, showing concentrations which are less than those predicted by conservative mixing of seawater and river water, indicating removal of REE from solution. REE removal is rapid, occurring primarily at salinities less than 2 percent and ranges from about 70 percent for light REE to no more than 40 percent for heavy REE. At low salinity, Fe removal is essentially complete. The shape of Fe and REE vs. salinity profiles is not consistent with a simple model of destabilization and coagulation of Fe and REE-bearing colloidal material. A linear relationship between the activity of free ion REE(3+) and pH is consistent with a simple ion-exchange model for REE removal. Surface and subsurface samples of Hudson Bay seawater show high REE and La/Yb concentrations relative to average seawater, with the subsurface sample having a Nd concentration of 100 pmol/kg and an epsilon(Nd) of -29.3; characteristics consistent with river inputs of Hudson Bay. This indicates that rivers draining the Canadian Shield are a major source of nonradiogenic Nd and REE to the Atlantic Ocean.

Evaluation of Cumulative Ecosystem Response to Restoration Projects in the Lower Columbia River and Estuary, 2010

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Johnson, Gary E.; Diefenderfer, Heida L.; Thom, Ronald M.

This is the seventh and final annual report of a project (2004–2010) addressing evaluation of the cumulative effects of habitat restoration actions in the 235-km-long lower Columbia River and estuary. The project, called the Cumulative Effects (CE) study, was conducted for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Portland District by a collaboration of research agencies led by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. We achieved the primary goal of the CE study to develop a methodology to evaluate the cumulative effects of habitat actions in the Columbia Estuary Ecosystem Restoration Program. We delivered 1) standard monitoring protocols and methods to prioritizemore » monitoring activities; 2) the theoretical and empirical basis for a CE methodology using levels-of-evidence; 3) evaluations of cumulative effects using ecological relationships, geo-referenced data, hydrodynamic modeling, and meta-analyses; and 4) an adaptive management process to coordinate and coalesce restoration efforts in the LCRE. A solid foundation has been laid for future comprehensive evaluations of progress made by the Columbia Estuary Ecosystem Restoration Program to understand, conserve, and restore ecosystems in the lower Columbia River and estuary.« less

Implementing PURPA : Renewable Resource Development in the Pacific Northwest : Executive Summary.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Washington State Energy Office.

The Public Utilities Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA) of 1979 requires that electrical utilities interconnect with qualifying facilities (QFs) and purchase electricity at a rate based upon their full avoided cost of providing both capacity and energy. Facilities that qualify for PURPA benefits include solar or geothermal electric units, hydropower, municipal solid waste or biomass-fired power plants, and cogeneration projects that satisfy maximum size, fuel use, ownership, location, and/or efficiency criteria. The mandate of PURPA, coupled with the electrical energy deficits projected to occur in the Pacific Northwest by the mid 1980s, led to resurgence of interest in the development ofmore » small, decentralized, non-utility owned and operated generating stations. A variety of would-be developers conducted feasibility studies and initiated environmental permitting and power marketing discussions with appropriate authorities. While many proposed PURPA projects fill by the wayside, others were successfully brought on-line. A variety of public and private sector developers, including cities, counties, irrigation districts, utilities, ranchers, timber companies, and food processing plants, successfully negotiated PURPA-based, or share-the-savings'' power purchase contracts. Other developers run their meter backwards'' or provide energy to their local utilities at the same rate that would otherwise be paid to Bonneville. This document provides a summary resource development of these renewable projects in the Pacific Northwest.« less

BIODIVERSITY MANAGEMENT APPROACHES FOR STREAM-RIPARIAN AREAS: PERSPECTIVES FOR PACIFIC NORTHWEST HEADWATER FORESTS, MICROCLIMATES, AND AMPHIBIANS

EPA Science Inventory

Stream-riparian areas represent a nexus of biodiversity, with disproportionate numbers of species tied to and interacting within this key habitat. New research in Pacific Northwest headwater forests, especially the characterization of microclimates and amphibian distributions, is...

Forest research notes, Pacific Northwest Forest Experiment Station, No. 03, October 30, 1929.

Treesearch

1929-01-01

To obtain definite information which can be used in formulating slash disposal policies, the Pacific Northwest Forest Experiment Station has begun a study of the slash problem in the Douglas fir region. Although there are numerous related but widely different aspects to this study, only one phase is treated in this brief summary, namely, the effect of fire on the...

Chapter K: Progress in the Evaluation of Alkali-Aggregate Reaction in Concrete Construction in the Pacific Northwest, United States and Canada

USGS Publications Warehouse

Shrimer, Fred H.

2005-01-01

The supply of aggregates suitable for use in construction and maintenance of infrastructure in western North America is a continuing concern to the engineering and resources-management community. Steady population growth throughout the region has fueled demand for high-quality aggregates, in the face of rapid depletion of existing aggregate resources and slow and difficult permitting of new sources of traditional aggregate types. In addition to these challenges, the requirement for aggregates to meet various engineering standards continues to increase. In addition to their physical-mechanical properties, other performance characteristics of construction aggregates specifically depend on their mineralogy and texture. These properties can result in deleterious chemical reactions when aggregate is used in concrete mixes. When this chemical reaction-termed 'alkali-aggregate reaction' (AAR)-occurs, it can pose a major problem for concrete structures, reducing their service life and requiring expensive repair or even replacement of the concrete. AAR is thus to be avoided in order to promote the longevity of concrete structures and to ensure that public moneys invested in infrastructure are well spent. Because the AAR phenomenon is directly related to the mineral composition, texture, and petrogenesis of the rock particles that make up aggregates, an understanding of the relation between the geology and the performance of aggregates in concrete is important. In the Pacific Northwest, some aggregates have a moderate to high AAR potential, but many others have no or only a low AAR potential. Overall, AAR is not as widespread or serious a problem in the Pacific Northwest as in other regions of North America. The identification of reactive aggregates in the Pacific Northwest and the accurate prediction of their behavior in concrete continue to present challenges for the assessment and management of geologic resources to the owners and operators of pits and quarries and to the

Opportunities for Tropical Cyclone Motion Research in the Northwest Pacific Region.

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-08-01

Taiwan (from Wang, 1980). LAL I LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Frequency of typhoons occurring In the Northwest Pacific region by month from 1959 to 1985. Table...e.g., the Philippines, Taiwan , Japan and also the Korean peninsula) are very mountainous with coastal mountains of 6000 to 10,000 ft and peaks as...strength of typhoons In Taiwan and Its vicinity. Research Report 18, National Science Council (NSC-67M-0202-0501), Taipei, Taiwan , 100 pp. 3 APPENDIX A DATA

Working in John Wayne Country: Racist and Sexist Termination at a Pacific Northwest University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Galvan, Robert Free

2003-01-01

In this article, the author shares his experiences in working as a tribal liaison consultant to an AIDS education and training center at a Pacific Northwest university's health education research center. The author's experience shows the concerted efforts by the university lawyers to bury issues of discriminatory racism and sexism in hiring…

Carbon storage in coarse and fine fractions of Pacific Northwest old-growth forest soils.

Treesearch

P.S. Homann; S.M. Remillard; M.E. Harmon; B.T. Bormann

2004-01-01

Many assessments of soil C have been restricted to the 2-mm fractions of forest mineral soils. Our objective was to determine the importance of the >2mm fraction to whole-soil C pools in Pacific Northwest old-growth coniferous forests. Seventy-nine pedons in 18 western Washington and Oregon forests were...

Modeling the effect of land use on carbon storage in the forests of the Pacific Northwest

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cohen, Warren B.; Wallin, David O.; Harmon, Mark E.; Sollins, Philip; Daly, Christopher; Ferrell, William K.

1992-01-01

There is concern as to how the balance of carbon in the terrestrial ecosystem will change in response to a variety of land use practices. A study is described in which a methodology is being developed to help narrow this uncertainty for the temperate forets of the Pacific Northwest region of the US. A carbon storage model is being developed to respond to forest harvesting, the dominant use of land in the region. By linking the carbon model to satellite imagery and a climate simulation model, the current amount of carbon stored in the forests of the Pacific northwest is estimated. The archive of Landsat multispectral scanner (MSS) images permits a 20-year historical perspective of land use changes in the region. With these data, the recent impact of regional land use in forest carbon stores is assessed.

Effect of Temperature and Nutrient Manipulations on eelgrass Zostera marina L. from the Pacific Northwest, USA

EPA Science Inventory

Global climate change will have a large impact on the three predominate drivers of estuarine seagrass productivity, temperature, light and nutrients. I experimentally evaluate the response of Pacific Northwest Z. marina to interactive effects of temperature and nutrient conditio...

Soil and water conservation in the Pacific Northwest through no-tillage and intensified crop rotations

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) summer fallow rotation typically practiced in the intermediate precipitation zone [300-450 mm (12-18 in)] of the inland Pacific Northwest has proven to be economically stable for producers in this region. However multiple tillage operations are used to control...

Faculty Perceptions of Organizational Culture and Collegiality at Protestant Christian Universities in the Pacific Northwest

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johnson, Jamie R.

2013-01-01

This study focused on faculty perceptions of organizational culture and collegiality at denominationally affiliated Christian colleges and universities in the Pacific Northwest. It was found that while faculty members perceive tension around their experience of organizational culture, the extent of their relationships as cultivated through formal…

Windblown Dust and Air Quality Under a Changing Climate in the Pacific Northwest

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sharratt, B. S.; Tatarko, J.; Abatzoglou, J. T.; Fox, F.; Huggins, D. R.

2016-12-01

Wind erosion is a concern for sustainable agriculture and societal health in the US Pacific Northwest. Indeed, wind erosion continues to cause exceedances of the National Ambient Air Quality Standard for PM10 in the region. Can we expect air quality to deteriorate or improve as climate changes? Will wind erosion escalate in the future under a warmer and drier climate as forecast for Australia, southern prairies of Canada, northern China, and United States Corn Belt and Colorado Plateau? To answer these questions, we used 18 global climate models, cropping systems simulation model (CropSyst), and the Wind Erosion Prediction System (WEPS) to simulate the complex interactions among climate, crop production, and wind erosion. These simulations were carried out in eastern Washington where wind erosion of agricultural lands contribute to poor air quality in the region. Our results suggest that an increase in temperature and CO2 concentration, coupled with nominal increases in precipitation, will enhance biomass production and reduce soil and PM10 losses by the mid-21st century. This study reveals that climate change may reduce the risk of wind erosion and improve air quality in the Inland Pacific Northwest.

Men, Not Money: E. W. Scripps and the Penny Newspapers of the Pacific Northwest.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jordan, Mike

E.W. Scripps's penny newspapers brought a new style of public service journalism to the Pacific Northwest's four largest cities--Seattle, Spokane, Tacoma, and Portland--in the turbulent years of the Progressive movement from 1899 to 1912. Minimal investment, tight cost controls, and the idea that a small, condensed newspaper could be more popular…

Conserving and managing the trees of the future: genetic resources for Pacific Northwest forests.

Treesearch

Sally Duncan

2003-01-01

Genetic resource management has historically called for altering the genetic structure of plant populations through selection for traits of interest such as rapid growth. Although this is still a principal component of tree breeding programs in the Pacific Northwest, managing genetic resources now also brings a clear focus on retaining a broad diversity within and...

Foliar moisture content of Pacific Northwest vegetation and its relation to wildland fire behavior.

Treesearch

James K. Agee; Clinton S. Wright; Nathan Williamson; Mark H. Huff

2002-01-01

Fotiar moisture was monitored for five conifers and associated understory vegetation in Pacific Northwest forests. Decline in foliar moisture of new foliage occurred over the dry season, while less variation was evident in older foliage. Late season foliar moisture ranged from 130 to 170%. In riparian-upland comparisons, largest differences were found for understory...

Physical hydrology and the effects of forest harvesting in the Pacific Northwest: a review.

Treesearch

R. Dan Moore; S.M. Wondzell

2005-01-01

The Pacific Northwest encompasses a range of hydrologic regimes that can be broadly characterized as either coastal (where rain and rain on snow are dominant) or interior (where snowmelt is dominant). Forest harvesting generally increases the fraction of precipitation that is available to become streamflow, increases rates of snowmelt, and modifies the runoff pathways...

OPTICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF NATURAL WATERS PROTECT AMPHIBIAN POPULATIONS FROM UV-B IN THE US PACIFIC NORTHWEST

EPA Science Inventory

Increased exposure to ultraviolet-B (UV-B) radiation has been proposed as a major environmental stressor leading to global amphibian declines. Prior experimental evidence from the US Pacific Northwest (PNW) indicating the acute embryonic sensitivity of at least 4 amphibian specie...

Darkness to dawn: the evolution of electric power policy in the Pacific Northwest. [From 1934 to 1983

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Olsen, D.

1983-01-01

Electric power policy has become a prominent concern, affecting the well-being of all who live in the Pacific Northwest. This study focuses on the formulation of electric power policy in the Pacific Northwest from the New Deal era (1934) to the development of the first regional power plan (1983) prepared by the Regional Power Council. The methodology relied upon to prepare this study may best be described as historical geography. Historical geography adopts the conceptual and technical perspectives of several research fields: geography, regional planning, economics, environmental science, political science, sociology, and policy sciences - in addition to traditional historicalmore » methods. Four key power policy components were evaluated in this study: decision makers and influential groups, policy issues, policy implementation process, and policy results.« less

Lower Columbia River and Estuary Habitat Monitoring Study, 2011 - Final Report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Borde, Amy B.; Kaufmann, Ronald M.; Cullinan, Valerie I.

The Ecosystem Monitoring Program is a collaborative effort between the Lower Columbia River Estuary Partnership (LCREP), University of Washington, Wetland Ecosystem Team (UW), US Geological Survey, Water Science Center (USGS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA-Fisheries, hereafter NOAA), and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Marine Sciences Laboratory (PNNL). The goal of the program is to conduct emergent wetland monitoring aimed at characterizing salmonid habitats in the lower Columbia River and estuary (LCRE) from the mouth of the estuary to Bonneville Dam (Figure 1). This is an ecosystem based monitoring program focused on evaluating status and trends inmore » habitat and reducing uncertainties regarding these ecosystems to ultimately improve the survival of juvenile salmonids through the LCRE. This project comprehensively assesses habitat, fish, food web, and abiotic conditions in the lower river, focusing on shallow water and vegetated habitats used by juvenile salmonids for feeding, rearing and refugia. The information is intended to be used to guide management actions associated with species recovery, particularly that of threatened and endangered salmonids. PNNL’s role in this multi-year study is to monitor the habitat structure (e.g., vegetation, topography, channel morphology, and sediment type) as well as hydrologic patterns.« less

Great oaks from little acorns grow: planting native oak in the Pacific Northwest

Treesearch

Gail Wells; Warren Devine; Connie Harrington

2010-01-01

The decline of oak woodlands is an urgent conservation challenge in the Pacific Northwest. Prior to settlement by Euro-Americans, prairies, oak-dominated savannas, and oak woodlands were abundant in the low-lying areas of the region. Now it’s estimated that 1 to 5 percent of that native oak savanna remains. The rest has been supplanted by pastures, fields, Douglas-fir...

Anatomy of a field trial: Wood-based biochar and compost influences a Pacific Northwest soil

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Biochar land application research in elevated rainfall areas (980 millimeters of annual rainfall) of the U.S. Pacific Northwest is lacking. A proof-of-concept field study examined the effects of spruce-pine-fir wood chip biochar (slow pyrolysis; 450-500 degrees Celsius; 35 megagrams per hectare), d...

Will the balance of power shift among native eastern Pacific estuary ecosystem engineers with the introduced bopyrid isopod parasite orthione griffenis?

EPA Science Inventory

The blue mud shrimp, Upogebia pugettensis, the bay ghost shrimp, Neotrypaea californiensis, and eelgrass, Zostera marina are endemic ecosystem engineers that define the ecological structure and function of estuaries along the Pacific coast of the US as significantly as do marshes...

Progress on the development of seismic resilient Tall CLT Buildings in the Pacific Northwest

Treesearch

Shiling Pei; Jeffrey Berman; Daniel Dolan; John van de Lindt; James Ricles; Richard Sause; Hans-Erik Blomgren; Marjan Popovski; Douglas Rammer

2014-01-01

As urban densification occurs in U.S. regions of high seismicity, there is a natural demand for seismically resilient tall buildings that are reliable, economically viable, and can be rapidly constructed. In urban regions on the west coast of the U.S., specifically the Pacific Northwest, there is significant interest in utilizing CLT in 8-20 story residential and...

Tradeoffs between chilling and forcing in satisfying dormancy requirements for Pacific Northwest tree species

Treesearch

Constance A. Harrington; Peter J. Gould

2015-01-01

Many temperate and boreal tree species have a chilling requirement, that is, they need to experience cold temperatures during fall and winter to burst bud normally in the spring. Results from trials with 11 Pacific Northwest tree species are consistent with the concept that plants can accumulate both chilling and forcing units simultaneously during the dormant season...

Flows of the future—How will climate change affect streamflows in the Pacific Northwest?

Treesearch

Andrea Watts; Gordon Grant; Mohammad Safeeq

2016-01-01

Much of the water supply in the Pacific Northwest originates in national forests. It sustains the region’s aquatic ecosystems, agriculture, hydroelectric power, and community water supplies. Understanding how climate change will affect water supply is one of the most pressing issues of our time. Substantial changes are projected in the types of...

Using GPS Imaging to Unravel Vertical Land Motions in the Interior Pacific Northwest

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Overacker, J.; Hammond, W. C.; Kraner, M.; Blewitt, G.

2017-12-01

GPS Imaging uses robust trends in time series of GPS positions to create a velocity field that can reveal rates and patterns of vertical motions that would be otherwise difficult to detect. We have constructed an image of vertical land velocities within the interior Pacific Northwest region of the United States using GPS Imaging. The image shows a 50-250 km wide swath of approximately 2 mm/yr of subsidence seemingly unrelated to topographic features of the region. The extent of the signal roughly corresponds to the Juan de Fuca plate subduction latitudes and longitude of the Cascade arc. This suggests that the signal could be associated with ongoing crustal deformation possibly related to plate-scale geodynamic forces arising from interseismic coupling, long term plate boundary tractions, volcanic loading, and/or mantle flow. However, hydrological loading from accumulating precipitation in the Cascades and in the region's groundwater basins, and possible effects from Glacial Isostatic Adjustment (GIA) near its hinge line cannot be discounted as potential contributors to the observed subsidence signal. Here we attempt to unravel the contributions of hydrological loading and GIA to the vertical GPS signal observed within the interior Pacific Northwest. In order to determine the non-tectonic contributions to the observed vertical GPS Image, we will examine how the subsidence rate changes over time using early and late period comparisons. GPS, GRACE, and climatic data will be used in conjunction to disentangle the hydrological effect from the GPS Image. GIA models of the Western Cordillera will be compared with the patterns in the GPS Image to assess whether the signal can be explained with current models of GIA. Our presentation will document the signals, uncertainties, and hypotheses for the possible mechanisms behind this subsidence and attempt to quantify their relation and contribution to the observed deformation signal. Figure 1: Pacific Northwest GPS Imaging

Taxonomic complexity of powdery mildew pathogens found on lentil and pea in the US Pacific Northwest

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Classification of powdery mildews found on lentil and pea in greenhouse and field production conditions in the US Pacific Northwest was investigated using morphological and molecular characters. Isolates collected from lentil plants grown in the greenhouse or field displayed morphologies in substant...

The Last Frontier: Catch Records of White Sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) in the Northwest Pacific Ocean

PubMed Central

Christiansen, Heather M.; Lin, Victor; Tanaka, Sho; Velikanov, Anatoly; Mollet, Henry F.; Wintner, Sabine P.; Fordham, Sonja V.; Fisk, Aaron T.; Hussey, Nigel E.

2014-01-01

White sharks are highly migratory apex predators, globally distributed in temperate, sub-tropical, and tropical waters. Knowledge of white shark biology and ecology has increased recently based on research at known aggregation sites in the Indian, Atlantic, and Northeast Pacific Oceans; however, few data are available for the Northwest Pacific Ocean. This study provides a meta-analysis of 240 observations of white sharks from the Northwest Pacific Ocean between 1951 and 2012. Records comprise reports of bycatch in commercial fisheries, media accounts, personal communications, and documentation of shark-human interactions from Russia (n = 8), Republic of Korea (22), Japan (129), China (32), Taiwan (45), Philippines (1) and Vietnam (3). Observations occurred in all months, excluding October-January in the north (Russia and Republic of Korea) and July-August in the south (China, Taiwan, Philippines, and Vietnam). Population trend analysis indicated that the relative abundance of white sharks in the region has remained relatively stable, but parameterization of a 75% increase in observer effort found evidence of a minor decline since 2002. Reliably measured sharks ranged from 126–602 cm total length (TL) and 16–2530 kg total weight. The largest shark in this study (602 cm TL) represents the largest measured shark on record worldwide. For all countries combined the sex ratio was non-significantly biased towards females (1∶1.1; n = 113). Of 60 females examined, 11 were confirmed pregnant ranging from the beginning stages of pregnancy (egg cases) to near term (140 cm TL embryos). On average, 6.0±2.2 embryos were found per litter (maximum of 10) and gestation period was estimated to be 20 months. These observations confirm that white sharks are present in the Northwest Pacific Ocean year-round. While acknowledging the difficulties of studying little known populations of a naturally low abundance species, these results highlight the need for dedicated

The last frontier: catch records of white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) in the Northwest Pacific Ocean.

PubMed

Christiansen, Heather M; Lin, Victor; Tanaka, Sho; Velikanov, Anatoly; Mollet, Henry F; Wintner, Sabine P; Fordham, Sonja V; Fisk, Aaron T; Hussey, Nigel E

2014-01-01

White sharks are highly migratory apex predators, globally distributed in temperate, sub-tropical, and tropical waters. Knowledge of white shark biology and ecology has increased recently based on research at known aggregation sites in the Indian, Atlantic, and Northeast Pacific Oceans; however, few data are available for the Northwest Pacific Ocean. This study provides a meta-analysis of 240 observations of white sharks from the Northwest Pacific Ocean between 1951 and 2012. Records comprise reports of bycatch in commercial fisheries, media accounts, personal communications, and documentation of shark-human interactions from Russia (n = 8), Republic of Korea (22), Japan (129), China (32), Taiwan (45), Philippines (1) and Vietnam (3). Observations occurred in all months, excluding October-January in the north (Russia and Republic of Korea) and July-August in the south (China, Taiwan, Philippines, and Vietnam). Population trend analysis indicated that the relative abundance of white sharks in the region has remained relatively stable, but parameterization of a 75% increase in observer effort found evidence of a minor decline since 2002. Reliably measured sharks ranged from 126-602 cm total length (TL) and 16-2530 kg total weight. The largest shark in this study (602 cm TL) represents the largest measured shark on record worldwide. For all countries combined the sex ratio was non-significantly biased towards females (1∶1.1; n = 113). Of 60 females examined, 11 were confirmed pregnant ranging from the beginning stages of pregnancy (egg cases) to near term (140 cm TL embryos). On average, 6.0±2.2 embryos were found per litter (maximum of 10) and gestation period was estimated to be 20 months. These observations confirm that white sharks are present in the Northwest Pacific Ocean year-round. While acknowledging the difficulties of studying little known populations of a naturally low abundance species, these results highlight the need for dedicated research to

Nonlinear growth responses of Douglas-fir in the Pacific Northwest to summer temperatures in the past decade

EPA Science Inventory

Altered seasonal climate patterns resulting from global climate change could affect the productivity of coniferous forests in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. This study examined seasonal patterns of temperature, precipitation, relative humidity and plant available...

Comparison of non-indigenous dwarf eelgrass (Zostera japonica) and native eelgrass (Z. marina) distributions in a northeast Pacific estuary: 1997-2014

EPA Science Inventory

This study addressed the following question: In a coastal estuary of the northeastern Pacific Ocean with a relatively large areal extent of the native eelgrass Zostera marina, is an expanding distribution of the non-indigenous dwarf eelgrass Z. japonica accompanied by a measurab...

A Plant Health Care Program for Brambles in the Pacific Northwest

PubMed Central

McElroy, F. D.

1992-01-01

Pratylenchus and Xiphinema species have been associated with decline and mortality of brambles (Rubus species) in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. These nematodes cause direct feeding damage and (or) transmit viruses that result in poor fruit quality and plant decline. A nematode management program has been developed by the author to minimize chemical use and nematode-induced damage while optimizing fruit production. Nematode management is an integral part of a total plant health care program in which foliar and soil pests, plant stresses, and fertility are managed. PMID:19283023

An Outside Perspective on Growing Longleaf Pine--Thoughts From A Nursery Manager in the Pacific Northwest

Treesearch

R. Kasten Dumroese

2002-01-01

Nursery managers in the Pacific Northwest have decades of experience growing pine seedlings in containers. This wealth of information may benefit the South's newly emerging longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) container nursery industry. Container seedling root morphology, seedling nutrition, and integrated pest management (sanitation, chemical...

Seahawk: telemedicine project in the Pacific Northwest

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Yongmin; Cabral, James E., Jr.; Parsons, David M.; Lipski, Gregory L.; Kirchdoerfer, Richard G.; Sado, Anthony; Bender, Gregory N.; Goeringer, Fred

1995-05-01

Telemedicine is becoming increasingly possible due to the confluence of ongoing technical advances in such areas as telecommunications, imaging, multimedia, computers, and information systems. Project Seahawk is a regional telemedicine program in the Pacific Northwest with Madigan Army Medical Center (MAMC) as the hub connecting various military and other federal hospitals and clinics utilizing the state-of-the-art technologies. The first phase of Project Seahawk successfully connected MAMC in Tacoma, Wash. to the University of Washington in Seattle, Wash. through the Western Washington Local Access Transport Area (LATA) Integrated Optical Network (LION) Sonet Ring using asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) and two MediaStation 5000s as a feasibility demonstration. Several telemedicine scenarios were demonstrated including synchronized image manipulation, real- time transmission of ultrasound and medical images, and video and audio teleconferencing, and remote consultation. The second phase implementation will consist of increasing the number of hospitals and clinics with telemedicine capability, e.g., Bremerton Naval Hospital, Oak Harbor Naval Hospital, Seattle VA, and American Lake VA.

Slab-plume interaction beneath the Pacific Northwest

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Obrebski, Mathias; Allen, Richard M.; Xue, Mei; Hung, Shu-Huei

2010-07-01

The Pacific Northwest has undergone complex plate reorganization and intense tectono-volcanic activity to the east during the Cenozoic (last 65 Ma). Here we show new high-resolution tomographic images obtained using shear and compressional data from the ongoing USArray deployment that demonstrate first that there is a continuous, whole-mantle plume beneath the Yellowstone Snake River Plain (YSRP) and second, that the subducting Juan de Fuca (JdF) slab is fragmented and even absent beneath Oregon. The analysis of the geometry of our tomographic models suggests that the arrival and emplacement of the large Yellowstone plume had a substantial impact on the nearby Cascadia subduction zone, promoting the tearing and weakening of the JdF slab. This interpretation also explains several intriguing geophysical properties of the Cascadia trench that contrast with most other subduction zones, such as the absence of deep seismicity and the trench-normal fast direction of mantle anisotropy. The DNA velocity models are available for download and slicing at http://dna.berkeley.edu.

SAN FRANCISCO ESTUARY PROJECT COMPREHENSIVE CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT PLAN

EPA Science Inventory

The Estuary, a significant natural resource, San Francisco Bay and the Delta combine to form the West Coast's largest estuary. The Estuary conveys the waters of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers to the Pacific Ocean. It encompasses roughly 1,600 square miles, drains over 40 p...

The Pacific Northwest Research Station biodiversity initiative: scooping out the challenges in managing for biodiversity.

Treesearch

Rachel White; Randy Molina

2006-01-01

The USDA Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station's Biodiversity Initiative seeks to determine the types of science tools needed by natural resource professionals to meet diverse and complex biodiversity goals. During the scoping phase of this Initiative, we asked a broad cross-section of people whose work involves managing for biodiversity, from state...

A Knowledge-Based Information Management System for Watershed Analysis in the Pacific Northwest U.S.

Treesearch

Keith Reynolds; Patrick Cunningham; Larry Bednar; Michael Saunders; Michael Foster; Richard Olson; Daniel Schmoldt; Donald Latham; Bruce Miller; John Steffenson

1996-01-01

The Pacific Northwest Research Station (USDA Forest Service) is developing a knowledge-based information management system to provide decision support for watershed analysis. The system includes: (1) a GIS interface that allows users to navigate graphically to specific provinces and watersheds and display a variety of themes (vegetation, streams, roads, topography, etc...

Anthropogenic sedimentation in Pacific Northwest streams inferred from Aquatic Habitat Survey datausing a relative bed stability index

EPA Science Inventory

We evaluated anthropogenic sedimentation in U.S. Pacific Northwest coastal streams using an index of relative bed stability (LRBS*) based on low flow survey data collected using the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (EMAP) fiel...

Guidelines for evaluating air pollution impacts on class I wilderness areas in the Pacific Northwest.

Treesearch

J. Peterson; D. Schmoldt; D. Peterson; J. Eilers; R. Fisher; R. Bachman

1992-01-01

Forest Service air resource managers in the Pacific Northwest are responsible for protecting class 1 wilderness areas from air pollution. To do this, they need scientifically defensible information to determine critical concentrations of air pollution having the potential to impact class 1 wilderness values. This report documents the results of a workshop where current...

Guidelines for evaluating air pollution impacts on class I wilderness areas in the Pacific Northwest.

Treesearch

Janice Peterson; Daniel L. Schmoldt; David Peterson; Joseph Eilers; Richard Fisher; Robert Bachman

1992-01-01

Forest Service air resource managers in the Pacific Northwest are responsible for protecting class I wilderness areas from air pollution. To do this, they need scientifically defensible information to determine critical concentrations of air pollution having the potential to impact class I wilderness values. This report documents the results of a workshop where current...

The Pacific Northwest; linkage between earthquake and volcano hazards

USGS Publications Warehouse

Crosson, R.S.

1990-01-01

The Pacific Northwest (Oregon, Washington, and northern California) is experiencing rapid industrial and population growth. The same conditions that make the region attractive- close proximity to both mountains and oceans, volcanoes and spectacular inland waters- also present significant geologic hazards that are easily overlooked in the normal timetable of human activities. The catastrophic eruption of Mount St. Helens 10 years ago serves as a dramatic reminder of the forces of nature that can be unleashed through volcanism. other volcanoes such as  mount Rainier, a majestic symbol of Washington, or Mount hood in Oregon, lie closer to population centers and could present far greater hazards should they become active. Earthquakes may affect even larger regions, prodcuging more cumulative damage. 

Vegetation community response to tidal marsh restoration of a large river estuary

USGS Publications Warehouse

Belleveau, Lisa J.; Takekawa, John Y.; Woo, Isa; Turner, Kelley L.; Barham, Jesse B.; Takekawa, Jean E.; Ellings, Christopher S.; Chin-Leo, Gerardo

2015-01-01

Estuaries are biologically productive and diverse ecosystems that provide ecosystem services including protection of inland areas from flooding, filtering freshwater outflows, and providing habitats for fish and wildlife. Alteration of historic habitats, including diking for agriculture, has decreased the function of many estuarine systems, and recent conservation efforts have been directed at restoring these degraded areas to reestablish their natural resource function. The Nisqually Delta in southern Puget Sound is an estuary that has been highly modified by restricting tidal flow, and recent restoration of the delta contributed to one of the largest tidal salt marsh restorations in the Pacific Northwest. We correlated the response of nine major tidal marsh species to salinities at different elevation zones. Our results indicated that wetland species richness was not related to soil pore-water salinity (R2 = 0.03), but were stratified into different elevation zones (R2 = 0.47). Thus, restoration that fosters a wide range of elevations will provide the most diverse plant habitat, and potentially, the greatest resilience to environmental change.

A hydrogeologic framework for characterizing summer streamflow sensitivity to climate warming in the Pacific Northwest, USA

Treesearch

M. Safeeq; G.E. Grant; S.L. Lewis; M.G. Kramer; B. Staab

2014-01-01

Summer streamflows in the Pacific Northwest are largely derived from melting snow and groundwater discharge. As the climate warms, diminishing snowpack and earlier snowmelt will cause reductions in summer streamflow. Most regional-scale assessments of climate change impacts on streamflow use downscaled temperature and precipitation projections from general circulation...

Exclusionary Discipline Practices across Students' Racial/Ethnic Backgrounds and Disability Status: Findings from the Pacific Northwest

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vincent, Claudia G.; Sprague, Jeffrey R.; Tobin, Tary J.

2012-01-01

We examined 2009-2010 data on exclusionary discipline practices from one state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States across students' racial/ethnic backgrounds and disability status. Our focus was on proportionate representation in exclusionary discipline actions and in the duration of those disciplinary actions. Descriptive outcomes…

White rot of garlic and onion (Causal agent, Sclerotium cepivorum): A status report from the Pacific Northwest

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

There is evidence from literature, state department of agriculture documents, and recent diagnoses that Sclerotium cepivorum, causal agent of white rot of garlic and onion, is spreading and/or becoming more established in the Pacific Northwest. Previously documented distributions are summarized, an...

Trends and sensitivities of low streamflow extremes to discharge timing and magnitude in pacific northwest mountain streams

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Historical streamflow data from the Pacific Northwest indicate that the precipitation amount has been the dominant control on the magnitude of low streamflow extremes compared to the air temperature-affected timing of snowmelt runoff. The relative sensitivities of low streamflow to precipitation and...

Ocean-atmosphere forcing of centennial hydroclimatic variability in the Pacific Northwest

USGS Publications Warehouse

Steinman, Byron A.; Abbott, Mark B.; Mann, Michael E.; Ortiz, Joseph D.; Feng, Song; Pompeani, David P.; Stansell, Nathan D.; Anderson, Lesleigh; Finney, Bruce P.; Bird, Broxton W.

2014-01-01

Reconstructing centennial timescale hydroclimate variability during the late Holocene is critically important for understanding large-scale patterns of drought and their relationship with climate dynamics. We present sediment oxygen isotope records spanning the last two millennia from 10 lakes, as well as climate model simulations, indicating that the Little Ice Age was dry relative to the Medieval Climate Anomaly in much of the Pacific Northwest of North America. This pattern is consistent with observed associations between the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), the Northern Annular Mode and drought as well as with proxy-based reconstructions of Pacific ocean-atmosphere variations over the past 1000 years. The large amplitude of centennial variability indicated by the lake data suggests that regional hydroclimate is characterized by longer-term shifts in ENSO-like dynamics, and that an improved understanding of the centennial timescale relationship between external forcing and drought conditions is necessary for projecting future hydroclimatic conditions in western North America.

Climate change and forest trees in the Pacific Northwest: guide to vulnerability assessment methodology

Treesearch

W. Devine; C. Aubry; J. Miller; K. Potter; A. Bower

2012-01-01

This guide provides a step-by-step description of the methodology used to apply the Forest Tree Genetic Risk Assessment System (ForGRAS; Potter and Crane 2010) to the tree species of the Pacific Northwest in a recent climate change vulnerability assessment (Devine et al. 2012). We describe our modified version of the ForGRAS model, and we review the model’s basic...

Photo series for quantifying natural forest residues in common vegetation types of the Pacific Northwest.

Treesearch

Wayne G. Maxwell; Franklin R. Ward

1980-01-01

Twenty-five series of photographs display different levels of natural forest residue loadings by size classes for areas of like vegetation in the Pacific Northwest. Information with each photo includes measured weights, volumes, and other data on residues, information about live vegetation, and fuel ratings.These photo series provide a fast, easy-to-use way to...

The Alsea Watershed Study: a comparison with other multi-year investigations in the Pacific Northwest

Treesearch

Peter A. Bisson; Stanley V. Gregory; Thomas E. Nickelson; James D. Hall

2008-01-01

The Alsea Watershed Study (AWS) was the first long-term fisheries research project to address the effects of forestry operations on salmonid populations in the Pacific Northwest using a watershed approach. To this day it remains one of a very limited number of investigations that have provided long-term information on salmon and trout responses to forestry operations....

Analysis of potential impacts of climate change on forests of the United States Pacific Northwest

Treesearch

Gregory Latta; Hailemariam Temesgen; Darius Adams; Tara Barrett

2010-01-01

As global climate changes over the next century, forest productivity is expected to change as well. Using PRISM climate and productivity data measured on a grid of 3356 plots, we developed a simultaneous autoregressive model to estimate the impacts of climate change on potential productivity of Pacific Northwest forests of the United States. The model, coupled with...

New approaches to forest planning: inventorying and mapping place values in the Pacific Northwest Region

Treesearch

Troy E. Hall; Jennifer O. Farnum; Terry C. Slider; Kathy Ludlow

2009-01-01

This report chronicles a large-scale effort to map place values across the Pacific Northwest Region (Washington and Oregon) of the U.S. Forest Service. Through workshops held with Forest Service staff, 485 socioculturally meaningful places were identified. Staff also generated corresponding descriptions of the places’ unique social and biophysical elements—in other...

Effects of fire suppression under a changing climate in Pacific Northwest mixed-pine forests

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hanan, E. J.; Tague, C.; Bart, R. R.; Kennedy, M. C.; Abatzoglou, J. T.; Kolden, C.; Adam, J. C.

2017-12-01

The frequency of large and severe wildfires has increased over recent decades in many regions across the Western U.S., including the Pacific and Inland Northwest. This increase is likely driven in large part by wildfire suppression, which has promoted fuel accumulation in western landscapes. Recent studies also suggest that anthropogenic climate change intensifies wildfire activity by increasing fuel aridity. However, the contribution of these drivers to observed changes in fire regime is not well quantified at regional scales. Understanding the relative influence of climate and fire suppression is crucial for both projecting the effects of climate change on future fire spread, and for developing site-specific fuel management strategies under a new climate paradigm. To quantify the extent to which fire suppression and climate change have contributed to increases in wildfire activity in the Pacific Northwest, we conduct a modeling experiment using the ecohydrologic model RHESSys and the coupled stochastic fire spread model WMFire. Specifically, we use historical climate inputs from GCMs, combined with fire suppression scenarios to gauge the extent to which these drivers promote the spread of severe wildfires in Johnson Creek, a large (565-km2) mixed-pine dominated subcatchment of the Southfork Salmon River; part of the larger Columbia River Basin. We run 500 model iterations for suppressed, intermediate, and unsuppressed fire management scenarios, both with and without climate change in a factorial design, focusing on fire spread surrounding two extreme fire years in Johnson Creek (1998 and 2007). After deriving fire spread "fingerprints" for each combination of possible drivers, we evaluate the extent to which these fingerprints match observations in the fire record. We expect that climate change plays a role in the spread of large and severe wildfires in Johnson Creek, but the magnitude of this effect is mediated by prior suppression. Preliminary results suggest

Biological screening of selected Pacific Northwest forest plants using the brine shrimp (Artemia salina) toxicity bioassay

Treesearch

Yvette M. Karchesy; Rick G. Kelsey; George Constantine; Joseph J. Karchesy

2016-01-01

The brine shrimp (Artemia salina) bioassay was used to screen 211 methanol extracts from 128 species of Pacific Northwest plants in search of general cytotoxic activity. Strong toxicity (LC50 < 100 μg/ml) was found for 17 extracts from 13 species, with highest activity observed for Angelica arguta...

The Best of CLEARING: Environmental Education in the Pacific Northwest. Volumes I-IV: Issues 1-80.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

1993

"Clearing" magazine is a bi-monthly environmental education resource and activity guide for K-12 teachers in the Pacific Northwest. Each of these four volumes is a compilation of outstanding articles and activities from past issues of "Clearing." Volume I (Issues 1-20) presents 47 articles organized into four sections:…

NITROGEN MOVEMENT AND WATER QUALITY AT A POORLY-DRAINED AGRICULTURAL AND RIPARIAN SITE IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST

EPA Science Inventory

Grass seed cropping systems in the Pacific Northwest account for about half of the cool-season forage and turf grass seed production in the world. Grass seed cropping systems are intensely managed with inorganic fertilizers to sustain production. Much of the land where grass seed...

Root diseases in bareroot and container nurseries of the Pacific Northwest: epidemiology, management, and effects on outplanting performance

Treesearch

Kasten R. Dumroese; Robert L. James

2005-01-01

In forest and conservation nurseries in the Pacific Northwest USA, seedling production can be limited by root diseases caused by fungi in the genera Fusarium Link:Fr., Cylindrocarpon Wollenw., Phytophthora de Barry, and Pythium Pringsh. Fusarium, Cylindrocarpon, and ...

Assessment of a model of forest dynamics under contrasting climate and disturbance regimes in the Pacific Northwest [FORCLIM

USGS Publications Warehouse

Busing, Richard T.; Solomon, Allen M.

2005-01-01

An individual-based model of forest dynamics (FORCLIM) was tested for its ability to simulate forest composition and structure in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. Simulation results across gradients of climate and disturbance were compared to forest survey data from several vegetation zones in western Oregon. Modelled patterns of tree species composition, total basal area and stand height across climate gradients matched those in the forest survey data. However, the density of small stems (<50 cm DBH) was underestimated by the model. Thus actual size-class structure and other density-based parameters of stand structure were not simulated with high accuracy. The addition of partial-stand disturbances at moderate frequencies (<0.01 yr-1) often improved agreement between simulated and actual results. Strengths and weaknesses of the FORCLIM model in simulating forest dynamics and structure in the Pacific Northwest are discussed.

Calibration and modification for the Pacific Northwest of the New Zealand Douglas-fir silvicultural growth model.

Treesearch

James W. Flewelling; David D. Marshall

2008-01-01

This paper describes a growth model for young plantations of Douglas-fir(Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) growing in the Pacific Northwest. The overall model has three major components. The first is a yield model for diameter and height distributions describing stands prior to pruning or precommercial thinning. The second component is an...

A Study of Culturally-Appropriate Instructional Resources in Native American Education: A Depiction of the Regional Needs and Resources in the Pacific Northwest.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nelson, Stephen R.

A study of culturally-appropriate instructional practices and resources in Native American education, jointly produced by the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory and the Indian tribes of Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana, focuses on the Pacific Northwest. Program design and objectives (increasing student interest/skills in language…

Comparative genetic structure of two mangrove species in Caribbean and Pacific estuaries of Panama

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Mangroves are ecologically important and highly threatened forest communities. Observational and genetic evidence has confirmed the long distance dispersal capacity of water-dispersed mangrove seeds, but less is known about the relative importance of pollen vs. seed gene flow in connecting populations. We analyzed 980 Avicennia germinans for 11 microsatellite loci and 940 Rhizophora mangle for six microsatellite loci and subsampled two non-coding cpDNA regions in order to understand population structure, and gene flow within and among four major estuaries on the Caribbean and Pacific coasts of Panama. Results Both species showed similar rates of outcrossing (t= 0.7 in A. germinans and 0.8 in R. mangle) and strong patterns of spatial genetic structure within estuaries, although A. germinans had greater genetic structure in nuclear and cpDNA markers (7 demes > 4 demes and Sp= 0.02 > 0.002), and much greater cpDNA diversity (Hd= 0.8 > 0.2) than R. mangle. The Central American Isthmus serves as an exceptionally strong barrier to gene flow, with high levels nuclear (FST= 0.3-0.5) and plastid (FST= 0.5-0.8) genetic differentiation observed within each species between coasts and no shared cpDNA haplotypes between species on each coast. Finally, evidence of low ratios of pollen to seed dispersal (r = −0.6 in A. germinans and 7.7 in R. mangle), coupled with the strong observed structure in nuclear and plastid DNA among most estuaries, suggests low levels of gene flow in these mangrove species. Conclusions We conclude that gene dispersal in mangroves is usually limited within estuaries and that coastal geomorphology and rare long distance dispersal events could also influence levels of structure. PMID:23078287

Methodology used to produce an encoded 1:100,000-scale digital hydrographic data layer for the Pacific Northwest

USGS Publications Warehouse

Fisher, B.J.

1996-01-01

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has produced a River Reach File data layer for the Pacific Northwest for use in water-resource management applications. The Pacific Northwest (PNW) River Reach Files, a geo-referenced river reach data layer at 1:100,000-scale, are encoded with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency"s (EPA) reach numbers. The encoding was a primary task of the River Reach project, because EPA"s reach identifiers are also an integral hydrologic component in a regional Northwest Environmental Data Base-an ongoing effort by Federal and State agencies to compile information on reach-specific resources on rivers in Oregon, Idaho, Washington, and western Montana. A unique conflation algorithm was developed by the USGS to transfer the EPA reach codes and other meaningful attributes from the 1:250,000-scale EPA TRACE graphic files to the PNW Reach Files. The PNW Reach Files also were designed so that reach-specific information upstream or downstream from a point in the stream network could be extracted from feature attribute tables or from a Geographic Information System. This report documents the methodology used to create this 1:100,000-scale hydrologic data layer.

Evergreen coniferous forests of the pacific northwest.

PubMed

Waring, R H; Franklin, J F

1979-06-29

The massive, evergreen coniferous forests in the Pacific Northwest are unique among temperate forest regions of the world. The region's forests escaped decimation during Pleistocene glaciation; they are now dominated by a few broadly distributed and well-adapted conifers that grow to large size and great age. Large trees with evergreen needle- or scale-like leaves have distinct advantages under the current climatic regime. Photosynthesis and nutrient uptake and storage are possible during the relatively warm, wet fall and winter months. High evaporative demand during the warm, dry summer reduces photosynthesis. Deciduous hardwoods are repeatedly at a disadvantage in competing with conifers in the regional climate. Their photosynthesis is predominantly limited to the growing season when evaporative demand is high and water is often limiting. Most nutrients needed are also less available at this time. The large size attained by conifers provides a buffer against environmental stress (especially for nutrients and moisture). The long duration between destructive fires and storms permits conifers to outgrow hardwoods with more limited stature and life spans.

A first look at measurement error on FIA plots using blind plots in the Pacific Northwest

Treesearch

Susanna Melson; David Azuma; Jeremy S. Fried

2002-01-01

Measurement error in the Forest Inventory and Analysis work of the Pacific Northwest Station was estimated with a recently implemented blind plot measurement protocol. A small subset of plots was revisited by a crew having limited knowledge of the first crew's measurements. This preliminary analysis of the first 18 months' blind plot data indicates that...

33 CFR 334.961 - Pacific Ocean, San Clemente Island, California, naval danger zone off the northwest shore.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... Island, California, naval danger zone off the northwest shore. 334.961 Section 334.961 Navigation and... RESTRICTED AREA REGULATIONS § 334.961 Pacific Ocean, San Clemente Island, California, naval danger zone off... regulations in this section shall be enforced by the commander, Naval Base, San Diego, California, and such...

ECOLOGICAL AND WATER QUALITY CONSEQUENCES OF NUTRIENT ADDITION FOR SALMON RESTORATION IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST OF NORTH AMERICA

EPA Science Inventory

Salmon runs have declined over the past two centuries in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. Reduced inputs of salmon-derived organic matter and nutrients (SDN) may limit freshwater production and thus establish a negative feedback loop affecting future generations of...

PRODUCTION ECOLOGY OF THE NON-INDIGENOUS SEAGRASS, DWARF EELGRASS (ZOSTERA JAPONICA ASCHER. & GRAEB.), IN A PACIFIC NORTHWEST ESTUARY, USA

EPA Science Inventory

The non-indigenous seagrass Zostera japonica Ascher. & Graeb. (dwarf eelgrass) was first identified in central Oregon (USA) estuaries about 30 years ago. The autecology of this species is poorly described at the southern end of its non-native range although several process orien...

Field-trip guide to a volcanic transect of the Pacific Northwest

USGS Publications Warehouse

Geist, Dennis; Wolff, John; Harpp, Karen

2017-08-01

The Pacific Northwest region of the United States provides world-class and historically important examples of a wide variety of volcanic features. This guide is designed to give a broad overview of the region’s diverse volcanism rather than focusing on the results of detailed studies; the reader should consult the reference list for more detailed information on each of the sites, and we have done our best to recognize previous field trip leaders who have written the pioneering guides. This trip derives from one offered as a component of the joint University of Idaho- Washington State University volcanology class taught from 1995 through 2014, and it borrows in theme from the classic field guide of Johnston and Donnelly-Nolan (1981). For readers interested in using this field guide as an educational tool, we have included an appendix with supplemental references to resources that provide useful background information on relevant topics, as well as a few suggestions for field-based exercises that could be useful when bringing students to these locations in the future. The 4-day trip begins with an examination of lava flow structures of the Columbia River Basalt, enormous lava fields that were emplaced during one of the largest eruptive episodes in Earth’s recent history. On the second day, the trip turns to the High Lava Plains, a bimodal volcanic province that transgressed from southeast to northwest from the Miocene through the Holocene, at the northern margin of the Basin and Range Province. This volcanic field provides excellent examples of welded ignimbrite, silicic lavas and domes, monogenetic basaltic lava fields, and hydrovolcanic features. The third day is devoted to a circumnavigation of Crater Lake, the result of one of the world’s best-documented caldera-forming eruptions. The caldera walls also expose the anatomy of Mount Mazama, a stratovolcano of the Cascade Range. The last day is spent at Newberry Volcano, a back-arc shield volcano topped by a

Hydrologic response of Pacific Northwest river to climate change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Su, F.; Cuo, L.; Wu, H.; Mantua, N.; Lettenmaier, D. P.

2009-12-01

The climate of the Pacific Northwest (PNW - which we define as the Columbia River basin and watersheds draining to the Oregon and Washington coasts) is expected to warm by approximately 0.3°C per decade in the next 100 years based on the IPCC the Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) results. PNW hydrology is particularly sensitive to a warming climate because of the dominant role of snowmelt in seasonal streamflow. Timing shifts in seasonality of flows, peak discharge, and base flows will impact water resource management, regional electrical energy production, and freshwater ecosystems. In this work we update previous studies of implications of climate change on PNW hydrology using a macroscale hydrology model driven by simulations of temperature and precipitation downscaled from runs of 20 General Circulation Models (GCMs) under two emissions scenarios (lower B1 and mid-high A1B) in the 21st century. The hydrology model is implemented at 1/16th degree spatial resolution over the entire PNW. A (statistical) bias-correction and spatial disaggregation downscaling approach is used for translating the transient monthly climate model output into continuous daily forcings for the hydrologic analysis. We evaluate projected changes in snow water equivalent, seasonal streamflow, and frequency of peak low flows over a set of case study watersheds in the region. We also compare these hydrologic projections with previous analysis based on delta downscaling method over the PNW. This research is part of a project investigating climate change impacts on the future of wild Pacific salmon, and is a pilot effort to investigate the hydrologic sensitivity of salmon bearing watersheds around the entire North Pacific Rim.

Molecular characterization of pea enation mosaic virus and bean leafroll virus from the Pacific Northwest, USA.

PubMed

Vemulapati, B; Druffel, K L; Eigenbrode, S D; Karasev, A; Pappu, H R

2010-10-01

The family Luteoviridae consists of eight viruses assigned to three different genera, Luteovirus, Polerovirus and Enamovirus. The complete genomic sequences of pea enation mosaic virus (genus Enamovirus) and bean leafroll virus (genus Luteovirus) from the Pacific Northwest, USA, were determined. Annotation, sequence comparisons, and phylogenetic analysis of selected genes together with those of known polero- and enamoviruses were conducted.

Forest fuel reduction alters fire severity and long-term carbon storage in three Pacific Northwest ecosystems

Treesearch

Stephen R. Mitchell; Mark E. Harmon; Kari E.B. O' Connell

2009-01-01

Two forest management objectives being debated in the context of federally managed landscapes in the U.S. Pacific Northwest involve a perceived trade-off between fire restoration and carbon sequestration. The former strategy would reduce fuel (and therefore carbon [C]) that has accumulated through a century of fire suppression and exclusion which has led to extreme...

Drought-triggered western spruce budworm outbreaks in the Interior Pacific Northwest: A multi-century dendrochronological record

Treesearch

A. Flower; D. G. Gavin; E. K. Heyerdahl; R. A. Parsons; G. M. Cohn

2014-01-01

Douglas-fir forests in the interior Pacific Northwest are subject to sporadic outbreaks of the western spruce budworm, a species widely recognized as the most destructive defoliator in western North America. Outbreaks of the western spruce budworm often occur synchronously over broad regions and lead to widespread loss of leaf area and decrease in growth rates in...

Seismic Structure of Mantle Transition Zone beneath Northwest Pacific Subduction Zone and its Dynamic Implication

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, J.; Guo, G.; WANG, X.; Chen, Q.

2017-12-01

The northwest Pacific subduction region is an ideal location to study the interaction between the subducting slab and upper mantle discontinuities. Various and complex geometry of the Pacific subducting slab can be well traced downward from the Kuril, Japan and Izu-Bonin trench using seismicity and tomography images (Fukao and Obayashi, 2013). Due to the sparse distribution of seismic stations in the sea, investigation of the deep mantle structure beneath the broad sea regions is very limited. In this study, we applied the well- developed multiple-ScS reverberations method (Wang et al., 2017) to analyze waveforms recorded by the Chinese Regional Seismic Network, the densely distributed temporary seismic array stations installed in east Asia. A map of the topography of the upper mantle discontinuities beneath the broad oceanic regions in northwest Pacific subduction zone is imaged. We also applied the receiver function analysis to waveforms recorded by stations in northeast China and obtain the detailed topography map beneath east Asia continental regions. We then combine the two kinds of topography of upper mantle discontinuities beneath oceanic and continental regions respectively, which are obtained from totally different methods. A careful image matching and spatial correlation is made in the overlapping study regions to calibrate results with different resolution. This is the first time to show systematically a complete view of the topography of the 410-km and 660-km discontinuities beneath the east Asia "Big mantle wedge" (Zhao and Ohtani, 2009) covering the broad oceanic and continental regions in the Northwestern Pacific Subduction zone. Topography pattern of the 660 and 410 is obtained and discussed. Especially we discovered a broad depression of the 410-km discontinuity covering more than 1000 km in lateral, which seems abnormal in the cold subducting tectonic environment. Based on plate tectonic reconstruction studies and HTHP mineral experiments, we

Trends and sensitivities of low streamflow extremes to discharge timing and magnitude in Pacific Northwest mountain streams

Treesearch

Patrick R. Kormos; Charlie Luce; Seth J. Wenger; Wouter R. Berghuijs

2016-01-01

Path analyses of historical streamflow data from the Pacific Northwest indicate that the precipitation amount has been the dominant control on the magnitude of low streamflow extremes compared to the air temperature-affected timing of snowmelt runoff. The relative sensitivities of low streamflow to precipitation and temperature changes have important...

Climate change predicted to negatively influence surface soil health of dryland cropping systems in the Inland Pacific Northwest

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Soil organic matter (SOM) is a key indicator of agricultural productivity and overall soil health. Currently, dryland cropping systems of the inland Pacific Northwest (iPNW) span a large gradient in mean annual temperature (MAT) and precipitation (MAP). These climatic drivers are major determinants ...

A review of apple anthracnose canker biology and management in cider apple orchards in the Maritime Pacific Northwest

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Cider apple (Malus ×domestica Borkh.) is an emerging crop in western Washington and the Pacific Northwest (PNW) region, but a major obstacle to planting new orchards and orchard productivity is the widespread occurrence of apple anthracnose canker, caused by the fungal pathogen Neofabraea malicortic...

Surficial Seismology: Landslides, Glaciers, and Volcanoes in the Pacific Northwest through a Seismic Lens

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Allstadt, Kate

The following work is focused on the use of both traditional and novel seismological tools, combined with concepts from other disciplines, to investigate shallow seismic sources and hazards. The study area is the dynamic landscape of the Pacific Northwest and its wide-ranging earthquake, landslide, glacier, and volcano-related hazards. The first chapter focuses on landsliding triggered by earthquakes, with a shallow crustal earthquake in Seattle as a case study. The study demonstrates that utilizing broadband synthetic seismograms and rigorously incorporating 3D basin amplification, 1D site effects, and fault directivity, allows for a more complete assessment of regional seismically induced landslide hazard. The study shows that the hazard is severe for Seattle, and provides a framework for future probabilistic maps and near real-time hazard assessment. The second chapter focuses on landslides that generate seismic waves and how these signals can be harnessed to better understand landslide dynamics. This is demonstrated using two contrasting Pacific Northwest landslides. The 2010 Mount Meager, BC, landslide generated strong long period waves. New full waveform inversion methods reveal the time history of forces the landslide exerted on the earth that is used to quantify event dynamics. Despite having a similar volume (˜107 m3), The 2009 Nile Valley, WA, landslide did not generate observable long period motions because of its smaller accelerations, but pulses of higher frequency waves were valuable in piecing together the complex sequence of events. The final chapter details the difficulties of monitoring glacier-clad volcanoes. The focus is on small, repeating, low-frequency earthquakes at Mount Rainier that resemble volcanic earthquakes. However, based on this investigation, they are actually glacial in origin: most likely stick-slip sliding of glaciers triggered by snow loading. Identification of the source offers a view of basal glacier processes, discriminates

Institutional Racism through the Eyes of African American Male Faculty at Community Colleges in the Pacific Northwest

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harden, Kimberly Linayah

2016-01-01

The purpose of this qualitative study is to explore the lived experiences of African American male faculty at community colleges in the Pacific Northwest. Regional data mirrors national statistics denoting the low number of faculty of color working at state-funded community colleges. The literature reviewed for this study suggests that African…

A review of protocols for monitoring streams and juvenile fish in forested regions of the Pacific Northwest.

Treesearch

Scott A. Stolnack; Mason D. Bryant; Robert C. Wissmar

2005-01-01

This document reviews existing and proposed protocols used to monitor stream ecosystem conditions and responses to land management activities in the Pacific Northwest. Because of recent work aimed at improving the utility of habitat survey and fish abundance assessment methods, this review focuses on current (since 1993) monitoring efforts that assess stream habitat...

Identifying blueberry germplasm that is slow to get Blueberry shock virus in the Pacific Northwest United States

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Blueberry shock virus (BlShV) is a serious problem in blueberry production in the Pacific Northwest (PNW) region of North America. Infection occurs during bloom and the virus moves into other parts of the plant in an uneven but steady manner and may take several years to become fully systemic in mat...

Fire-mediated pathways of stand development in Douglas-fir/western hemlock forests of the Pacific Northwest, USA

Treesearch

A.J. Tepley; F.J. Swanson; T.A. Spies

2013-01-01

Forests dominated by Douglas-fir and western hemlock in the Pacific Northwest of the United States have strongly influenced concepts and policy concerning old-growth forest conservation. Despite the attention to their old-growth characteristics, a tendency remains to view their disturbance ecology in relatively simple terms, emphasizing infrequent, stand-replacing (SR...

OPTICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF NATURAL WATERS PROTECT AMPHIBIANS FROM UV-B IN THE U.S. PACIFIC NORTHWEST: A REPLY

EPA Science Inventory

It has been proposed that UV-B is a cause of malfomations seen in amphibians. This document comments on the paper which discusses the concept that the optical characteristics of water may protect amphibians in the U.S. Pacific Northwest from the harmful effects of UV-B.

Seasonality of climate change and oscillations in the Northeast Asia and Northwest Pacific

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ponomarev, V.; Salomatin, A.; Kaplunenko, D.; Krokhin, V.

2003-04-01

The main goals of this study are to estimate and compare the seasonality of centennial/semi-centennial climatic tendencies and dominated oscillations in surface air temperature and precipitation over continental and marginal areas of the Northeast Asia, as well as in the Northwest Pacific SST. We use monthly mean data for the 20th century from the NOAA Global History Climatic Network, JMA data base and WMU/COADS World Atlas of Surface Marine Data. Details of climate change/oscillations associated with cooling or warming in different areas and periods of a year are revealed. Wavelet analyses and two methods of the linear trend estimation are applied. First one is least-squares (LS) method with Fisher’s test for statistical significance level. Second one is nonparametric robust (NR) method, based on Theil's rank regression and Kendall's test for statistical significance level. The NR method should be applied to time series with abnormal distribution function typical for precipitation time series. Application of the NR method result in increase the statistical significance of both positive and negative linear trends in all cases of abnormal distribution with negative/positive skewness and low/high kurtosis. Using this method, we have determined spatial patterns of statistically significant climatic trends in surface air temperature, precipitation in the Northeast Asia, and in the Northwest Pacific SST. The most substantial centennial warming in the vast continental area of the mid-latitude band is found mainly for December March. The semi-centennial/ centennial cooling occurs in South Siberia and the subarctic mid-continental area in June September. Opposite tendencies were also revealed in precipitation and SST. Positive semi-centennial tendency in the SST in the second half of the 20th century predominates in the Kuroshio region and in the northwestern area of the subarctic gyre in winter. Negative tendency in the SST dominates in the southwestern subarctic gyre

Seasonality of climate change and oscillations in the Northeast Asia and Northwest Pacific

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ponomarev, V.; Salomatin, A.; Kaplunenko, D.; Krokhin, V.

2003-04-01

The main goals of this study are to estimate and compare the centennial/semi-centennial climatic tendencies and oscillations in surface air temperature and precipitation over continental and marginal areas of the Northeast Asian, as well as in the Northwest Pacific SST for all months of a year. We use monthly mean data for the 20th century from the NOAA Global History Climatic Network, JMA data base and WMU/COADS World Atlas of Surface Marine Data. Details of climate change/oscillations associated with cooling or warming in different areas and periods of a year are revealed. Wavelet analyses and two methods of the linear trend estimation are applied. First one is least-squares (LS) method with Fisher’s test for statistical significance level. Second one is nonparametric robust (NR) method, based on Theil's rank regression and Kendall's test for statistical significance level. The NR method should be applied to time series with abnormal distribution function typical for precipitation time series. Application of the NR method result in increase the statistical significance of both positive and negative linear trends in all cases of abnormal distribution with negative/positive skewness and low/high kurtosis. Using this method, we have determined spatial patterns of statistically significant climatic trends in surface air temperature, precipitation in the Northeast Asia, and in the Northwest Pacific SST. The most substantial centennial warming in the vast continental area of the mid-latitude band is found mainly for December March. The semi-centennial/ centennial cooling occurs in South Siberia and the subarctic mid-continental area in June September. Opposite tendencies were also revealed in precipitation and SST. Positive semi-centennial tendency in the SST in the second half of the 20th century predominates in the Kuroshio region and in the northwestern area of the subarctic gyre in winter. Negative tendency in the SST dominates in the southwestern subarctic gyre

Species Profiles: Life Histories and Environmental Requirements of Coastal Fishes and Invertebrates (Pacific Northwest): English Sole

DTIC Science & Technology

1989-07-01

Pacific Northwest) ENGLISH SOLE by Dennis R. Lassuv Uregon Cooperative Fishery Research Unit Department of Fisheries and Wildlife Oregon State...8 *THE FISHERY .. ............... .................. ECOLOGICAL ROLE ................ ............... 9 ENVIRONMENTAL... Fisheries Commission Grays Harbor- PUGET SOUND Willapa Bay - WASHINGTON PORTLAND 4 COL RV RIVER MIL ES 0 100 0 50, 1 0f K IL OM ET E R S REEDSPORT COOS BAY

Effects of Climate Change on Flood Frequency in the Pacific Northwest

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gergel, D. R.; Stumbaugh, M. R.; Lee, S. Y.; Nijssen, B.; Lettenmaier, D. P.

2014-12-01

A key concern about climate change as related to water resources is the potential for changes in hydrologic extremes, including flooding. We explore changes in flood frequency in the Pacific Northwest using downscaled output from ten Global Climate Models (GCMs) from the Coupled Model Inter-Comparison Project 5 (CMIP5) for historical forcings (1950-2005) and future Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) 4.5 and 8.5 (2006-2100). We use archived output from the Integrated Scenarios Project (ISP) (http://maca.northwestknowledge.net/), which uses the Multivariate Adaptive Constructed Analogs (MACA) method for statistical downscaling. The MACA-downscaled GCM output was then used to force the Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) hydrology model with a 1/16th degree spatial resolution and a daily time step. For each of the 238 HUC-08 areas within the Pacific Northwest (USGS Hydrologic Region 15), we computed, from the ISP archive, the series of maximum daily runoff values (surrogate for the annual maximum flood), and then the mean annual flood. Finally, we computed the ratios of the RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 mean annual floods to their corresponding values for the historical period. We evaluate spatial patterns in the results. For snow-dominated watersheds, the changes are dominated by reductions in flood frequency in basins that currently have spring-dominant floods, and increases in snow affected basins with fall-dominant floods. In low elevation basins west of the Cascades, changes in flooding are more directly related to changes in precipitation extremes. We further explore the nature of these effects by evaluating the mean Julian day of the annual maximum flood for each HUC-08 and how this changes between the historical and RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 scenarios.

Variable-retention harvests in the Pacific Northwest: a review of short-term findings from the DEMO study

Treesearch

K.B. Aubry; C.B. Halpern; C.E. Peterson

2009-01-01

In the Pacific Northwest (PNW) region of the contiguous United States, retention of live (green) trees in harvest units is an integral part of forest management practices on federal lands, yet the ecological benefits that result from various levels or patterns of retained trees remain speculative. The Demonstration of Ecosystem Management Options (DEMO) study was...

Effect of multiple stressors on eelgrass Zostera marina L. from the Pacific Northwest, USA: Manipulation of temperature and nutrients

EPA Science Inventory

Estuarine eelgrass beds in the Pacific Northwest (PNW) are being exposed to a range of natural and anthropogenic stressors and climate change. These stresses include increased temperatures, sea level rise, and high nutrient inputs, all of which may directly affect the productivi...

Use of large-scale silvicultural studies to evaluate management options in Pacific Northwest forests of the United States.

Treesearch

Stephen E. Reutebuch; Constance A. Harrington; David D. Marshall; Leslie C. Brodie

2004-01-01

A suite of large-scale silvicultural experiments has been established to develop and assess operational silviculture options for the Pacific Northwest Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii [Mirb.] Franco vat. menziesii) forests. This paper summarizes three such studies that focus on three major stages in the life of managed stands...

Incorporating the Wind Erosion Prediction System (WEPS) Into a Regional Air Quality Modeling System for the Pacific Northwest

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

In the Pacific Northwest, wind storms intermittently cause massive dust events that reduce visibility along roadways and jeopardize health as a result of extremely high concentrations of PM10 (particulate matter less than or equal to 10µm in diameter). An early warning dust forecast system is needed...

Synthesis of wind energy development and potential impacts on wildlife in the Pacific Northwest, Oregon and Washington

Treesearch

Miranda H. Mockrin; Rebecca A. Gravenmier

2012-01-01

Nationally, there is growing public interest in and policy pressure for developing alternative and renewable sources of energy. Wind energy facilities in the Pacific Northwest expanded rapidly over the past decade, as a result of state policies that encourage wind energy development. While much of the development thus far has occurred on private lands, there is...

Use of state-and-transition simulation modeling in National Forest planning in the Pacific Northwest, U.S.A

Treesearch

Ayn J. Shlisky; Don Vandendriesche

2012-01-01

Effective national forest planning depends on scientifically sound analyses of land management alternatives relative to desired future conditions and environmental effects. The USDA Forest Service Pacific Northwest Region is currently using state-and-transition simulation models (STMs) to simulate changes in forest composition and structure for the revisions of five...

Prey suitability and phenology of Leucopis spp. (Diptera: Chamaemyiidae) associated with hemlock woolly adelgid (Hemiptera: Adelgidae) in the Pacific Northwest

Treesearch

Sarah M. Grubin; Darrell W. Ross; Kimberly F. Wallin

2011-01-01

Leucopis spp. (Diptera: Chamaemyiidae) from the Pacific Northwest previously were identified as potential biological control agents for the hemlock woolly adelgid, Adelges tsugae Annand (Hemiptera: Adelgidae), in the eastern United States. We collected Leucopis spp. larvae from A. tsugae...

Forecast simulation of rapidly-intensified typhoon in the Eddy-Rich Northwest Pacific region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Kyeong Ok; Yuk, Jin-Hee; Jung, Kyung Tae; Kuh Kang, Suk

2017-04-01

The real-time typhoon predictions in the Northwest Pacific (NWP) are being distributed by various agencies (for example, KMA, JMA, JTWC, NMC, CWB, HKO and PAGASA). Currently the movement of the typhoon can be predicted with an error of less than 100 km in 48 hours, however it is difficult to the predict of the intensity of the typhoon especially the Rapidly Intensified (RI) Typhoons. The mean occurrence of RI typhoon amounts to 5.4 times a year during 39 years (1977-2015), occupying 21% of typhoons in NWP. Especially the RI typhoon in the Eddy-Rich Northwest Pacific (ER-NWP) occurred 1.8 times a year, covering 29% of typhoons in ER-NWP. A RI typhoon, NEPARTAK (T201601), occurred in July 2016. It was formed in Caroline Islands and moved northwest, straightly heading for Taiwan. However, at the beginning stage many forecasting agencies predicts as move to the Yellow Sea. The accuracy of prediction data of the Typhoon NEPARTAK (T201601) from KMA, JMA and JTWC was compared with the adjusted best-track data from Digital-Typhoon (JMA-RSMC). The sequential prediction data are summarized with 6-hour interval from 3th to 10th July 2016.The JMA prediction of the typhoon track and the JTWC predictions of the maximum wind speed were found to be best. The numerical simulations using WRF model forced with NCEP GFS prediction data and microwave SST is compared. The simulations using one domain (D1), two domains (D2) using a moving nest scheme, and with or without the spectral nudging (-SN) are compared. Comparison of the errors on the track shows the differences of 100 km in 48-hour prediction and200 km in 72-hour prediction on average. The best results on the track prediction are shown in the D2 case of WRF model. However, underestimation of the maximum wind speed of WRF prediction still exists, obviously requiring better understanding of RI-related processes to improve the model prediction.

Lake sediment isotope records of hydroclimatic changes in the Pacific Northwest over the last two thousand years

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Steinman, B. A.; Abbott, M.; Mann, M. E.; Ortiz, J. D.

2012-12-01

Recent drought conditions and greater water demand caused by population expansion are placing increasing stress on the ecosystems and economies of western North America. Variations in drought frequency and intensity in this region are primarily controlled by the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), which affect precipitation and temperature on interannual to centennial timescales. During the Little Ice Age (LIA) and Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA) the tropical Pacific Ocean was likely characterized by shifts toward more El Niño and La Niña like mean state conditions, respectively, which produced changes in water availability that have no historic precedent. Here we report isotopic evidence (sediment δ18O records) from 9 lakes in the southern Yukon, central British Columbia, and the northwestern United States indicating that the LIA was a time of exceptional dryness in the Pacific Northwest and that the MCA was relatively wetter. We compare the lake sediment isotope data to synoptic ocean-atmosphere paleoproxy datasets as well as records of external forcing (i.e., solar and volcanic) that span the last 1-2 thousand years to ascertain the influence of climate system responses to external forcing on precipitation-evaporation balance in western North America. Modeling and proxy data comparisons have described links between the mean state of the tropical Pacific Ocean and radiative forcing on multi-decadal to centennial time scales during the middle and late Holocene. Analysis of proxy data including tree rings and speleothems have documented connections between inferred solar activity maxima, La Niña like conditions in the tropical Pacific and reduced water availability in the American southwest. Lake sediment δ18O data from the Pacific Northwest evince a pattern opposite that of the southwest in which periods of greater solar activity correspond with wetter hydroclimatic conditions, and vice versa, similar to the observed

Historic and Industrial Lead within the Northwest Pacific Ocean Evidenced by Lead Isotopes in Seawater.

PubMed

Zurbrick, Cheryl M; Gallon, Céline; Flegal, A Russell

2017-02-07

We report the continued lead (Pb) contamination of the Northwest Pacific Ocean in 2002 and present the first comprehensive Pb isotope data set for that region. In the upper ocean, a Pb concentration maxima (64-113 pmol kg -1 ) extended throughout the entire North Pacific Subtropical Gyre (NPSG). We determined most of the Pb in this feature was from industrial emissions by many nations in the 1980s and 1990s, with the largest contributions from leaded gasoline emissions. In contrast, the deep water (>1000 m) Pb concentrations were lower (6-37 pmol kg -1 ), and constituted a mix of background (natural) Pb and anthropogenic Pb inputs from preceding decades. Deep water below the Western Subarctic Gyre (WSAG) contained more industrial Pb than below the NPSG, which was attributed to a calculated 60-fold greater flux of particulate Pb to abyssal waters near the Asian continent. Assuming Pb isotope compositions in the North Pacific Ocean were homogeneous prior to large-scale 20th century anthropogenic inputs, this evidence suggests a relatively faster change in Pb isotope ratios of North Pacific deep water below the WSAG versus the NPSG.

Biogeography of dinoflagellate cysts in northwest Atlantic estuaries

EPA Science Inventory

Few biogeographic studies of dinoflagellate cysts include the near-shore estuarine environment. We determine the effect of estuary type, biogeography, and water quality on the spatial distribution of organic-walled dinoflagellate cysts from the Northeast USA (Maine to Delaware) a...

Brief overview of historical non-timber forest product use in the U.S. Pacific Northwest and Upper Midwest

Treesearch

Marla Emery; Shandra L. O' Halek

2001-01-01

Non-timber forest products (NTFPs) have sustained indigenous and immigrant populations alike since their arrival in North America. This brief overview focuses on the historical use of NTFPs in the U.S. Pacific Northwest and Upper Midwest. Drawing on sources as diverse as accounts by early European arrivals, archaeological evidence, and contemporary ethnobotanical...

Climate change adaptation strategies for federal forests of the Pacific Northwest, USA: ecological, policy, and socio-economic perspectives

Treesearch

Thomas A. Spies; Thomas W. Giesen; Frederick J. Swanson; Jerry F. Franklin; Denise Lach; K. Norman Johnson

2010-01-01

Conserving biological diversity in a changing climate poses major challenges for land managers and society. Effective adaptive strategies for dealing with climate change require a socioecological systems perspective. We highlight some of the projected ecological responses to climate change in the Pacific Northwest, U.S.A and identify possible adaptive actions that...

Amphibians as metrics of critical biological thresholds in forested headwater streams of the Pacific Northwest, U.S.A

Treesearch

Hartwell H. Welsh; Garth Hodgson

2008-01-01

1. Amphibians are recognized both for their sensitivity to environmental perturbations and for their usefulness as cost-effective biometrics of ecosystem integrity (=system health). 2. Twenty-three years of research in headwater streams in the Klamath-Siskiyou and North Coast Bioregions of the Pacific Northwest, U.S.A., showed distinct patterns in the...

Genetic variation of wheat streak mosaic virus in the United States Pacific Northwest.

PubMed

Robinson, Megan D; Murray, Timothy D

2013-01-01

Wheat streak mosaic virus (WSMV), the cause of wheat streak mosaic, is a widespread and damaging pathogen of wheat. WSMV is not a chronic problem of annual wheat in the United States Pacific Northwest but could negatively affect the establishment of perennial wheat, which is being developed as an alternative to annual wheat to prevent soil erosion. Fifty local isolates of WSMV were collected from 2008 to 2010 near Lewiston, ID, Pullman, WA, and the United States Department of Agriculture Central Ferry Research Station, near Pomeroy, WA to determine the amount of genetic variation present in the region. The coat protein gene from each isolate was sequenced and the data subjected to four different methods of phylogenetic analyses. Two well-supported clades of WSMV were identified. Isolates in clade I share sequence similarity with isolates from Central Europe; this is the first report of isolates from Central Europe being reported in the United States. Isolates in clade II are similar to isolates originating from Australia, Argentina, and the American Pacific Northwest. Nine isolates showed evidence of recombination and the same two well-supported clades were observed when recombinant isolates were omitted from the analysis. More polymorphic sites, parsimony informative sites, and increased diversity were observed in clade II than clade I, suggesting more recent establishment of the virus in the latter. The observed diversity within both clades could make breeding for durable disease resistance in perennial wheat difficult if there is a differential response of WSMV resistance genes to isolates from different clades.

Changes in Pacific Northwest Heat Waves and Associated Synoptic/Mesoscale Drivers Under Anthropogenic Global Warming

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brewer, M.; Mass, C.

2014-12-01

Though western Oregon and Washington summers are typically mild due to the influence of the nearby Pacific Ocean, this region occasionally experiences heat waves with temperatures in excess of 35ºC. These heat waves can have a substantial impact on this highly populated region, particularly since the population is unaccustomed to and generally unprepared for such conditions. A comprehensive evaluation is needed of past and future heat wave trends in frequency, intensity, and duration. Furthermore, it is important to understand the physical mechanisms of Northwest heat waves and how such mechanisms might change under anthropogenic global warming. Lower-tropospheric heat waves over the west coast of North America are the result of both synoptic and mesoscale factors, the latter requiring high-resolution models (roughly 12-15 km grid spacing) to simulate. Synoptic factors include large-scale warming due to horizontal advection and subsidence, as well as reductions in large-scale cloudiness. An important mesoscale factor is the occurrence of offshore (easterly) flow, resulting in an adiabatically warmed continental air mass spreading over the western lowlands rather than the more usual cool, marine air influence. To fully understand how heat waves will change under AGW, it is necessary to determine the combined impacts of both synoptic and mesoscale effects in a warming world. General Circulation Models (GCM) are generally are too coarse to simulate mesoscale effects realistically and thus may provide unreliable estimates of the frequency and magnitudes of West Coast heat waves. Therefore, to determine the regional implications of global warming, this work made use of long-term, high-resolution WRF simulations, at 36- and 12-km resolution, produced by dynamically downscaling GCM grids. This talk will examine the predicted trends in Pacific Northwest heat wave intensity, duration, and frequency during the 21st century (through 2100). The spatial distribution in the

Twelve-year responses of planted and naturally regenerating conifers to variable-retention harvest in the Pacific Northwest, USA

Treesearch

Lauren S. Urgenson; Charles B. Halpern; Paul D. Anderson

2013-01-01

We studied patterns of conifer regeneration over 12 years as part of a regional-scale experiment in variable-retention harvest in the Pacific Northwest, the DEMO Study. We compared survival and height growth of planted conifers and density and seral composition of natural regeneration among treatments with differing retention levels (15% versus 40%) and patterns (...

The role of tree improvement programs for ex situ gene conservation of coastal Douglas-fir in the Pacific Northwest.

Treesearch

Sara R. Lipow; G. Randy Johnson; J. Bradley St. Claiff; Keith J. Jayawickrama

2003-01-01

We enumerate the genetic resources for coastal Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco var. menziesii) in tree improvement programs in the Pacific Northwest USA and evaluate how they contribute to gene conservation of the species. The first-generation programs include over four million progeny from 33,928 selections...

Sediment diatom species and community response to nitrogen addition in Oregon (USA) estuarine tidal wetlands

EPA Science Inventory

Sediment microalgae play an important role in nutrient cycling and are important primary producers in the food web in Pacific Northwest estuaries. This study examines the effects of nitrogen addition to benthic microalgae in tidal wetlands of Yaquina Bay estuary on the Oregon c...

Resistance to multiple soil-borne pathogens of the Pacific Northwest is co-located in a wheat recombinant inbred line population

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Soil-borne pathogens of the Pacific Northwest decrease yields in both spring and winter wheat. Pathogens of economic importance include Fusarium culmorum, Pratylenchus neglectus, P. thornei, and Rhizoctonia solani AG8. Few options are available to growers to manage these pathogens and reduce yield l...

Climate change predicted to negatively influence surface soil organic matter of dryland cropping systems in the Inland Pacific Northwest, USA

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Soil organic matter (SOM) is a key indicator of agricultural productivity and overall soil health. Currently, dryland cropping systems of the inland Pacific Northwest (iPNW) span a large gradient in mean annual temperature (MAT) and precipitation (MAP).These climatic drivers are major determinants o...

Annual and perennial alleyway cover crops vary in their effects on Pratylenchus penetrans in Pacific Northwest red raspberry (Rubus idaeus)

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Cover crop use is not common in established red raspberry (Rubus idaeus) fields in the Pacific Northwest. Raspberry growers are concerned about resource competition between the cover crop and raspberry crop, as well as increasing population densities of the plant-parasitic nematode Pratylenchus pene...

Saprolegniaceae identified on amphibian eggs throughout the Pacific Northwest, USA, by internal transcribed spacer sequences and phylogenetic analysis

Treesearch

Jill E. Petrisko; Christopher A. Pearl; David S. Pilliod; Peter P. Sheridan; Charles F. Williams; Charles R. Peterson; R. Bruce Bury

2008-01-01

We assessed the diversity and phylogeny of Saprolegniaceae on amphibian eggs from the Pacific Northwest, with particular focus on Saprolegnia ferax, a species implicated in high egg mortality. We identified isolates from eggs of six amphibians with the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and 5.8S gene regions and BLAST of the GenBank database. We...

Annualized diameter and height growth equations for Pacific Northwest plantation-grown Douglas-fir, western hemlock, and red alder.

Treesearch

A.R. Weiskittel; S.M. Garber; G.P. Johnson; D.A. Maguire; R.A. Monserud

2007-01-01

Simulating the influence of intensive management and annual weather fluctuations on tree growth requires a shorter time step than currently employed by most regional growth models. High-quality data sets are available for several plantation species in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States, but the growth periods ranged from 2 to 12 years. Measurement...

MAPPING SPATIAL/TEMPORAL DISTRIBUTIONS OF GREEN MACROALGAE IN A PACIFIC NORTHWEST COASTAL ESTUARY VIA SMALL FORMAT COLOR INFRARED AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY

EPA Science Inventory

A small format 35 mm hand-held camera with color infrared slide film was used to map blooms of benthic green macroalgae upon mudflats of Yaquina Bay estuary on the central Oregon coast, U.S.A. Oblique photographs were taken during a series of low tide events, when the intertidal...

Using dendrometer and dendroclimatology data to predict the growth response of Douglas-fir to climate change in the Pacific Northwest, USA

EPA Science Inventory

Altered seasonal climate patterns towards hotter, drier summers through the 21st century resulting from global climate change could affect the growth of coniferous forests in the Pacific Northwest (PNW) region of North America. The seasonal effects of temperature, precipitation,...

Resolving mantle structure beneath the Pacific Northwest

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Darold, A. P.; Humphreys, E.; Schmandt, B.; Gao, H.

2011-12-01

Cenozoic tectonics of the Pacific Northwest (PNW) and the associated mantle structures are remarkable, the latter revealed only recently by EarthScope seismic data. Over the last ~66 Ma this region experienced a wide range of tectonic and magmatic conditions: Laramide compression, ~75-53 Ma, involving Farallon flat-slab subduction, regional uplift, and magmatic quiescence. With the ~53 Ma accretion of Siletzia ocean lithosphere within the Columbia Embayment, westward migration of subduction beginning Cascadia, along with initiation of the Cascade volcanic arc. Within the continental interior the Laramide orogeny was quickly followed by a period of extension involving metamorphic core complexes and the associated initial ignimbrite flare-up (both in northern Washington, Idaho, and western Montana); interior magmo-tectonic activity is attributed to flat-slab removal and (to the south) slab rollback. Rotation of Siletzia created new crust on SE Oregon and, at ~16 Ma, the Columbia River Flood Basalt (CRB) eruptions renewed vigorous magmatism. We have united several EarthScope studies in the Pacific Northwest and have focused on better resolving the major mantle structures that have been discovered. We have tomographically modeled the body waves with teleseismic, finite-frequency code under the constraints of ambient noise tomography and teleseismic receiver function models of Gao et al. (2011), and teleseismic anisotropy models of Long et al. (2009) in order to resolve structures continuously from the surface to the base of the upper mantle. We now have clear imaging of two episodes of subduction: Juan De Fuca slab deeper than ~250 km is absent across much of the PNW, and it has an E-W tear located beneath northern Oregon; Farallon slab (the "Siletzia curtain") is still present, hanging vertically just inboard of the core complexes, and with a basal tear causing the structure to extend deeper (~600 km) beneath north-central Idaho than beneath south-central Idaho and

Tree growth and climate in the Pacific Northwest, North America: a broad-scale analysis of changing growth environments

Treesearch

Whitney L. Albright; David L. Peterson

2013-01-01

Climate change in the 21st century will affect tree growth in the Pacific Northwest region of North America, although complex climate–growth relationships make it difficult to identify how radial growth will respond across different species distributions. We used a novel method to examine potential growth responses to climate change at a broad geographical scale with a...

Bull’s-eye rot management: understanding the disease cycle of Neofabraea spp. occurring on apples grown in the Pacific Northwest

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

In the US Pacific Northwest, bull’s-eye rot of pome fruit, caused by Neofabraea spp., is a major quarantine concern. Of the four fungi causing this disease, Neofabraea perennans and N. kienholzii are common in north central Washington. In addition to fruit decay, N. perennans causes perennial cank...

Escaping social-ecological traps through tribal stewardship on national forest lands in the Pacific Northwest, United States of America

Treesearch

Jonathan W. Long; Frank K. Lake

2018-01-01

Tribal communities in the Pacific Northwest of the United States of America (USA) have long-standing relationships to ancestral lands now managed by federal land management agencies. In recent decades, federal and state governments have increasingly recognized tribal rights to resources on public lands and to participate in their management. In support of a new...

A Comparison of Peak Electric Fields and GICs in the Pacific Northwest Using 1-D and 3-D Conductivity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gannon, J. L.; Birchfield, A. B.; Shetye, K. S.; Overbye, T. J.

2017-11-01

Geomagnetically induced currents (GICs) are a result of the changing magnetic fields during a geomagnetic disturbance interacting with the deep conductivity structures of the Earth. When assessing GIC hazard, it is a common practice to use layer-cake or one-dimensional conductivity models to approximate deep Earth conductivity. In this paper, we calculate the electric field and estimate GICs induced in the long lines of a realistic system model of the Pacific Northwest, using the traditional 1-D models, as well as 3-D models represented by Earthscope's Electromagnetic transfer functions. The results show that the peak electric field during a given event has considerable variation across the analysis region in the Pacific Northwest, but the 1-D physiographic approximations may accurately represent the average response of an area, although corrections are needed. Rotations caused by real deep Earth conductivity structures greatly affect the direction of the induced electric field. This effect may be just as, or more, important than peak intensity when estimating GICs induced in long bulk power system lines.

Isotope hydrology and baseflow geochemistry in natural and human-altered watersheds in the Inland Pacific Northwest, USA

Treesearch

Ricardo Sanchez-Murillo; Erin S. Brooks; William J. Elliot; Jan Boll

2015-01-01

This study presents a stable isotope hydrology and geochemical analysis in the inland Pacific Northwest (PNW) of the USA. Isotope ratios were used to estimate mean transit times (MTTs) in natural and human-altered watersheds using the FLOWPC program. Isotope ratios in precipitation resulted in a regional meteoric water line of ä2H = 7.42·ä18O + 0.88 (n = 316; r2 = 0.97...

Effect of multiple stressors on eelgrass Zostera marina L. from the Pacific Northwest, USA: Manipulation of temperature and nutrients - November 2011

EPA Science Inventory

Estuarine eelgrass beds in the Pacific Northwest (PNW) are being exposed to a range of natural and anthropogenic stressors and climate change. The purpose of the current study was to examine the effects of temperature and nutrient quantity on Z. marina growth and physiology. Ma...

WestPro: a computer program for simulating uneven-aged Douglas-fir stand growth and yield in the Pacific Northwest.

Treesearch

Rebecca Ralston; Joseph Buongiorno; Benedict Schulte; Jeremy Fried

2003-01-01

WestPro is an add-in program designed to work with Microsoft Excel to simulate the growth of uneven-aged Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) stands in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. Given the initial stand state, defined as the number of softwood and hardwood trees per acre by diameter class, WestPro predicts the...

Model based paleoclimate interpretations of Holocene oxygen isotope records from the Pacific Northwest

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Steinman, B. A.; Pompeani, D. P.; Abbott, M. B.; Ortiz, J. D.; Stansell, N.; Mihindukulasooriya, L. N.; Hillman, A. L.; Finkenbinder, M. S.

2015-12-01

Oxygen isotope measurements of authigenic carbonate from Cleland Lake (British Columbia), Paradise Lake (British Columbia), and Lime Lake (Washington) provide an ~9,000 year Holocene record of precipitation-evaporation balance variations in the Pacific Northwest. Both Cleland Lake and Paradise Lake are small, surficially closed-basin systems with no active inflows or outflows. Lime Lake is surficially open with a seasonally active overflow. We sampled the lake sediment cores at 1-60 mm intervals (~3-33 years per sample on average) and measured the isotopic composition of fine-grained, authigenic CaCO3 in each sample. Negative δ18O values, which indicate wetter conditions in closed-basin lakes, occur in Cleland Lake and Paradise Lake sediment during the mid-Holocene and are followed by more positive δ18O values, which suggest drier conditions, in the late Holocene. The δ18O record from Lime Lake, which principally reflects changes in the isotopic composition of precipitation, exhibits less variability than the closed-basin lake records and follows an increasing trend from the mid-Holocene to present. Power spectrum analysis of the Cleland Lake δ18O data from 1,000 yr BP to present demonstrates significant periodicities of ~6 and ~67 years that likely reflect the enhancement of El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) variability in the late Holocene with an associated multidecadal (i.e., 50 to 70 yr) component of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation. Results from mid-Holocene (6,000 yr BP) climate model simulations conducted as part of the Paleoclimate Modeling Intercomparison Project Phase 3 (PMIP3) indicate that in much of western North America, the cold season was wetter, and the warm season (April-September) was considerably drier (relative to the late Holocene), leading to an overall drier climate in western North America but with enhanced hydroclimatic seasonality. This is consistent with inferences from the Cleland and Paradise Lake δ18O records, which lake

Invaded range of the blackberry pathogen Phragmidium violaceum in the Pacific Northwest of the USA and the search for its provenance

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Field surveys in 2006 confirmed the rust fungus Phragmidium violaceum was widespread on Rubus armeniacus and R. laciniatus in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. The origin, evidence of a founder effect and dispersal pattern of this obligate biotrophic pathogen in the United States were inve...

Collaborative Potential between National Estuary Programs ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Estuaries are among the most productive ecosystems in the world, providing unique habitat for freshwater and marine species as well as valuable social and economic benefits. The wealth of ecosystem goods and services from estuaries has led to growth and development of human communities in adjacent areas and an increase in human activities that can adversely affect water quality and critical habitat. Managing for sustainable estuaries requires a balance of environmental concerns with community social and economic values. This has created an opportunity to leverage Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) scientific knowledge and tools with National Estuary Program (NEP) planning and management expertise to address environmental challenges in important estuarine ecosystems. The non-regulatory National Estuary Program (NEP) was outlined in the Clean Water Act to provide stakeholders an opportunity to monitor and manage ‘nationally significant’ estuaries. Currently there are 28 estuaries in the NEP, broadly distributed across the Atlantic, Pacific and Gulf Coasts, and in Puerto Rico. The local NEP management conferences must address a variety of environmental issues, from water quality and natural resources to coastal and watershed development. While the underlying objectives of each NEP are quite similar, each has unique landscapes, land uses, waterbodies, habitats, biological resources, economies and social culture. Consequently, the effects and severity of anthr

Biology of amphibians and reptiles in old-growth forests in the Pacific northwest. Forest Service general technical report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Blaustein, A.R.; Beatty, J.J.; Olson, D.H.

1995-03-01

The amphibian and reptile fauna of older forest ecosystems in the Pacific Northwest includes several endemic species, species with unique behavioral and ecological characteristics, and species whose populations have been in decline in recent years. The authors review the biology of these species and include information on their distinguishing characteristics, behavior, and ecology. Herpetofaunal associations with forest characteristic and the impact of habitat loss are addressed.

A review of scientific information on issues related to the use and management of water resources in the Pacific Northwest.

Treesearch

Fred H. Everest; Christina Kakoyannis; Laurie Houston; George Stankey; Jeffery Kline; Ralph Alig

2004-01-01

Fresh water is a valuable and essential commodity in the Pacific Northwest States, specifically Oregon, Washington, and Idaho, and one provided abundantly by forested watersheds in the region. The maintenance and growth of industrial, municipal, agricultural, and recreational activities in the region are dependent on adequate and sustainable supplies of fresh water...

Primary productivity of supraglacial snow algae communities on stratovolcanoes of the Pacific Northwest

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hamilton, T. L.; Havig, J. R.

2016-12-01

The majority of geomicrobiological research conducted on glacial systems to date have focused on glaciers that override primarily carbonate or granitic bedrock types, with little known of the processes that support microbial life in glacial systems overriding volcanic terrains (e.g., basalt or andesite). To better constrain the role of the supraglacial ecosystems in the carbon and nitrogen cycles, to gain insight into microbiome composition and function in alpine glacial systems overriding volcanic terrains, and to constrain potential elemental sequestration or release through weathering processes associated with snow algae communities, we examined the microbial community structure and primary productivity in snow on and near alpine glaciers on stratovolcanoes in the Cascade Range of the Pacific Northwest. Here we present the first published values for carbon fixation rates of snow algae communities on alpine glaciers in the Pacific Northwest. We observed varying levels of light-dependent carbon fixation on snowfields on or near glaciers on Mt Hood, Mt Adams and North Sister. Recovery of algal 18S rRNA transcripts is consistent with previous studies indicating the majority of primary productivity on snow and ice can be attributed to photoautotrophic algae. In contrast to previous observations of glacial ecosystems, our geochemical, isotopic and microcosm data suggest these assemblages are not limited by phosphorus or fixed nitrogen availability. Furthermore, our data indicate these snow assemblages actively sequester Fe, Mn, and P leached from minerals sourced from the local rocks. Our observations of light-dependent primary productivity on snow are consistent with similar studies in polar ecosystems; however, our data underscore the need for similar studies on glacier surfaces and seasonal snowfields to better constrain the role of local bedrock and nutrient delivery on carbon fixation and biogeochemical cycling in these ecosystems.

Genome-wide association mapping for stripe rust (Puccinia striiformis F. sp. tritici) in US Pacific Northwest winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Stripe rust (Puccinia striiformis F. sp. tritici; also known as yellow rust) is a globally devastating disease of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and a major threat to wheat production in the US Pacific Northwest (PNW), therefore both adult plant and all-stage resistance have been introduced into the w...

Stumpage prices, volume sold, and volumes harvested from the National Forests of the Pacific Northwest Region, 1984 to 1996.

Treesearch

Richard W. Haynes

1998-01-01

Two measures of stumpage prices and timber volumes from individual National Forests have been compiled for the Pacific Northwest Region, USDA Forest Service. The first measure is the price and volume of timber sold (1984-96) for the major species for each National Forest. The second measure is the price and volume of timber harvested (1988-96) from individual National...

Brush control on forest lands with emphasis on promising methods for the Pacific Northwest: a review of selected references.

Treesearch

Walter G. Dahms; George A. James

1955-01-01

Brush encroachment on forest land is greatly reducing the amount of wood grown in forests of the Pacific Northwest. Reliable estimates show that brush has reduced the productivity of more than one-fourth of the forest land of southwestern Oregon. Red alder alone, which is a commercial tree on some areas but a weed species on others, accounts for poor conifer stocking...

Soil and Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) foliar nitrogen responses to variable logging-debris retention and competing vegetation control in the Pacific Northwest

Treesearch

Robert A. Slesak; Timothy B. Harrington; Stephen H. Schoenholtz

2010-01-01

Experimental treatments of logging-debris retention (0%, 40%, or 80% surface coverage) and competing vegetation control (initial or annual applications) were installed at two sites in the Pacific Northwest following clearcutting Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco var. menziesii) stands to assess short term...

Facilitation of the Estuary/Ocean Subgroup and the Expert Regional Technical Group, Annual Report for 2015

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Johnson, Gary E.

This document is the annual report for the period September 1, 2014 through August 31, 2015 for the project—Facilitation of the Estuary/Ocean Subgroup (EOS) and the Expert Regional Technical Group (ERTG). Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) conducted the project for the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA). The EOS and ERTG are part of the research, monitoring, and evaluation (RME) and habitat restoration efforts, respectively, developed by the Action Agencies (BPA, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers [Corps or USACE], and U.S. Bureau of Reclamation) in response to obligations arising from the Endangered Species Act as a result of operation of the Federalmore » Columbia River Power System (FCRPS) and implemented under the Columbia Estuary Ecosystem Restoration Program (CEERP). BPA/Corps (2015) explain the CEERP and the role of RME and the ERTG. For the purposes of this report, the lower Columbia River and estuary (LCRE) includes the floodplain from Bonneville Dam down through the lower river and estuary into the river’s plume in the ocean. The main purpose of this project is to facilitate EOS and ERTG meetings and work products. Other purposes are to provide technical support for CEERP adaptive management, CEERP restoration design challenges, and tributary RME. From 2002 through 2008, the EOS worked to design the federal RME program for the estuary/ocean (Johnson et al. 2008). From 2009 to the present day, EOS activities have involved RME implementation; however, EOS activities were minimal during the current reporting period. PNNL provided technical support to CEERP’s adaptive management process by convening 1.2 meetings of the Action Agencies (AAs) and drafting material for the “CEERP 2015 Restoration and Monitoring Plan” (BPA/Corps 2015).« less

Pacific northwest vowels: A Seattle neighborhood dialect study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ingle, Jennifer K.; Wright, Richard; Wassink, Alicia

2005-04-01

According to current literature a large region encompassing nearly the entire west half of the U.S. belongs to one dialect region referred to as Western, which furthermore, according to Labov et al., ``... has developed a characteristic but not unique phonology.'' [http://www.ling.upenn.edu/phono-atlas/NationalMap/NationalMap.html] This paper will describe the vowel space of a set of Pacific Northwest American English speakers native to the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle, Wash. based on the acoustical analysis of high-quality Marantz CDR 300 recordings. Characteristics, such as low back merger and [u] fronting will be compared to findings by other studies. It is hoped that these recordings will contribute to a growing number of corpora of North American English dialects. All participants were born in Seattle and began their residence in Ballard between ages 0-8. They were recorded in two styles of speech: individually reading repetitions of a word list containing one token each of 10 vowels within carrier phrases, and in casual conversation for 40 min with a partner matched in age, gender, and social mobility. The goal was to create a compatible data set for comparison with current acoustic studies. F1 and F2 and vowel duration from LPC spectral analysis will be presented.

Seismic Monitoring with NetQuakes: The First 75 in the Pacific Northwest

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bodin, P.; Vidale, J. E.; Luetgert, J. H.; Malone, S. D.; Delorey, A. A.; Steele, W. P.; Gibbons, D. A.; Walsh, L. K.

2011-12-01

NetQuakes accelerographs are relatively inexpensive Internet-aware appliances that we are using as part of our regional seismic monitoring program in the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network (PNSN). To date we have deployed approximately 65 units. By the end of 2011, we will have at least 75 systems sited and operating. The instruments are made by Swiss manufacturer GeoSig, Ltd., and have been obtained by PNSN through several cooperative programs with the US Geological Survey (USGS). The NetQuakes systems have increased the number of strong-motion stations in the Pacific Northwest by ~50%. NetQuakes instruments connect to the Internet via wired or wireless telemetry, obtain accurate timing vie Network Time Protocol, and are designed to be located in the ground floor of houses or small buildings. At PNSN we have concentrated on finding NetQuakes hosts by having technologically savvy homeowners self-identify as a response to news reports about the NetQuakes project. Potential hosts are prioritized by their proximity to target sites provided by a regional panel of experts who studied the region's strong-ground-motion monitoring needs. Recorded waveforms, triggered by strong motion or retrieved from a buffer of continuous data, are transmitted to Menlo Park, and then on to PNSN in Seattle. Data are available with latency of a few minutes to a little over an hour, and are automatically incorporated with the rest of PNSN network data for analysis and the generation of earthquake products. Triggered data may also be viewed by the public via the USGS website, [http://earthquake.usgs.gov/monitoring/netquakes/map/pacnw]. We present examples of ground motion recordings returned to date. Local earthquakes up to M4 (at a distance of ~60 km) reveal interesting patterns of local site effects. The 11 March M9 Tohoku, Japan earthquake produced ground motions recorded on the PNSN accelerographs, including many NetQuakes systems, that reveal the extent and severity of basin

Wildlife species associated with non-coniferous vegetation in Pacific Northwest conifer forests: A review

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hagar, J.C.

2007-01-01

Non-coniferous vegetation, including herbs, shrubs, and broad-leaved trees, makes a vital contribution to ecosystem function and diversity in Pacific Northwest conifer forests. However, forest management has largely been indifferent or detrimental to shrubs and trees that have low commercial value, in spite of a paradigm shift towards more holistic management in recent decades. Forest management practices that are detrimental to broad-leaved trees and shrubs are likely to decrease habitat diversity for wildlife, but the number of species that may be affected has not previously been enumerated. I reviewed life history accounts for forest-dwelling vertebrate wildlife species and derived a list of 78 species in Oregon and Washington that are associated with non-coniferous vegetation. The diversity of direct and indirect food resources provided was the primary functional basis for associations of most species with non-coniferous vegetation. Thus, a diversity of herbs and broad-leaved trees and shrubs provides the foundation for food webs that contribute to diversity at multiple trophic levels in Pacific Northwest conifer forests. Given the number of species associated with non-coniferous vegetation in conifer-dominated forests, maintaining habitats that support diverse plant communities, particularly broad-leaved trees and shrubs, will be an important component of management strategies intended to foster biodiversity. Silvicultural practices such as modified planting densities, and pre-commercial and commercial thinning, can be used to control stand density in order to favor the development of understory herbs, shrubs, and a diversity of tree species within managed stands. Allowing shrubs and hardwood trees to develop and persist in early seral stands by curtailing vegetation control also would benefit many species associated with non-coniferous vegetation.

Cradle-to-gate life-cycle assessment of composite I-joists produced in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States

Treesearch

Richard D. Bergman; Sevda Alanya-Rosenbaum

2017-01-01

The goal of this study was to update life-cycle assessment (LCA) data associated with I-joist production in the Pacific Northwest (PNW) region of the United States from cradle-to-gate mill output. The authors collected primary mill data from I-joist production facilities per Consortium on Research for Renewable Industrial Materials (CORRIM) research guidelines....

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory’s Climate Resiliency Planning Process and Lessons Learned

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Fowler, Kimberly M.; Judd, Kathleen S.; Brandenberger, Jill M.

2016-02-22

In 2015, the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) developed its first Climate Resilience Plan for its Richland Campus. PNNL has performed Climate Resilience Planning for the Department of Defense, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and Department of Energy (DOE) over the past 5 years. The assessment team included climate scientists, social scientists, engineers, and operations managers. A multi-disciplinary team was needed to understand the potential exposures to future changes at the site, the state of the science on future impacts, and the best process for “mainstreaming” new actions into existing activities. The team uncovered that the site’s greatest vulnerabilities, and therefore prioritiesmore » for climate resilience planning, are high temperature due to degraded infrastructure, increased wildfire frequency, and intense precipitation impacts on stormwater conveyance systems.« less

Stressor-Response Models Relating Nutrient Enrichment to Algal Communities in Pacific Northwest Streams and Rivers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sobota, D. J.; Hubler, S.; Paul, M. J.; Labiosa, R.

2015-12-01

Excessive algal growth in streams and rivers from nutrient enrichment can cause costly human health and environmental problems. As part of the US Environmental Protection Agency's Nutrient Scientific Technical Exchange Partnership and Support (N-STEPS) program, we have been developing stressor-response (S-R) models relating nutrients to attached algal (periphyton) communities to help prioritize monitoring for water quality impairments in Oregon (Pacific Northwest, USA) streams and rivers. Existing data from the state and neighboring states were compiled and standardized from the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, US Environmental Protection Agency, and the US Geological Survey. To develop S-R models, algal community and biomass metrics were compared with nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) concentration data, including total, dissolved, and inorganic forms of these nutrients. In total, 928 paired algal-nutrient samples were compiled from the 8 Level-III Ecoregions occurring in Oregon. Relationships between algal biomass metrics and nutrient concentrations were weak, with only ash-free dry mass and standing stock of chlorophyll a showing slight positive relationships across gradients of total N and soluble reactive P concentrations, respectively. In contrast, metrics describing algal community composition, including percent diatoms and abundance of nutrient-sensitive species, showed very strong nonlinear relationships with total N or P concentrations. This suggests that data describing algal community composition can help identify specific nutrient stressors across environmentally-diverse streams and rivers in the Pacific Northwest. Future analyses will examine if nutrient-algal S-R models vary across different hydrological, physiographical, and ecological settings in the region.

Effects of introduced fishes on wild juvenile coho salmon in three shallow pacific northwest lakes

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bonar, Scott A.; Bolding, B.D.; Divens, M.; Meyer, W.

2005-01-01

Declines in Pacific salmon Oncorhynchus spp. have been blamed on hydropower, overfishing, ocean conditions, and land use practices; however, less is known about the impacts of introduced fish. Most of the hundreds of lakes and ponds in the Pacific Northwest contain introduced fishes, and many of these water bodies are also important for salmon production, especially of coho salmon O. kisutch. Over 2 years, we examined the predation impacts of 10 common introduced fishes (brown bullhead Ameiurus nebulosus, black crappie Pomoxis nigro-maculatus, bluegill Lepomis macrochirus, golden shiner Notemigonus crysoleucas, green sunfish L. cyanellus, largemouth bass Micropterus salmoides, pumpkinseed L. gibbosus, rainbow trout O. mykiss, warmouth L. gulosus, and yellow perch Perca flavescens) and two native fishes (cutthroat trout O. clarkii and prickly sculpin Cottus asper) on wild juvenile coho salmon in three shallow Pacific Northwest lakes, all located in different watersheds. Of these species, largemouth bass were responsible for an average of 98% of the predation on coho salmon in all lakes, but the total impact to each run varied among lakes and years. Very few coho salmon were eaten by black crappies, brown bullheads, cutthroat trout, prickly sculpin, or yellow perch, whereas other species were not observed to eat coho salmon. Juvenile coho salmon growth in all lakes was higher than in nearby streams. Therefore, food competition between coho salmon and introduced fishes in lakes was probably not limiting coho salmon populations. Largemouth bass are widespread and are present in 85% of lowland warmwater public-access lakes in Washington (n = 421), 84% of those in Oregon (n = 179), and 74% of those in the eight northwesternmost counties in California (n = 19). Future research would help to identify the impact of largemouth bass predation across the region and prioritize lakes where impacts are most severe. Nevertheless, attempts to transplant or increase largemouth bass

Windowpane flounder (Scophthalmus aquosus) and winter flounder (Pseudopleuronectes americanus) responses to cold temperature extremes in a Northwest Atlantic estuary

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wilber, Dara H.; Clarke, Douglas G.; Alcoba, Catherine M.; Gallo, Jenine

2016-01-01

The effect of climate variability on flatfish includes not only the effects of warming on sensitive life history stages, but also impacts from more frequent or unseasonal extreme cold temperatures. Cold weather events can affect the overwintering capabilities of flatfish near their low temperature range limits. We examined the responses of two flatfish species, the thin-bodied windowpane (Scophthalmus aquosus) and cold-tolerant winter flounder (Pseudopleuronectes americanus), to variable winter temperatures in a Northwest Atlantic estuary using abundance and size data collected during a monitoring study, the Aquatic Biological Survey, conducted from 2002 to 2010. Winter and spring abundances of small (50 to 120 mm total length) juvenile windowpane were positively correlated with adult densities (spawning stock) and fall temperatures (thermal conditions experienced during post-settlement development for the fall-spawned cohort) of the previous year. Windowpane abundances in the estuary were significantly reduced and the smallest size class was nearly absent after several consecutive years with cold (minimum temperatures < 1 °C) winters. Interannual variation in winter flounder abundances was unrelated to the severity of winter temperatures. A Paulik diagram illustrates strong positive correlations between annual abundances of sequential winter flounder life history stages (egg, larval, Age-1 juvenile, and adult male) within the estuary, reflecting residency within the estuary through their first year of life. Temperature variables representing conditions during winter flounder larval and post-settlement development were not significant factors in multiple regression models exploring factors that affect juvenile abundances. Likewise, densities of predators known to consume winter flounder eggs and/or post-settlement juveniles were not significantly related to interannual variation in winter flounder juvenile abundances. Colder estuarine temperatures through the

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Apatite Investigation at the 100-NR-2 Quality Assurance Project Plan

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Fix, N. J.

This Quality Assurance Project Plan provides the quality assurance requirements and processes that will be followed by staff working on the 100-NR-2 Apatite Project. The U.S. Department of Energy, Fluor Hanford, Inc., Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, and the Washington Department of Ecology agreed that the long-term strategy for groundwater remediation at 100-N would include apatite sequestration as the primary treatment, followed by a secondary treatment. The scope of this project covers the technical support needed before, during, and after treatment of the targeted subsurface environment using a new high-concentration formulation.

Influence of northwest Pacific productivity on North Pacific Intermediate Water oxygen concentrations during the Bølling-Ållerød interval (14.7-12.9 ka)

USGS Publications Warehouse

Crusius, John; Pedersen, Thomas F.; Kienast, Stephanie; Keigwin, Lloyd D.; Labeyrie, Laurent

2004-01-01

Elevated productivity in the northwest Pacific is suggested as a new possible control driving past intervals of low-O2 intermediate water along the western continental margin of North America. According to this mechanism, O2 consumption would occur near the site of formation of North Pacific Intermediate Water (NPIW), due to increased respiration of organic carbon in response to a high-productivity event. Evidence is provided for such a productivity increase during the Bølling-Ållerød interval (14.7–12.9 ka), a time when laminated sediments were deposited along the northern California margin. By this mechanism, low-O2 events in intermediate waters off the western North American margin could occur without significant changes in the rate of NPIW ventilation.

Energy and Water Conservation Assessment of the Radiochemical Processing Laboratory (RPL) at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Johnson, Stephanie R.; Koehler, Theresa M.; Boyd, Brian K.

2014-05-31

This report summarizes the results of an energy and water conservation assessment of the Radiochemical Processing Laboratory (RPL) at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). The assessment was performed in October 2013 by engineers from the PNNL Building Performance Team with the support of the dedicated RPL staff and several Facilities and Operations (F&O) department engineers. The assessment was completed for the Facilities and Operations (F&O) department at PNNL in support of the requirements within Section 432 of the Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) of 2007.

Structure of northern spotted owl nest stands and their historical conditions on the eastern slope of the Pacific Northwest Cascades, USA.

Treesearch

Richard Everett; D. Schellhaas; D. Spurbeck; [and others].

1997-01-01

The northern spotted (Strix occidentalis caurina) uses a wide array of nesting habitat throughout its current range and successfully reproduces in a variety of stand types on the eastern slope of the Pacific Northwest Cascades. The species has the ability to utilize dynamic forest stands that continue to undergo significant changes in tree density...

Environmental Controls of Shellfish-Toxigenic Vibrio Bacteria in Oregon's Coasts and Estuaries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gradoville, M. R.; Häse, C.; White, A. E.

2016-02-01

Vibrio species are a known and persistent concern for economically important aquaculture efforts. In Pacific Northwest shellfish hatcheries, vibriosis, caused by toxigenic Vibrio, has been responsible for major mortality events in recent decades — events that are often irregular and unpredictable. The success of shellfish hatcheries is critically linked to the chemical and biological composition of their seawater resources; thus, it is pertinent to understand the biogeochemical drivers of toxigenic Vibrio in their planktonic state. Recent evidence suggests that vibriosis outbreaks in Netarts Bay, Oregon may be related to wind-driven coastal upwelling, either through the advection of toxigenic Vibrio residing in upwelling source water, or through the creation of favorable growth conditions within the estuary. Here, we present data tracking shellfish-toxigenic Vibrio bacteria in Oregon estuaries and coastal waters through the 2015 upwelling season. Estuarine samples were collected from Netarts Bay and Yaquina Bay in May-October 2015 over a range of upwelling intensities, tidal heights, and biogeochemical conditions. Additionally, samples were collected at multiple depths from offshore coastal Oregon stations in order to test the hypothesis that toxigenic Vibrio reside in upwelling source waters. PCR-based methods were used to quantify the known shellfish pathogen V. coralliilyticus in estuary and seawater samples. These toxigenic Vibrio abundances were correlated to local environmental conditions, including temperature, salinity, carbonate chemistry, nutrients, and chlorophyll a concentrations, as well as coastal wind stress and upwelling intensity. Our analysis aims to define the environmental controls of toxigenic Vibrio in their free-living oceanic state, information that can be used to prevent future disease outbreaks in local shellfish hatcheries.

The Specific Features of Pollution Transport in the Northwest Pacific Ocean

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Diansky, Nikolay; Fomin, Vladimir; Gusev, Anatoly

2013-04-01

Two calculations of pollutant dispersal in the Northwest Pacific Ocean are presented: (1) during possible shipwrecks in the process of spent nuclear fuel transportation from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and (2) pollutant spread from the Japanese coast after the Fukushima 1 nuclear disaster on March 11, 2011. The circulation was simulated using a σ - coordinate ocean model INMOM (Institute of Numerical Mathematics Ocean Model) developed at the INM RAS. The INMOM is based on the primitive equations using the spherical σ - coordinate system with a free ocean surface. The INMOM was realized for the Pacific Ocean basin from the equator to the Bering Strait with a high 1/8° spatial resolution for reproducing the mesoscale ocean variability. The pollutant dispersal in the case of possible shipwrecks was estimated for currents for a statistically average year with atmospheric forcing from Common Ocean-ice Reference Experiments (CORE) for normal year data. The pollution spread from the Fukushima 1 nuclear power plant (NPP) was estimated for currents calculated with the real atmospheric forcing in accordance with the NCEP GFS (0.5 degree grid). The simulation period of pollutant dispersal from Fukushima 1 was 17 days: from March 11 to 28, 2011. The results of numerical simulation show that pollutant dispersal from the Fukushima 1 spread eastward according to the Kuroshio. Moreover, exceeding of natural background radiation level was simulated in the narrow region of the Japanese coast with width of less than 50 km.

A disturbance-based ecosystem approach to maintaining and restoring freshwater habitats of evolutionarily significant units of anadromous salmonids in the Pacific Northwest.

Treesearch

G.H. Reeves; L.E. Benda; K.M. Burnett; P.A. Bisson; J.R. Sedell

1995-01-01

To preserve and recover evolutionarily significant units (ESUs) of anadromous salmonids Oncorhynchus spp. in the Pacific Northwest, long-term and short-term ecological processes that create and maintain freshwater habitats must be restored and protected. Aquatic ecosystems through- out the region are dynamic in space and time, and lack of...

MAPPING BURROWING SHRIMP AND SEAGRASS IN YAQUINA ESTUARY

EPA Science Inventory

Burrowing shrimp and seagrasses create extensive intertidal and shallow subtidal habitats within Pacific NW estuaries. Maps of their populations are useful to inform estuarine managers of locations that deserve special consideration for conservation, and to inform oyster farmers...

Invasive crayfish in the Pacific Northwest

USGS Publications Warehouse

Pearl, Christopher A.; McCreary, Brome; Adams, Michael

2011-01-01

Invasive species directly threaten freshwater biodiversity, particularly in regions of high aquatic richness like the Pacific Northwest (PNW). Crayfish are among the most impactful of aquatic invasive species. Invasive crayfish are considered ecosystem engineers due to their ability to alter basic wetland properties, such as reducing vegetation and bank integrity and increasing turbidity. In areas where invasion is advanced, crayfish pose major economic and ecological problems. Crayfish have been widely introduced for aquaculture and can become established in a wide range of habitat conditions. They also may be spread by anglers who use them as bait. Several non-native crayfish are established in the PNW, but the extent of their invasion is not well known. At least two groups are known from scattered sites in the PNW, and both have proven problematic for native species in other parts of the world: Red swamp crayfish (Procambarus clarkii) and several members of the genus Orconectes. Both groups are native to areas of the eastern United States. Both are identified globally as invasives of high concern and appear on the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife's "10 Most Unwanted" and the U.S. Forest Service's "Primary Species of Concern" lists for stream systems in the PNW. Despite the presence of introduced crayfish in the PNW and their high potential for negative effects, the scope of their invasion and effects on aquatic systems are not well known. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), along with local groups and state agencies, is working to clarify crayfish distribution and to outline which basins may not yet be invaded. Other goals are to improve understanding of habitat associations of invasive crayfish and their potential effects on native crayfish.

Cradle-to-gate life-cycle assessment of laminated veneer lumber (LVL) produced in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States

Treesearch

Richard D. Bergman; Sevda Alanya-Rosenbaum

2017-01-01

The goal of the present study was to develop life-cycle impact assessment (LCIA) data associated with laminated veneer lumber (LVL) production in the Pacific Northwest (PNW) region of the United States from cradle-to-gate mill output. The authors collected primary (survey) mill data from LVL production facilities per Consortium on Research for Renewable Industrial...

A Regional Assessment of Marine Vessel PM2.5 Impacts in the U.S. Pacific Northwest Using a Receptor Based Source Apportionment Method

EPA Science Inventory

This work reports the results of a regional receptor-based source apportionment analysis using the Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) model on chemically speciated PM2.5 data from 36 urban and rural monitoring sites within the U.S. Pacific Northwest. The approach taken is to mo...

A systematic surveillance programme for infectious salmon anaemia virus supports its absence in the Pacific Northwest of the United States

USGS Publications Warehouse

Gustafson, Lori L.; Creekmore, Lynn H.; Snekvik, Kevin R.; Ferguson, Jayde A.; Warg, Janet V.; Blair, Marilyn; Meyers, Theodore R.; Stewart, Bruce; Warheit, Kenneth I.; Kerwin, John; Goodwin, Andrew E.; Rhodes, Linda D.; Whaley, Janet E.; Purcell, Maureen K.; Bentz, Collette; Shasa, Desiree; Bader, Joel; Winton, James R.

2018-01-01

In response to reported findings of infectious salmon anaemia virus (ISAV) in British Columbia (BC), Canada, in 2011, U.S. national, state and tribal fisheries managers and fish health specialists developed and implemented a collaborative ISAV surveillance plan for the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. Accordingly, over a 3-1/2-year period, 4,962 salmonids were sampled and successfully tested by real-time reverse-transcription PCR. The sample set included multiple tissues from free-ranging Pacific salmonids from coastal regions of Alaska and Washington and farmed Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) from Washington, all representing fish exposed to marine environments. The survey design targeted physiologically compromised or moribund animals more vulnerable to infection as well as species considered susceptible to ISAV. Samples were handled with a documented chain of custody and testing protocols, and criteria for interpretation of test results were defined in advance. All 4,962 completed tests were negative for ISAV RNA. Results of this surveillance effort provide sound evidence to support the absence of ISAV in represented populations of free-ranging and marine-farmed salmonids on the northwest coast of the United States.

A systematic surveillance programme for infectious salmon anaemia virus supports its absence in the Pacific Northwest of the United States.

PubMed

Gustafson, L L; Creekmore, L H; Snekvik, K R; Ferguson, J A; Warg, J V; Blair, M; Meyers, T R; Stewart, B; Warheit, K I; Kerwin, J; Goodwin, A E; Rhodes, L D; Whaley, J E; Purcell, M K; Bentz, C; Shasa, D; Bader, J; Winton, J R

2018-02-01

In response to reported findings of infectious salmon anaemia virus (ISAV) in British Columbia (BC), Canada, in 2011, U.S. national, state and tribal fisheries managers and fish health specialists developed and implemented a collaborative ISAV surveillance plan for the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. Accordingly, over a 3-1/2-year period, 4,962 salmonids were sampled and successfully tested by real-time reverse-transcription PCR. The sample set included multiple tissues from free-ranging Pacific salmonids from coastal regions of Alaska and Washington and farmed Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) from Washington, all representing fish exposed to marine environments. The survey design targeted physiologically compromised or moribund animals more vulnerable to infection as well as species considered susceptible to ISAV. Samples were handled with a documented chain of custody and testing protocols, and criteria for interpretation of test results were defined in advance. All 4,962 completed tests were negative for ISAV RNA. Results of this surveillance effort provide sound evidence to support the absence of ISAV in represented populations of free-ranging and marine-farmed salmonids on the northwest coast of the United States. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

An annotated bibliography of selected guides for stream habitat improvement in the Pacific Northwest

USGS Publications Warehouse

Keim, R.F.; Price, A.B.; Hardin, T. S.; Skaugset, Arne E.; Bateman, D.S.; Gresswell, R.E.; Tesch, S. D.

2004-01-01

This annotated bibliography is a response to widespread interest in stream habitat improvement in the Pacific Northwest by land managers, governmental and nongovernmental organizations, and the lay public. Several guides to stream habitat improvement have been written in the past, but may not be easily accessible to people from diverse backgrounds. This annotated bibliography reviews 11 guides to stream habitat improvement so that readers can find literature appropriate to their needs. All reviews begin with summaries of the contents, stated audiences, and goals of each guide. Reviews also include subjective comments on the strengths and weaknesses of each guide. Finally, this bibliography includes recommendations of guides and combinations of guides judged most useful for a range of purposes. 

GIS database and discussion for the distribution, composition, and age of Cenozoic volcanic rocks of the Pacific Northwest Volcanic Aquifer System study area

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sherrod, David R.; Keith, Mackenzie K.

2018-03-30

A substantial part of the U.S. Pacific Northwest is underlain by Cenozoic volcanic and continental sedimentary rocks and, where widespread, these strata form important aquifers. The legacy geologic mapping presented with this report contains new thematic categorization added to state digital compilations published by the U.S. Geological Survey for Oregon, California, Idaho, Nevada, Utah, and Washington (Ludington and others, 2005). Our additional coding is designed to allow rapid characterization, mainly for hydrogeologic purposes, of similar rocks and deposits within a boundary expanded slightly beyond that of the Pacific Northwest Volcanic Aquifer System study area. To be useful for hydrogeologic analysis and to be more statistically manageable, statewide compilations from Ludington and others (2005) were mosaicked into a regional map and then reinterpreted into four main categories on the basis of (1) age, (2) composition, (3) hydrogeologic grouping, and (4) lithologic pattern. The coding scheme emphasizes Cenozoic volcanic or volcanic-related rocks and deposits, and of primary interest are the codings for composition and age.

Stable Isotope Identification of Nitrogen Sources for United States (U.S.) Pacific Coast Estuaries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brown, C. A.; Kaldy, J. E.; Fong, P.; Fong, C.; Mochon Collura, T.; Clinton, P.

2016-02-01

Nutrients are the leading cause of water quality impairments in the United States, and as a result tools are needed to identify the sources of nutrients. We used natural abundance stable isotope data to evaluate nitrogen sources to U.S. west coast estuaries. We collected macroalgae and analyzed these samples for natural abundance of stable isotopes (δ15N) and supplemented this with available data from the literature for estuaries from Mexico to Alaska. Stable isotope ratios of green macroalgae were compared to δ15N of dissolved inorganic nitrogen of oceanic and watershed end members. There was a latitudinal gradient in δ15N of macroalgae with southern estuaries being 7 per mil heavier than northern estuaries. Gradients in isotope data were compared to nitrogen sources estimated by the USGS using the SPARROW model. In California estuaries, the elevation of isotope data appeared to be related to anthropogenic nitrogen sources. In Oregon systems, the nitrogen levels of streams flowing into the estuaries are related to forest cover, rather than to developed land classes. In Oregon estuaries, the δ15N of macroalgae suggested that the ocean and nitrogen-fixing trees in the watersheds were the dominant nitrogen sources with heavier sites located near the estuary mouth. In California estuaries, the gradient was reversed with heavier sites located upriver. In some Oregon estuaries, there was an elevation an elevation of δ15N above marine end members in the vicinity of wastewater treatment facility discharge locations, suggesting isotopes may be useful for distinguishing inputs along an estuarine gradient.

Precipitation extremes and their relation to climatic indices in the Pacific Northwest USA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zarekarizi, Mahkameh; Rana, Arun; Moradkhani, Hamid

2018-06-01

There has been focus on the influence of climate indices on precipitation extremes in the literature. Current study presents the evaluation of the precipitation-based extremes in Columbia River Basin (CRB) in the Pacific Northwest USA. We first analyzed the precipitation-based extremes using statistically (ten GCMs) and dynamically downscaled (three GCMs) past and future climate projections. Seven precipitation-based indices that help inform about the flood duration/intensity are used. These indices help in attaining first-hand information on spatial and temporal scales for different service sectors including energy, agriculture, forestry etc. Evaluation of these indices is first performed in historical period (1971-2000) followed by analysis of their relation to large scale tele-connections. Further we mapped these indices over the area to evaluate the spatial variation of past and future extremes in downscaled and observational data. The analysis shows that high values of extreme indices are clustered in either western or northern parts of the basin for historical period whereas the northern part is experiencing higher degree of change in the indices for future scenario. The focus is also on evaluating the relation of these extreme indices to climate tele-connections in historical period to understand their relationship with extremes over CRB. Various climate indices are evaluated for their relationship using Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Singular Value Decomposition (SVD). Results indicated that, out of 13 climate tele-connections used in the study, CRB is being most affected inversely by East Pacific (EP), Western Pacific (WP), East Atlantic (EA) and North Atlaentic Oscillation (NAO).

Effects of silviculture and genetics on branch/knot attributes of coastal Pacific Northwest Douglas-fir and implications for wood quality--a synthesis

Treesearch

Eini C. Lowell; Douglas A. Maguire; David G. Briggs; Eric C. Turnblom; Keith J.S. Jayawickrama; Jed Bryce

2014-01-01

Douglas-fir is the most commercially important timber species in the US Pacific Northwest due to its ecological prevalence and its superior wood attributes, especially strength and stiffness properties that make it highly prized for structural applications. Its economic significance has led to extensive establishment and management of plantations over the last few...

Influence of Kuroshio water on the annual copepod community structure in an estuary in the northwest Pacific Ocean

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tseng, Li-Chun; Hsiao, Shih-Hui; Sarkar, Santosh Kumar; Bhattacharya, Bhaskar Deb; Chen, Qing-Chao; Hwang, Jiang-Shiou

2016-04-01

The influence of Kuroshio water on temporal distribution and copepod diversity was investigated in the Lanyang River estuary (LRE), the longest river in northeast Taiwan, to assess secondary productivity. Zooplankton samples were collected bimonthly from the surface waters (0-2 m) of the estuary during cruises in 2006. Hydrological parameters indicated that the water in the LRE was an admixture of the Lanyang River water and seawater. Among the different genera, 47 copepod species (including 10 species that were identified only to the generic level) belonging to 28 genera, 16 families, and 4 orders were identified. The abundance and proportion of copepods to the total zooplankton counts range from 0 to 3683.42 (304.9±692.7 individuals m-3) and from 0 to 100 (55.09±34.84%) respectively. The copepod community structure revealed a distinct seasonal succession and showed significant differences among the sampling cruises (p<0.05, One-way ANOVA). The 5 most abundant species were Parvocalanus crassirostris (relative abundance [RA]: 50.93%), Pseudodiaptomus serricaudatus (RA: 16.85%), Euterpina acutifrons (RA: 7.34%), Cyclops vicinus (RA: 4.82%), and Microcyclops tricolor (RA: 3.15%). The abundance, species number, indices of richness, evenness, and copepod diversity varied significantly (p<0.05, One-way ANOVA) for all the cruises. Pearson correlation analysis results demonstrated that salinity was positively correlated with the copepod species number (r=0.637), total copepod abundance (r=0.456), and Shannon-Wiener diversity index (r=0.375) with a 1% level of significance. By contrast, the evenness index was negatively correlated with salinity (r=-0.375, p=0.01), indicating that copepod diversity in the LRE was influenced mainly by seawater. The Kuroshio Current played a major role in transporting and distributing warm-water copepods to its affected area. Copepod species assemblages showed seasonal succession and varied drastically with tidal change. The latter

Access to laboratory testing: the impact of managed care in the Pacific Northwest.

PubMed

LaBeau, K M; Simon, M; Steindel, S J

1999-01-01

Patient access to health-care services has become an important issue owing to the growth of managed care organizations and the number of patients enrolled. To better understand the current issues related to access to laboratory testing, with a particular focus on the impact of managed care, we gathered information from a network of clinical laboratories in the Pacific Northwest. Two questionnaires were sent to the 257 Laboratory Medicine Sentinel Monitoring Network participants in November 1995 and March 1996 to investigate trends in the availability and utilization of laboratory testing services and changes in onsite testing menus. Although laboratories reported that managed care was a factor in their decisions about laboratory practices, testing decisions were more likely made for business reasons, based on medical practice changes and marketplace influences not associated with managed care.

Patterns of admixture and population structure in native populations of Northwest North America.

PubMed

Verdu, Paul; Pemberton, Trevor J; Laurent, Romain; Kemp, Brian M; Gonzalez-Oliver, Angelica; Gorodezky, Clara; Hughes, Cris E; Shattuck, Milena R; Petzelt, Barbara; Mitchell, Joycelynn; Harry, Harold; William, Theresa; Worl, Rosita; Cybulski, Jerome S; Rosenberg, Noah A; Malhi, Ripan S

2014-08-01

The initial contact of European populations with indigenous populations of the Americas produced diverse admixture processes across North, Central, and South America. Recent studies have examined the genetic structure of indigenous populations of Latin America and the Caribbean and their admixed descendants, reporting on the genomic impact of the history of admixture with colonizing populations of European and African ancestry. However, relatively little genomic research has been conducted on admixture in indigenous North American populations. In this study, we analyze genomic data at 475,109 single-nucleotide polymorphisms sampled in indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest in British Columbia and Southeast Alaska, populations with a well-documented history of contact with European and Asian traders, fishermen, and contract laborers. We find that the indigenous populations of the Pacific Northwest have higher gene diversity than Latin American indigenous populations. Among the Pacific Northwest populations, interior groups provide more evidence for East Asian admixture, whereas coastal groups have higher levels of European admixture. In contrast with many Latin American indigenous populations, the variance of admixture is high in each of the Pacific Northwest indigenous populations, as expected for recent and ongoing admixture processes. The results reveal some similarities but notable differences between admixture patterns in the Pacific Northwest and those in Latin America, contributing to a more detailed understanding of the genomic consequences of European colonization events throughout the Americas.

Patterns of Admixture and Population Structure in Native Populations of Northwest North America

PubMed Central

Verdu, Paul; Pemberton, Trevor J.; Laurent, Romain; Kemp, Brian M.; Gonzalez-Oliver, Angelica; Gorodezky, Clara; Hughes, Cris E.; Shattuck, Milena R.; Petzelt, Barbara; Mitchell, Joycelynn; Harry, Harold; William, Theresa; Worl, Rosita; Cybulski, Jerome S.; Rosenberg, Noah A.; Malhi, Ripan S.

2014-01-01

The initial contact of European populations with indigenous populations of the Americas produced diverse admixture processes across North, Central, and South America. Recent studies have examined the genetic structure of indigenous populations of Latin America and the Caribbean and their admixed descendants, reporting on the genomic impact of the history of admixture with colonizing populations of European and African ancestry. However, relatively little genomic research has been conducted on admixture in indigenous North American populations. In this study, we analyze genomic data at 475,109 single-nucleotide polymorphisms sampled in indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest in British Columbia and Southeast Alaska, populations with a well-documented history of contact with European and Asian traders, fishermen, and contract laborers. We find that the indigenous populations of the Pacific Northwest have higher gene diversity than Latin American indigenous populations. Among the Pacific Northwest populations, interior groups provide more evidence for East Asian admixture, whereas coastal groups have higher levels of European admixture. In contrast with many Latin American indigenous populations, the variance of admixture is high in each of the Pacific Northwest indigenous populations, as expected for recent and ongoing admixture processes. The results reveal some similarities but notable differences between admixture patterns in the Pacific Northwest and those in Latin America, contributing to a more detailed understanding of the genomic consequences of European colonization events throughout the Americas. PMID:25122539

Design and methods of the Pacific Northwest Stream Quality Assessment (PNSQA), 2015

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sheibley, Rich W.; Morace, Jennifer L.; Journey, Celeste A.; Van Metre, Peter C.; Bell, Amanda H.; Nakagaki, Naomi; Button, Daniel T.; Qi, Sharon L.

2017-08-25

In 2015, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) project conducted the Pacific Northwest Stream Quality Assessment (PNSQA) to investigate stream quality across the western part of the Pacific Northwest. The goal of the PNSQA was to assess the health of streams in the region by characterizing multiple water-quality factors that are stressors to in-stream aquatic life and by evaluating the relation between these stressors and the condition of biological communities. The effects of urbanization and agriculture on stream quality for the Puget Lowland and Willamette Valley Level III Ecoregions were the focus of this regional study. Findings will help inform the public and policymakers about human and environmental factors that are the most critical in affecting stream quality and, thus, provide insights into possible strategies to protect or improve the health of streams in the region.Land-use data were used in the study to identify and select sites within the region that ranged in levels of urban and agricultural development. A total of 88 sites were selected across the region—69 were on streams that explicitly spanned a range of urban land use in their watersheds, 8 were on streams in agricultural watersheds, and 11 were reference sites with little or no development in their watersheds. Depending on the type of land use, sites were sampled for contaminants, nutrients, and sediment for either a 4- or 10-week period during April, May, and June 2015. This water-quality “index period” was immediately followed with an ecological survey of all sites that included stream habitat, benthic algae, benthic macroinvertebrates, and fish. Additionally, streambed sediment was collected during the ecological survey for analysis of sediment chemistry and toxicity testing.This report provides a detailed description of the specific study components and methods of the PNSQA, including (1) surveys of stream habitat and aquatic biota, (2) discrete

Geographic signatures of North American West Coast estuaries

USGS Publications Warehouse

Emmett, Robert; Llansó, Roberto; Newton, Jan; Thom, Ron; Hornberger, Michelle; Morgan, Cheryl; Levings, Colin; Copping, Andrea; Fishman, Paul

2000-01-01

West Coast estuaries are geologically young and composed of a variety of geomorphological types. These estuaries range from large fjords to shallow lagoons; from large to low freshwater flows. Natural hazards include E1 Niños, strong Pacific storms, and active tectonic activity. West Coast estuaries support a wide range of living resources: five salmon species, harvestable shellfish, waterfowl and marine birds, marine mammals, and a variety of algae and plants. Although populations of many of these living resources have declined (salmonids), others have increased (marine mammals). West Coast estuaries are also centers of commerce and increasingly large shipping traffic. The West Coast human population is rising faster than most other areas of the U.S. and Canada, and is distributed heavily in southern California, the San Francisco Bay area, around Puget Sound, and the Fraser River estuary. While water pollution is a problem in many of the urbanized estuaries, most estuaries do not suffer from poor water quality. Primary estuarine problems include habitat alterations, degradation, and loss; diverted freshwater flows; marine sediment contamination; and exotic species introductions. The growing West Coast economy and population are in part related to the quality of life, which is dependent on the use and enjoyment of abundant coastal natural resources.

Dating the Cryptococcus gattii Dispersal to the North American Pacific Northwest

PubMed Central

Roe, Chandler C.; Bowers, Jolene; Oltean, Hanna; DeBess, Emilio; Dufresne, Philippe J.; McBurney, Scott; Overy, David P.; Wanke, Bodo; Lysen, Colleen; Chiller, Tom; Meyer, Wieland; Thompson, George R.; Lockhart, Shawn R.; Hepp, Crystal M.

2018-01-01

ABSTRACT The emergence of Cryptococcus gattii, previously regarded as a predominantly tropical pathogen, in the temperate climate of the North American Pacific Northwest (PNW) in 1999 prompted several questions. The most prevalent among these was the timing of the introduction of this pathogen to this novel environment. Here, we infer tip-dated timing estimates for the three clonal C. gattii populations observed in the PNW, VGIIa, VGIIb, and VGIIc, based on whole-genome sequencing of 134 C. gattii isolates and using Bayesian evolutionary analysis by sampling trees (BEAST). We estimated the nucleotide substitution rate for each lineage (1.59 × 10−8, 1.59 × 10−8, and 2.70 × 10−8, respectively) to be an order of magnitude higher than common neutral fungal mutation rates (2.0 × 10−9), indicating a microevolutionary rate (e.g., successive clonal generations in a laboratory) in comparison to a species’ slower, macroevolutionary rate (e.g., when using fossil records). The clonal nature of the PNW C. gattii emergence over a narrow number of years would therefore possibly explain our higher mutation rates. Our results suggest that the mean time to most recent common ancestor for all three sublineages occurred within the last 60 to 100 years. While the cause of C. gattii dispersal to the PNW is still unclear, our research estimates that the arrival is neither ancient nor very recent (i.e., <25 years ago), making a strong case for an anthropogenic introduction. IMPORTANCE The recent emergence of the pathogenic fungus Cryptococcus gattii in the Pacific Northwest (PNW) resulted in numerous investigations into the epidemiological and enzootic impacts, as well as multiple genomic explorations of the three primary molecular subtypes of the fungus that were discovered. These studies lead to the general conclusion that the subtypes identified likely emerged out of Brazil. Here, we conducted genomic dating analyses to determine the ages of the various lineages seen

Dating the Cryptococcus gattii Dispersal to the North American Pacific Northwest.

PubMed

Roe, Chandler C; Bowers, Jolene; Oltean, Hanna; DeBess, Emilio; Dufresne, Philippe J; McBurney, Scott; Overy, David P; Wanke, Bodo; Lysen, Colleen; Chiller, Tom; Meyer, Wieland; Thompson, George R; Lockhart, Shawn R; Hepp, Crystal M; Engelthaler, David M

2018-01-01

The emergence of Cryptococcus gattii , previously regarded as a predominantly tropical pathogen, in the temperate climate of the North American Pacific Northwest (PNW) in 1999 prompted several questions. The most prevalent among these was the timing of the introduction of this pathogen to this novel environment. Here, we infer tip-dated timing estimates for the three clonal C. gattii populations observed in the PNW, VGIIa, VGIIb, and VGIIc, based on whole-genome sequencing of 134 C. gattii isolates and using Bayesian evolutionary analysis by sampling trees (BEAST). We estimated the nucleotide substitution rate for each lineage (1.59 × 10 -8 , 1.59 × 10 -8 , and 2.70 × 10 -8 , respectively) to be an order of magnitude higher than common neutral fungal mutation rates (2.0 × 10 -9 ), indicating a microevolutionary rate (e.g., successive clonal generations in a laboratory) in comparison to a species' slower, macroevolutionary rate (e.g., when using fossil records). The clonal nature of the PNW C. gattii emergence over a narrow number of years would therefore possibly explain our higher mutation rates. Our results suggest that the mean time to most recent common ancestor for all three sublineages occurred within the last 60 to 100 years. While the cause of C. gattii dispersal to the PNW is still unclear, our research estimates that the arrival is neither ancient nor very recent (i.e., <25 years ago), making a strong case for an anthropogenic introduction. IMPORTANCE The recent emergence of the pathogenic fungus Cryptococcus gattii in the Pacific Northwest (PNW) resulted in numerous investigations into the epidemiological and enzootic impacts, as well as multiple genomic explorations of the three primary molecular subtypes of the fungus that were discovered. These studies lead to the general conclusion that the subtypes identified likely emerged out of Brazil. Here, we conducted genomic dating analyses to determine the ages of the various lineages seen in the

Structure and Vulnerability of Pacific Northwest Tidal Wetlands –A Summary of Wetland Climate Change Researchby the Western Ecology Division, U.S. EPA

EPA Science Inventory

Climate change poses a serious threat to the tidal wetlands of the Pacific Northwest (PNW) region of the U.S. In response to this threat, scientists at the Western Ecology Division of the U.S. EPA at and the Western Fisheries Research Center of the U.S. Geological Survey, along w...

ENSO and East Asian winter monsoon relationship modulation associated with the anomalous northwest Pacific anticyclone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Ji-Won; An, Soon-Il; Jun, Sang-Yoon; Park, Hey-Jin; Yeh, Sang-Wook

2017-08-01

Using observational datasets and numerical model experiments, the mechanism on the slowly varying change in the relationship between the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the East Asian winter monsoon (EAWM) is investigated. The decadal-window (11-, 15-, and 21-year) moving correlations show a significant change in the boreal wintertime ENSO-EAWM relationship between two sub-periods of 1976‒1992 and 1997‒2013. Such recent change in ENSO-EAWM relationship is mainly attributed to the changes in the intensity and zonal location of the anomalous lower-tropospheric northwest Pacific anticyclone (NWP-AC). NWP-AC commonly develops near the region of the Philippine Sea during the ENSO's peak phase and plays an important role of bridging the tropical convection and mid-latitude teleconnection. On one hand, the intensity of the NWP-AC is influenced by the interdecadal variation in a linkage between ENSO and the Indian Ocean sea surface temperature (SST) variability, referring that a strong connection between the Pacific and Indian Oceans results in the strengthening of NWP-AC response to ENSO. On the other hand, the zonal displacement of the NWP-AC is associated with the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) and the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO). That is, the tropical Pacific mean state (i.e., zonal SST gradient between climatologically warm western Pacific and cold eastern Pacific)—strengthened by either the negative PDO phase or the positive AMO phase—drives the anomalous ENSO-induced convection to be shifted to the west. With this westward shift, the zonal center of the NWP-AC also migrates westward over the Philippine Islands and exerts stronger connection between ENSO and EAWM. In contrast, the relaxed zonal SST contrast associated with either the positive PDO phase or the negative AMO phase tends to exhibit weaker ENSO-EAWM relationship via both of eastward shifted zonal centers of the anomalous ENSO-induced convection and the NWP-AC. Finally, a

Are coastal managers ready for climate change? A case study from estuaries along the Pacific coast of the United States

USGS Publications Warehouse

Thorne, Karen M.; Elliott-Fisk, Deborah L.; Freeman, Chase; Bui, Thuy-Vy D.; Powelson, Katherine; Janousek, Christopher; Buffington, Kevin J.; Takekawa, John Y.

2017-01-01

A key challenge for coastal resource managers is to plan and implement climate change adaptation strategies inlight of uncertainties and competing management priorities. In 2014, we held six workshops across estuaries along the Pacific coast of North America with over 150 participants to evaluate resource managers' perceived level of understanding of climate change science, where they obtain information, how they use this knowledge, and their preparedness for incorporating climate change into their management decisions. We found that most resource managers understood the types of climate change impacts likely to occur in their estuaries, but often lacked the scientific information to make decisions and plan effectively. Managers stated that time, money, and staff resources were the largest obstacles in their efforts. Managers identified that they learned most of their information from peers, scientific journals, and the Internet and indicated that sea-level rise was their greatest concern. There was, however, variation in managers' levels of readiness and perceived knowledge within and among workshop locations. The workshops revealed that some regions don't have the information they need or the planning capacity to effectively integrate climate change into their management, with eight out of fifteen site comparisons showing a significant difference between their level of preparedness (F5,26 = 6.852; p = 0.0003), and their willingness to formally plan (F5,26 = 12.84; p = 0.000002). We found that Urban estuaries were significantly different from Mixed Use and Rural estuaries, in having access to information and feeling more prepared to conduct climate change planning and implementation (F2,29 = 17.34; p = 0.00001). To facilitate climate change preparedness more comprehensive integration of science into management decisions is essential.

Paleoproductivity and intermediate-water ventilation in the subarctic Northwest Pacific during the last deglaciation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khim, B.; Ikehara, K.; Sagawa, T.; Shibahara, A.; Yamamoto, M.

2010-12-01

Laminated sediments during the last deglaciation in the subarctic North Pacific indicate significant depletion of dissolved oxygen concentration at intermediate water depths. Such a strong oxygen minimum zone results primarily from a combination of high surface water productivity and poor ventilation of intermediate waters. We investigated a variety of paleoclimatic proxies using about 8-m long piston core sediment (GH02-1030; 42o13.770N, 144o12.530E; water depth, 1212 m) obtained from the continental slope off Tokachi (eastern Hokkaido Island), which is the main path of the southwestward Oyashio Current in the subarctic Northwest Pacific. Laminated sediments were identified at the two horizons in the core GH02-1030; the upper one at 11.4-12.2 cal.kyr BP and the lower one at 14.1-14.7 cal.kyr BP, corresponding to Bølling-Allerød (B/A) and Preboreal (PB), respectively. Between these laminated layers, Younger Dryas occurred. Both laminated sediment layers are characterized by Bolivina tumida, B. pacifica, and Buliminella tenuata, indicating dysoxic bottom water conditions. Increased Mg/Ca-derived intermediate-water temperature and δ18OW values at B/A and PB periods suggest the poor ventilation of intermediate water because of the surface water freshening (i.e., decrease of surface-water salinity). UK'37-derived temperature record also supports the increase of surface-water temperature during B/A and PB intervals. During the last deglaciation, short-chain C14-C18 n-fatty acids, derived mainly from marine organisms, showed higher concentrations, indicating the increased surface-water production, and at the same time, abundant lignin reflected more contribution of terrigenous organic matter, supporting increased freshwater discharge. Variation of CaCO3 contents show remarkable double peaks, corresponding to B/A and PB periods, respectively, leading to the increase of TOC contents. Opal contents also follow similar pattern to CaCO3 contents, but are much less than the

Impacts of the July 2012 Siberian fire plume on air quality in the Pacific Northwest

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Teakles, Andrew D.; So, Rita; Ainslie, Bruce; Nissen, Robert; Schiller, Corinne; Vingarzan, Roxanne; McKendry, Ian; Macdonald, Anne Marie; Jaffe, Daniel A.; Bertram, Allan K.; Strawbridge, Kevin B.; Leaitch, W. Richard; Hanna, Sarah; Toom, Desiree; Baik, Jonathan; Huang, Lin

2017-02-01

Biomass burning emissions emit a significant amount of trace gases and aerosols and can affect atmospheric chemistry and radiative forcing for hundreds or thousands of kilometres downwind. They can also contribute to exceedances of air quality standards and have negative impacts on human health. We present a case study of an intense wildfire plume from Siberia that affected the air quality across the Pacific Northwest on 6-10 July 2012. Using satellite measurements (MODIS True Colour RGB imagery and MODIS AOD), we track the wildfire smoke plume from its origin in Siberia to the Pacific Northwest where subsidence ahead of a subtropical Pacific High made the plume settle over the region. The normalized enhancement ratios of O3 and PM1 relative to CO of 0.26 and 0.08 are consistent with a plume aged 6-10 days. The aerosol mass in the plume was mainly submicron in diameter (PM1 / PM2.5 = 0.96) and the part of the plume sampled at the Whistler High Elevation Monitoring Site (2182 m a.s.l.) was 88 % organic material. Stable atmospheric conditions along the coast limited the initial entrainment of the plume and caused local anthropogenic emissions to build up. A synthesis of air quality from the regional surface monitoring networks describes changes in ambient O3 and PM2.5 during the event and contrasts them to baseline air quality estimates from the AURAMS chemical transport model without wildfire emissions. Overall, the smoke plume contributed significantly to the exceedances in O3 and PM2.5 air quality standards and objectives that occurred at several communities in the region during the event. Peak enhancements in 8 h O3 of 34-44 ppbv and 24 h PM2.5 of 10-32 µg m-3 were attributed to the effects of the smoke plume across the Interior of British Columbia and at the Whistler Peak High Elevation Site. Lesser enhancements of 10-12 ppbv for 8 h O3 and of 4-9 µg m-3 for 24 h PM2.5 occurred across coastal British Columbia and Washington State. The findings suggest that the

Subduction, Extension, and a Mantle Plume in the Pacific Northwest

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hawley, W. B.; Allen, R. M.; Richards, M. A.

2016-12-01

Subduction zones are some of the most important systems that control the dynamics and evolution of the earth. The Cascadia Subduction Zone offers a unique natural laboratory for understanding the subduction process, and how subduction interacts with other large-scale geodynamical phenomena. The small size of the Juan de Fuca (JdF) plate and the proximity of the system to the Yellowstone Hotspot and the extensional Basin and Range province allow for detailed study of the effects these important systems have on each other. We present both a P-wave and an S-wave tomographic model of the Pacific Northwestern United States using regional seismic arrays, including the amphibious Cascadia Initiative. These models share important features, such as the Yellowstone plume, the subducting JdF slab, a gap in the subducting slab, and a low-velocity feature beneath the shallowest portions of the slab. But subtle differences in these features between the models—the size of the gap in the subducting JdF slab and the shape of the Yellowstone plume shaft above the transition zone, for example—provide physical insight into the interpretation of these models. The physics that we infer from our seismic tomography and other studies of the region will refine our understanding of subduction zones worldwide, and will help to identify targets for future amphibious seismic array studies. The discovery of a pronounced low-velocity feature beneath the JdF slab as it subducts beneath the coastal Pacific Northwest is, thus far, the most surprising result from our imaging work, and implies a heretofore unanticipated regime of dynamical interaction between the sublithospheric oceanic asthenosphere and the subduction process. Such discoveries are made possible, and rendered interpretable, by ever-increasing resolution that the Cascadia Initiative affords seismic tomography models.

Intraplate Seamounts of the Northwest Sector of the Pacific Ocean

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mirlin, E. G.; Mironov, Yu. V.; Rodkin, M. W.; Chesalova, E. I.

2018-03-01

A method is proposed for identifying seamounts in the northwest sector of the Pacific based on the following criteria: a closed, close to isometric contour of the isobaths at the base of a structure, its quasi-conical shape, and angles of slope exceeding 5° within the limits of the closed contour. A catalog of the mountains has been compiled, consisting of 1995 objects and their quantitative characteristics. The catalog data were statistically processed, and the following was calculated: the correlation between the number of seamounts from the radius of their base and volume, the distribution of the number of mountains, and the total volume within the study area. It is shown that seamounts are characterized as multiscale, and they are located very unevenly: areas with and without their accumulation are distinguished, and the composition of volcanic rocks is typically isotopically and geochemically heterogeneous. It is concluded that currently there is no single geodynamic model that can explain the revealed phenomena in their entirety. At the same time, the data suggest that the nature of some magma chambers that feed intraplate volcanoes is caused by transformation of energy in the lithosphere as a nonlinear open system.

Genetic Structure of First Nation Communities in the Pacific Northwest.

PubMed

Hughes, Cris E; Rogers, Mary P; Owings, Amanda C; Petzelt, Barbara; Mitchell, Joycelynn; Harry, Harold; Williams, Theresa; Goldberg, Dena; Labuda, Damian; Smith, David Glenn; Cybulski, Jerome S; Malhi, Ripan S

2016-10-01

This study presents genetic data for nine Native American populations from northern North America. Analyses of genetic variation focus on the Pacific Northwest (PNW). Using mitochondrial, Y chromosomal, and autosomal DNA variants, we aimed to more closely address the relationships of geography and language with present genetic diversity among the regional PNW Native American populations. Patterns of genetic diversity exhibited by the three genetic systems were consistent with our hypotheses: genetic variation was more strongly explained by geographic proximity than by linguistic structure. Our findings were corroborated through a variety on analytic approaches, with the unrooted trees for the three genetic systems consistently separating inland from coastal PNW populations. Furthermore, analyses of molecular variance support the trends exhibited by the unrooted trees, with geographic partitioning of PNW populations (F CT = 19.43%, p = 0.010 ± 0.009) accounting for over twice as much of the observed genetic variation as linguistic partitioning of the same populations (F CT = 9.15%, p = 0.193 ± 0.013). These findings demonstrate a consensus with previous PNW population studies examining the relationships of genome-wide variation, mitochondrial haplogroup frequencies, and skeletal morphology with geography and language.

Atmospheric Mercury Deposition to a Remote Islet in the Subtropical Northwest Pacific Ocean

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sheu, G.; Lin, N.

2013-12-01

Thirty-four weekly rainwater samples were collected in 2009 at Pengjiayu, a remote islet in the subtropical Northwest (NW) Pacific Ocean with an area of 1.14 km^2, to study the distribution of rainwater mercury (Hg) concentrations and associated wet deposition fluxes. This is the first study concerning wet Hg deposition to the subtropical NW Pacific Ocean downwind of the East Asian continent, which is the major source region for Hg emissions worldwide. Sample Hg concentrations ranged from 2.25 to 22.33 ng L^-1, with a volume-weighted mean (VWM) concentration of 8.85 ng L^-1. The annual wet Hg deposition flux was 10.18 μg m^-2, about 2.5 times the fluxes measured at sites on the Pacific coast of the USA, supporting the hypothesis that deposition is higher in the western than in the eastern Pacific. Seasonal VWM concentrations were 7.23, 11.58, 7.82, and 9.84 ng L^-1, whereas seasonal wet deposition fluxes were 2.14, 3.45, 2.38, and 2.21 μg m^-2, for spring, summer, fall and winter, respectively. Higher summer wet Hg deposition was a function of both higher rainwater Hg concentration and greater rainfall. The seasonal pattern of rainwater Hg concentrations was the opposite of the general seasonal pattern of the East Asian air pollutant export. Since there is no significant anthropogenic Hg emission source on the islet of Pengjiayu, the observed high summertime rainwater Hg concentration hints at the importance of Hg(0) oxidation and/or scavenging of upper-altitude reactive gaseous Hg (RGM) by deep convection. Direct anthropogenic RGM emissions from the East Asian continent may not contribute significantly to the rainwater Hg concentrations, but anthropogenic Hg(0) emissions could be transported to the upper troposphere or marine boundary layer where they can be oxidized to produce RGM, which will then be effectively scavenged by cloud water and rainwater.

Size Matters: The Contribution of Mega-Infauna to the Food Webs and Ecosystem Services of an Oregon Estuary

EPA Science Inventory

Large-bodied, invertebrates are common to infaunal communities of NE Pacific estuaries (e.g., bivalves, polychaetes, burrowing shrimps), but their contribution to the ecological structure, function and ecosystem services of most estuaries has been poorly characterized because the...

The toughest job you'll ever love: a Pacific Northwest Treatment Workforce Survey.

PubMed

Gallon, Steven L; Gabriel, Roy M; Knudsen, Jeffrey R W

2003-04-01

The training, recruitment, and retention of the most qualified professionals for the substance abuse treatment workforce is a crucial underlying strategy in the improvement of client care. Conducted in the year 2000, this survey of substance abuse treatment agency directors and clinical staff in the Pacific Northwest of the United States provides the first empirical estimates of issues surrounding these goals and points to the need for more aggressive strategies if a quality workforce is to be maintained and improved. Results of the survey indicate that there is an average of 25% turnover per year among treatment agency staff, and that the vast majority of this turnover is voluntary and stays within the treatment profession. Agency management and direct service staff differ in their perceptions of the recruitment and retention approaches currently in place in their agencies.

A note on the comparative turbidity of some estuaries of the Americas

USGS Publications Warehouse

Uncles, R.J.; Smith, R.E.

2005-01-01

Field data from 27 estuaries of the Americas are used to show that, in broad terms, there is a large difference in turbidity between the analyzed east and west-coast estuaries and that tidal range and tidal length have an important influence on that turbidity. Generic, numerical sediment-transport modeling is used to illustrate this influence, which exists over a range of space scales from, e.g., the Rogue River Estuary (few km, few mg l-1) to the Bay of Fundy (hundreds of km, few g l-1). The difference in Pacific and Atlantic seaboard estuarine turbidity for the analyzed estuaries is ultimately related to the broad-scale geomorphology of the two continents.

Monsoon rainfall over India in June and link with northwest tropical pacific - June ISMR and link with northwest tropical pacific

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Surendran, Sajani; Gadgil, Sulochana; Rajendran, Kavirajan; Varghese, Stella Jes; Kitoh, Akio

2018-03-01

Recent years have witnessed large interannual variation of all-India rainfall (AIR) in June, with intermittent large deficits and excesses. Variability of June AIR is found to have the strongest link with variation of rainfall over northwest tropical Pacific (NWTP), with AIR deficit (excess) associated with enhancement (suppression) of NWTP rainfall. This association is investigated using high-resolution Meteorological Research Institute model which shows high skill in simulating important features of Asian summer monsoon, its variability and the inverse relationship between NWTP rainfall and AIR. Analysis of the variation of NWTP rainfall shows that it is associated with a change in the latitudinal position of subtropical westerly jet over the region stretching from West of Tibetan Plateau (WTP) to NWTP and the phase of Rossby wave steered in it with centres over NWTP and WTP. In years with large rainfall excess/deficit, the strong link between AIR and NWTP rainfall exists through differences in Rossby wave phase steered in the jet. The positive phase of the WTP-NWTP pattern, with troughs over WTP and west of NWTP, tends to be associated with increased rainfall over NWTP and decreased AIR. This scenario is reversed in the opposite phase. Thus, the teleconnection between NWTP rainfall and AIR is a manifestation of the difference in the phase of Rossby wave between excess and deficit years, with centres over WTP and NWTP. This brings out the importance of prediction of phase of Rossby waves over WTP and NWTP in advance, for prediction of June rainfall over India.

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Potential Impact Categories for Radiological Air Emission Monitoring

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ballinger, Marcel Y.; Gervais, Todd L.; Barnett, J. Matthew

2012-06-05

In 2002, the EPA amended 40 CFR 61 Subpart H and 40 CFR 61 Appendix B Method 114 to include requirements from ANSI/HPS N13.1-1999 Sampling and Monitoring Releases of Airborne Radioactive Substances from the Stack and Ducts of Nuclear Facilities for major emission points. Additionally, the WDOH amended the Washington Administrative Code (WAC) 246-247 Radiation protection-air emissions to include ANSI/HPS N13.1-1999 requirements for major and minor emission points when new permitting actions are approved. A result of the amended regulations is the requirement to prepare a written technical basis for the radiological air emission sampling and monitoring program. A keymore » component of the technical basis is the Potential Impact Category (PIC) assigned to an emission point. This paper discusses the PIC assignments for the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) Integrated Laboratory emission units; this revision includes five PIC categories.« less

Landslide Susceptibility Across the Pacific Northwest: The Heavy Influence of Transportation Inventories

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stanley, Thomas; Kirschbaum, Dalia

2017-04-01

Some of the largest and best landslide databases in the United States of America describe the Pacific Northwest region. Nevertheless, these inventories are not a comprehensive listing of historic landslides. In particular, landslide dates tend to be recorded by state transportation agencies, which imposes a spatial bias upon any subsequent analysis. This reporting bias complicates not only the identification of landslide triggering conditions, but also hinders empirical calculations of landslide susceptibility. Although many strategies for bias mitigation could be employed, the simplest approach delivers generally plausible results that are most reliable in the most critical locations: along major highways and rail lines. This work tests logistic regression models that were fitted in zones with landslide reports, then applied regionally. Due to the destabilizing effects of excavation and other anthropogenic disturbances, the models may overestimate susceptibility in undeveloped areas. However, the susceptibility of developed sites should be as accurate as the modeling technique and input data allow.

Climatic Data Integration and Analysis - Regional Approaches to Climate Change for Pacific Northwest Agriculture (REACCH PNA)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Seamon, E.; Gessler, P. E.; Flathers, E.; Sheneman, L.; Gollberg, G.

2013-12-01

The Regional Approaches to Climate Change for Pacific Northwest Agriculture (REACCH PNA) is a five-year USDA/NIFA-funded coordinated agriculture project to examine the sustainability of cereal crop production systems in the Pacific Northwest, in relationship to ongoing climate change. As part of this effort, an extensive data management system has been developed to enable researchers, students, and the public, to upload, manage, and analyze various data. The REACCH PNA data management team has developed three core systems to encompass cyberinfrastructure and data management needs: 1) the reacchpna.org portal (https://www.reacchpna.org) is the entry point for all public and secure information, with secure access by REACCH PNA members for data analysis, uploading, and informational review; 2) the REACCH PNA Data Repository is a replicated, redundant database server environment that allows for file and database storage and access to all core data; and 3) the REACCH PNA Libraries which are functional groupings of data for REACCH PNA members and the public, based on their access level. These libraries are accessible thru our https://www.reacchpna.org portal. The developed system is structured in a virtual server environment (data, applications, web) that includes a geospatial database/geospatial web server for web mapping services (ArcGIS Server), use of ESRI's Geoportal Server for data discovery and metadata management (under the ISO 19115-2 standard), Thematic Realtime Environmental Distributed Data Services (THREDDS) for data cataloging, and Interactive Python notebook server (IPython) technology for data analysis. REACCH systems are housed and maintained by the Northwest Knowledge Network project (www.northwestknowledge.net), which provides data management services to support research. Initial project data harvesting and meta-tagging efforts have resulted in the interrogation and loading of over 10 terabytes of climate model output, regional entomological data

A linear regression model for predicting PNW estuarine temperatures in a changing climate

EPA Science Inventory

Pacific Northwest coastal regions, estuaries, and associated ecosystems are vulnerable to the potential effects of climate change, especially to changes in nearshore water temperature. While predictive climate models simulate future air temperatures, no such projections exist for...

Macrophyte Community Response to Nitrogen Loading and Thermal Stressors: Water Residence Time Ameliorates Eutrophication Symptom Expression

EPA Science Inventory

Empirical determination of nutrient loading thresholds that negatively impact seagrass communities have been elusive due to the multitude of factors involved. Using a mesocosm system that simulated Pacific Northwest estuaries, we evaluated macrophyte metrics across gradients of ...

Interactions of Northwest forest canopies and arboreal mammals.

Treesearch

A.B. Carey

1996-01-01

The interactions among Northwest forest canopies and the mammals that inhabit them have been poorly studied. My purpose was to identify interactions among arboreal mammals and canopies that have implications for managers seeking to conserve biodiversity in the Pacific Northwest. I constructed a comprehensive, but parsimonious list of canopy attributes that could be...

Spatial and temporal heterogeneity of infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus in Pacific Northwest salmonids

USGS Publications Warehouse

Breyta, Rachel; Black, Allison; Kaufman, John; Kurath, Gael

2016-01-01

The aquatic rhaboviral pathogen infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus (IHNV) causes acute disease in juvenile fish of a number of populations of Pacific salmonid species. Heavily managed in both marine and freshwater environments, these fish species are cultured during the juvenile stage in freshwater conservation hatcheries, where IHNV is one of the top three infectious diseases that cause serious morbidity and mortality. Therefore, a comprehensive study of viral genetic surveillance data representing 2590 field isolates collected between 1958 and 2014 was conducted to determine the spatial and temporal patterns of IHNV in the Pacific Northwest of the contiguous United States. Prevalence of infection varied over time, fluctuating over a rough 5–7 year cycle. The genetic analysis revealed numerous subgroups of IHNV, each of which exhibited spatial heterogeneity. Within all subgroups, dominant genetic types were apparent, though the temporal patterns of emergence of these types varied among subgroups. Finally, the affinity or fidelity of subgroups to specific host species also varied, where UC subgroup viruses exhibited a more generalist profile and all other subgroups exhibited a specialist profile. These complex patterns are likely synergistically driven by numerous ecological, pathobiological, and anthropogenic factors. Since only a few anthropogenic factors are candidates for managed intervention aimed at improving the health of threatened or endangered salmonid fish populations, determining the relative impact of these factors is a high priority for future studies.

Estuarine habitat utilization by birds in Yaquina Estuary, Oregon

EPA Science Inventory

A wide variety of bird species are highly dependent on intertidal wetland habitats. Because of this dependency, birds are viewed as important indicators of wetland structure and function. Wetlands in Yaquina Bay along with the tidal wetlands in other Pacific coastal estuaries r...

"The Only Thing that Isn't Sustainable... Is the Farmer": Social Sustainability and the Politics of Class among Pacific Northwest Farmers Engaged in Sustainable Farming

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pilgeram, Ryanne

2011-01-01

Using interviews and participant observation at Pacific Northwest sustainable farming operations, this article analyzes the complex ways that class privileges and labor practices impact the social sustainability of sustainable agriculture. While the farmers in this study were highly aware of and reflexive about the class politics of sustainable…

Providing Hands on Experiences to Museum Visitors to Explore and Learn about Earthquakes and their Impacts in the Pacific Northwest

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Olds, S. E.; Schiffman, C. R.; Butler, R. F.; Farley, M.; Frankel, S.; Hunter, N.; Lillie, R. J.

2013-12-01

Over the past ten years, UNAVCO has developed a suite of learning materials for formal undergraduate and grades 6-12 classroom environments, integrating GPS data from the EarthScope Plate Boundary Observatory (PBO) to explore Earth science processes. To make complex Earth processes accessible to general audiences, UNAVCO has designed a multi-component visiting museum exhibit that explores the tectonic setting of the United States Pacific Northwest, hazards of living on a plate boundary, and the technologies being used to study the plate motion and in the future, help communities become more resilient to the impacts of earthquakes. This exhibit was installed in Fall 2013 at the Oregon State University (OSU) Hatfield Marine Science Center (HMSC) in Newport, Oregon. Through multiple hands-on elements, visitors to the HMSC exhibit explore and experience the build up and release of strain in the region, along with some of the technologies used to measure these changes. In one component, visitors compress a model of the Pacific Northwest to feel the build up of strain in the landscape and observe the movement of land over time. Supporting panels connect this movement to the measurements currently being observed by the network of PBO and other GPS stations in the Pacific Northwest. In another component, visitors learn about the recurrence interval for earthquakes at the Juan De Fuca - North America plate boundary by turning a handle to slowly move and compress plates until a simulated earthquake occurs. A related component explores how an earthquake early warning system (EEWS) of the future might combine seismic data collected by both seismometers and real time GPS to allow people and communities time to prepare for oncoming ground shaking and tsunami after an earthquake. Several technologies are also highlighted throughout the exhibit, including information panels that compare the accuracy of high precision GPS with smartphone technologies. Additionally, models of a full

Natural re-colonization and admixture of wolves (Canis lupus) in the US Pacific Northwest: challenges for the protection and management of rare and endangered taxa.

PubMed

Hendricks, Sarah A; Schweizer, Rena M; Harrigan, Ryan J; Pollinger, John P; Paquet, Paul C; Darimont, Chris T; Adams, Jennifer R; Waits, Lisette P; vonHoldt, Bridgett M; Hohenlohe, Paul A; Wayne, Robert K

2018-06-07

Admixture resulting from natural dispersal processes can potentially generate novel phenotypic variation that may facilitate persistence in changing environments or result in the loss of population-specific adaptations. Yet, under the US Endangered Species Act, policy is limited for management of individuals whose ancestry includes a protected taxon; therefore, they are generally not protected under the Act. This issue is exemplified by the recently re-established grey wolves of the Pacific Northwest states of Washington and Oregon, USA. This population was likely founded by two phenotypically and genetically distinct wolf ecotypes: Northern Rocky Mountain (NRM) forest and coastal rainforest. The latter is considered potentially threatened in southeast Alaska and thus the source of migrants may affect plans for their protection. To assess the genetic source of the re-established population, we sequenced a ~ 300 bp portion of the mitochondrial control region and ~ 5 Mbp of the nuclear genome. Genetic analysis revealed that the Washington wolves share ancestry with both wolf ecotypes, whereas the Oregon population shares ancestry with NRM forest wolves only. Using ecological niche modelling, we found that the Pacific Northwest states contain environments suitable for each ecotype, with wolf packs established in both environmental types. Continued migration from coastal rainforest and NRM forest source populations may increase the genetic diversity of the Pacific Northwest population. However, this admixed population challenges traditional management regimes given that admixture occurs between an adaptively distinct ecotype and a more abundant reintroduced interior form. Our results emphasize the need for a more precise US policy to address the general problem of admixture in the management of endangered species, subspecies, and distinct population segments.

Lumped parameter, isotopic model simulations of closed-basin lake response to drought in the Pacific Northwest and implications for lake sediment oxygen isotope records.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Steinman, B. A.; Rosenmeier, M.; Abbott, M.

2008-12-01

The economy of the Pacific Northwest relies heavily on water resources from the drought-prone Columbia River and its tributaries, as well as the many lakes and reservoirs of the region. Proper management of these water resources requires a thorough understanding of local drought histories that extends well beyond the instrumental record of the twentieth century, a time frame too short to capture the full range of drought variability in the Pacific Northwest. Here we present a lumped parameter, mass-balance model that provides insight into the influence of hydroclimatological changes on two small, closed-basin systems located in north- central Washington. Steady state model simulations of lake water oxygen isotope ratios using modern climate and catchment parameter datasets demonstrate a strong sensitivity to both the amount and timing of precipitation, and to changes in summertime relative humidity, particularly at annual and decadal time scales. Model tests also suggest that basin hypsography can have a significant impact on lake water oxygen isotope variations, largely through surface area to volume and consequent evaporative flux to volume ratio changes in response to drought and pluvial sequences. Additional simulations using input parameters derived from both on-site and National Climatic Data Center historical climate datasets accurately approximate three years of continuous lake observations (seasonal water sampling and continuous lake level monitoring) and twentieth century oxygen isotope ratios in sediment core authigenic carbonate recovered from the lakes. Results from these model simulations suggest that small, closed-basin lakes in north-central Washington are highly sensitive to changes in the drought-related climate variables, and that long (8000 year), high resolution records of quantitative changes in precipitation and evaporation are obtainable from sediment cores recovered from water bodies of the Pacific Northwest.

Enhanced POC export in the oligotrophic northwest Pacific Ocean after extreme weather events

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Kuo-Shu; Hung, Chin-Chang; Gong, Gwo-Ching; Chou, Wen-Chen; Chung, Chih-Ching; Shih, Yung-Yen; Wang, Chau-Chang

2013-11-01

study effects of extreme weather events (EWEs, e.g., dust storm and typhoon) on the export of particulate organic carbon (POC) measured by a floating sediment trap in the oligotrophic ocean, eight sea-going expeditions were conducted in the oligotrophic northwest Pacific (NWP) in 2007 and 2008, covering all four seasons and the passage of several EWEs. Results of year-round field observations demonstrate that the POC export fluxes in the oligotrophic NWP did not exhibit apparent seasonal variations yielding an average flux of 36.9 ± 5.8 mg-C m-2 d-1 without EWE effects. With EWE effects, however, the POC export flux (51.7 ± 13.2 mg-C m-2 d-1) showed an approximately 40% increase compared to the average flux measured without EWE effects. These results suggest that EWEs can trigger elevated POC export from the euphotic zone in the oligotrophic ocean.

Collapse risk of buildings in the Pacific Northwest region due to subduction earthquakes

USGS Publications Warehouse

Raghunandan, Meera; Liel, Abbie B.; Luco, Nicolas

2015-01-01

Subduction earthquakes similar to the 2011 Japan and 2010 Chile events will occur in the future in the Cascadia subduction zone in the Pacific Northwest. In this paper, nonlinear dynamic analyses are carried out on 24 buildings designed according to outdated and modern building codes for the cities of Seattle, Washington, and Portland, Oregon. The results indicate that the median collapse capacity of the ductile (post-1970) buildings is approximately 40% less when subjected to ground motions from subduction, as compared to crustal earthquakes. Buildings are more susceptible to earthquake-induced collapse when shaken by subduction records (as compared to crustal records of the same intensity) because the subduction motions tend to be longer in duration due to their larger magnitude and the greater source-to-site distance. As a result, subduction earthquakes are shown to contribute to the majority of the collapse risk of the buildings analyzed.

International Safeguards and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Olsen, Khris B.; Smith, Leon E.; Frazar, Sarah L.

Established in 1965, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory’s (PNNL) strong technical ties and shared heritage with the nearby U.S. Department of Energy Hanford Site were central to the early development of expertise in nuclear fuel cycle signatures, separations chemistry, plutonium chemistry, environmental monitoring, modeling and analysis of reactor systems, and nuclear material safeguards and security. From these Hanford origins, PNNL has grown into a multi-program science and engineering enterprise that utilizes this diversity to strengthen the international safeguards regime. Today, PNNL supports the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in its mission to provide assurances to the international community that nations domore » not use nuclear materials and equipment outside of peaceful uses. PNNL also serves in the IAEA’s Network of Analytical Laboratories (NWAL) by providing analysis of environmental samples gathered around the world. PNNL is involved in safeguards research and development activities in support of many U.S. Government programs such as the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) Office of Research and Development, NNSA Office of Nonproliferation and Arms Control, and the U.S. Support Program to IAEA Safeguards. In addition to these programs, PNNL invests internal resources including safeguards-specific training opportunities for staff, and laboratory-directed research and development funding to further ideas that may grow into new capabilities. This paper and accompanying presentation highlight some of PNNL’s contributions in technology development, implementation concepts and approaches, policy, capacity building, and human capital development, in the field of international safeguards.« less

Preliminary Observations of Population Genetics and Relatedness of the Broadnose Sevengill Shark, Notorynchus cepedianus, in Two Northeast Pacific Estuaries

PubMed Central

Larson, Shawn; Farrer, Debbie; Lowry, Dayv; Ebert, David A.

2015-01-01

The broadnose sevengill shark, Notorynchus cepedianus, a common coastal species in the eastern North Pacific, was sampled during routine capture and tagging operations conducted from 2005–2012. One hundred and thirty three biopsy samples were taken during these research operations in Willapa Bay, Washington and in San Francisco Bay, California. Genotypic data from seven polymorphic microsatellites (derived from the related sixgill shark, Hexanchus griseus) were used to describe N. cepedianus genetic diversity, population structure and relatedness. Diversity within N. cepedianus was found to be low to moderate with an average observed heterozygosity of 0.41, expected heterozygosity of 0.53, and an average of 5.1 alleles per microsatellite locus. There was no evidence of a recent population bottleneck based on genetic data. Analyses of genetic differences between the two sampled estuaries suggest two distinct populations with some genetic mixing of sharks sampled during 2005–2006. Relatedness within sampled populations was high, with percent relatedness among sharks caught in the same area indicating 42.30% first-order relative relationships (full or half siblings). Estuary-specific familial relationships suggest that management of N. cepedianus on the U.S. West Coast should incorporate stock-specific management goals to conserve this ecologically important predator. PMID:26052706

Role of acid and aluminum-rich media in the growth and nutrition of Pacific Northwest conifers

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ryan, P.J.

1983-01-01

Forest soils of coastal Washington and Oregon tend to be very acidic with large accumulations of organic matter. Yet the productivity of forest species on these sites can attain record levels. The effect of acid and aluminum-rich media on the growth and nutrition of Pacific Northwest conifer species was investigated for western hemlock, Douglas-fir, western redcedar, and Sitka spruce. The four different types of growth media utilized were solution cultures, sand cultures, mineral soils, and forest floor organic matter. Hydroponic nutrient solutions and sand cultures were used in experiments designed to differentiate the effect of aluminum ions from the hydrogenmore » ions generated by hydrolysis of Al/sup 3 +/. Relative to agronomic plants, all the conifers were found tolerant of the acid solutions and high levels of aluminum. Species differed in their relative tolerance to H/sup +/ and Al/sup 3/ ions. Western hemlock seedling growth was superior to Douglas-fir in the acidified soils and forest floor media, while Ca(OH)/sub 2/ amendment favored Douglas-fir. The marginal increase in western hemlock growth in N + P treated soils was highest in acidified soils. Western hemlock exhibited an ability to absorb nutrients in the presence of excess solution H/sup +/ ions, maintain growth with low tissue requirements of Ca and Mg, and accumulate high levels of aluminum in its roots and foliage without major adverse effect. These attributes are considered to make western hemlock the most acid and Al-tolerant of the four Pacific Northwest forest species studied. Western redcedar was second in acid tolerance to western hemlock. This species' ability to accumulate Ca minimized Al absorption and H/sup +/ damage to its roots.« less

Prey suitability and phenology of Leucopis spp. (Diptera: Chamaemyiidae) associated with hemlock woolly adelgid (Hemiptera: Adelgidae) in the Pacific Northwest.

PubMed

Grubin, Sarah M; Ross, Darrell W; Wallin, Kimberly F

2011-12-01

Leucopis spp. (Diptera: Chamaemyiidae) from the Pacific Northwest previously were identified as potential biological control agents for the hemlock woolly adelgid, Adelges tsugae Annand (Hemiptera: Adelgidae), in the eastern United States. We collected Leucopis spp. larvae from A. tsugae infested western hemlocks in Oregon and Washington and reared them on an unidentified Pineus spp., Pineus strobi (Hartig), Adelges cooleyi (Gillette), Adelges piceae (Ratzeburg), and A. tsugae in three no-choice tests. Leucopis spp. survival on A. tsugae was significantly higher than on A. piceae during the 2010 progrediens generation test and significantly higher than on P. strobi and A. cooleyi during the 2010 sistens generation test. However, across all three tests, some larvae completed development to adult on all four of the alternative adelgid species. Larvae that survived to the adult stage were identified as Leucopis argenticollis Zetterstedt and Leucopis piniperda Malloch. These results suggest that populations of L. argenticollis and L. piniperda in the Pacific Northwest may not be specific to A. tsugae. We also studied the phenology of Leucopis spp. on fourteen A. tsugae infested western hemlock trees in Oregon and Washington over a period of 14 mo. Leucopis spp. larvae were collected year-round, but highest densities coincided with the presence of progrediens and sistens eggs and adults of A. tsugae. There was a positive correlation between Leucopis spp. and A. tsugae abundance.

FEEDING RATES OF THE MUD SHRIMP UPOGEBIA PUGETTENSIS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR ESTUARINE PHYTOPLANKTON ABUNDANCE

EPA Science Inventory

The burrowing shrimp Upogebia pugettensis is an abundant inhabitant of Pacific Northwest bays and estuaries where it lives commensally with the clam Cryptomya californica. Suspension-feeding activities of the shrimp and its commensal clam, as well as particle settlement within t...

Sea Level Affecting Marshes Model (SLAMM)‐New Functionality for Predicting Changes in Distribution of Submerged Aquatic Vegetation in Response to Sea Level Rise.Version 1.0

EPA Science Inventory

Submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) is an ecologically important habitat world-wide. In Pacific Northwest (PNW) estuaries, SAV in the lower intertidal and shallow subtidal habitats are dominated by the native seagrass, Zostera marina also referred to as submerged aquatic vegetati...

ENHANCED ORGANIC MATTER REMINERALIZATION AND NUTRIENT TURNOVER BY BURROWING SHRIMP POPULATIONS IN YAQUINA BAY, OR

EPA Science Inventory

Burrowing thalassinid shrimp are major ecological components of Pacific Northwest (PNW) estuaries and where they structure large areas of intertidal and shallow subtidal habitat. These crustaceans occur in dense beds (>250 m-2) and dig extensive burrow systems (>1 m) controlling ...

PARTICLE REMOVAL RATES BY THE MUD SHRIMP UPOGEBIA PUGETTENSIS, ITS BURROW, AND A COMMENSAL CLAM: EFFECTS ON ESTUARINE PHYTOPLANKTON ABUNDANCE

EPA Science Inventory

The burrowing shrimp Upogebia pugettensis is an abundant intertidal inhabitant of Pacific Northwest bays and estuaries where it lives commensally with the bivalve Cryptomya californica. Suspension-feeding activities by the shrimp and by its commensal clam, as well as particle se...

Variable primary producer responses to nutrient and temperature manipulations in mesocosms: temperature usually trumps nutrient effects

EPA Science Inventory

Mesocosm experiments have been used to evaluate the impacts of nutrient loading on estuarine plant communities in order to develop nutrient response relationships. Mesocosm eutrophication studies tend to focus on long residence time systems. In the Pacific Northwest, many estuari...

GREEN CRAB (CARCINUS MAENAS LINNAEUS) CONSUMPTION RATES ON AND PREY PREFERENCES AMONG FOUR BIVALVE PREY SPECIES

EPA Science Inventory

The European green crab, Carcinus maenas, is a recent invader to Pacific Northwest (PNW) estuaries with a voracious appetite, especially for bivalves. To assess their potential impact, we estimated green crab consumption rates on four PNW bivalve species, Yaquina oyster (Ostrea ...

High plant diversity in Oregon tidal wetlands and multiple threats to its persistence

EPA Science Inventory

Tidal wetlands in the Pacific Northwest occur in coastal estuaries differing widely in size, relative freshwater inputs, and degree of watershed development. To better understand patterns of plant diversity in tidal wetlands across the region and potential climate change effects ...

The distribution of tree roots in Douglas-fir forests in the Pacific Northwest in relation to depth, space, coarse organic matter and mineral fragments.

Treesearch

Constance A. Harrington; Scott M. Holub; Cici Bauer; E. Ashley Steel

2017-01-01

This study evaluated relationships between site or tree characteristics and below-ground materials in Douglas-fir forests of the Pacific Northwest. We core-sampled living roots, dead organic matter, and mineral fragments at three soil depths on a 300-sample grid at nine forested sites in western Washington and Oregon resulting in approximately 7200 samples. We explored...

Initial response of soil carbon and nitrogen to harvest intensity and competing vegetation control in douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) plantations of the Pacific Northwest

Treesearch

Robert A. Slesak; Stephen H. Schoenholtz; Timothy B. Harrington; Nathan A. Meehan

2011-01-01

We assessed the effect of harvest type (bole-only or whole-tree) and vegetation control treatments (initial or annual application of herbicide) on soil C and N at two contrasting sites in the Pacific Northwest. Pretreatment (2003) and posttreatment (2005) soil samples were collected by depth to 60 cm, and a stratified sampling approach based on four surface conditions...

James Dwight Dana and John Strong Newberry in the US Pacific Northwest: The roots of American fluvialism

USGS Publications Warehouse

O'Connor, Jim E.

2018-01-01

Recognition of the power of rivers to carve landscapes transformed geology and geomorphology in the late nineteenth century. Wide acceptance of this concept—then known as “fluvialism”—owes to many factors and people, several associated with exploration of western North America. Especially famous are the federal geographic and geologic surveys of the US Southwest with John Wesley Powell and Grove Karl Gilbert, which produced key insights regarding river processes. Yet earlier and less-known surveys also engaged young geologists embarking on tremendously influential careers, particularly the 1838–1842 US Exploring Expedition with James Dwight Dana and the 1853–1855 railroad surveys including John Strong Newberry. Informed but little constrained by European and British perspectives on landscape formation, Dana and Newberry built compelling cases for the erosive power of rivers, largely from observations in the US Pacific Northwest. They seeded the insights of the later southwestern surveys, Dana by his writings and station at Yale and his hugely influential Manual of Geology, published in 1863, and Newberry by becoming the first geologist to explore the dramatic river-carved canyons of the Southwest and then a forceful proponent of the federal surveys spotlighting the erosional landscapes. Newberry also gave Gilbert his start as a geologist. Although Dana and Newberry are renowned early American geologists, their geomorphic contributions were overshadowed by the works of Powell, Gilbert, and William Morris Davis. Yet Dana and Newberry were the first ardent American proponents of fluvialism, providing strong roots that in just a few decades transformed western geology, roots nourished in large measure by the geologically fertile landscapes of the US Pacific Northwest.

Exploring Pacific Northwest ecosystem resilience: packaging climate change science for federal managers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bachelet, D. M.

2014-12-01

Climate change is projected to jeopardize ecosystems in the Pacific Northwest. Managing ecosystems for future resilience requires collaboration, innovation and communication. The abundance of data and documents describing the uncertainty around both climate change projections and impacts has become challenging to managers who have little funding and limited time to digest and incorporate these materials into planning and implementation documents. We worked with US Forest Service and BLM managers to help them develop vulnerability assessments and identify on-the-ground strategies to address climate change challenges on the federal lands in northwest Oregon (Siuslaw, Willamette and Mt. Hood National Forests; Eugene and Salem BLM Districts). We held workshops to promote dialogue about climate change, which were particularly effective in fostering discussions between the managers who often do not have the time to share their knowledge and compare experiences across administrative boundaries. We used the Adaptation for Conservation Targets (ACT) framework to identify measurable management objectives and rapidly assess local vulnerabilities. We used databasin.org to centralize usable information, including state-of-the-art CMIP5 climate projections, for the mandated assessments of vulnerability and resilience. We introduced participants to a decision support framework providing opportunities to develop more effective adaptation strategies. We built a special web page to hold the information gathered at the workshops and provide easy access to climate change information. We are now working with several Landscape Conservation Cooperatives (LCCs) to design gateways - conservation atlases - to their relevant data repositories on databasin.org and working with them to develop web tools that can provide usable information for their own vulnerability assessments.

Linking interannual variability in shelf bottom water properties to the California Undercurrent and local processes in the Pacific Northwest

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stone, H. B.; Banas, N. S.; Hickey, B. M.; MacCready, P.

2016-02-01

The Pacific Northwest coast is an unusually productive area with a strong river influence and highly variable upwelling-favorable and downwelling-favorable winds, but recent trends in hypoxia and ocean acidification in this region are troubling to both scientists and the general public. A new ROMS hindcast model of this region makes possible a study of interannual variability. This study of the interannual temperature and salinity variability on the Pacific Northwest coast is conducted using a coastal hindcast model (43°N - 50°N) spanning 2002-2009 from the University of Washington Coastal Modeling Group, with a resolution of 1.5 km over the shelf and slope. Analysis of hindcast model results was used to assess the relative importance of source water variability, including the poleward California Undercurrent, local and remote wind forcing, winter wind-driven mixing, and river influence in explaining the interannual variations in the shelf bottom layer (40 - 80 m depth, 10 m thick) and over the slope (150 - 250 m depth, <100 km from shelf break) at each latitude within the model domain. Characterized through tracking of the fraction of Pacific Equatorial Water (PEW) relative to Pacific Subarctic Upper Water (PSUW) present on the slope, slope water properties at all latitudes varied little throughout the time series, with the largest variability due to patterns of large north-south advection of water masses over the slope. Over the time series, the standard deviation of slope temperature was 0.09 ˚C, while slope salinity standard deviation was 0.02 psu. Results suggest that shelf bottom water interannual variability is not driven primarily by interannual variability in slope water as shelf bottom water temperature and salinity vary nearly 10 times more than those over the slope. Instead, interannual variability in shelf bottom water properties is likely driven by other processes, such as local and remote wind forcing, and winter wind-driven mixing. The relative

Species profiles: Life histories and environmental requirements of coastal fishes and invertebrates (Pacific Northwest)--ghost and blue mud shrimp

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hornig, S.; Sterling, A.; Smith, Styles

1989-01-01

Geographic range: The ghost shrimp is found in intertidal areas along the west coast of North America from Mutiny Bay, Alaska, to the mouth of the Tijuana River, San Diego County, California; MacGinitie (1934) and Ricketts and Calvin (1968) reported finding specimens as far south as El Estuario de Punto Banda, Baja California Norte, Mexico. The blue mud shrimp is found from southeastern Alaska to San Quentin Bay (Bahia de San Quentin) in Baja California Norte. The general distribution of the two species in the Pacific Northwest is identical (Figure 3).

Pacific Northwest Laboratory annual report for 1993 to the DOE Office of Energy Research. Part 2: Environmental sciences

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

1994-04-01

This 1993 Annual Report from Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL) to the US DOE describes research in environment and health conducted during fiscal year (FY) 1993. The report is divided into four parts, each in a separate volume. This part, Volume 2, covers Environmental Sciences. The research is directed toward developing a fundamental understanding of subsurface and terrestrial systems as a basis for both managing these critical resources and addressing environmental problems such as environmental restoration and global change. There are sections on Subsurface Science, Terrestrial Science, Technology Transfer, Interactions with Educational Institutions, and Laboratory Directed Research and Development.

The aquatic conservation strategy of the Northwest Forest Plan.

Treesearch

Gordon H. Reeves; Jack E. Williams; Kelly M. Burnett; Kirsten Gallo

2006-01-01

Implemented in 1994, the Aquatic Conservation Strategy of the Northwest Forest Plan was designed to restore and maintain ecological processes for aquatic and riparian area conservation on federal lands in the western portion of the Pacific Northwest. We used decision support models to quantitatively evaluate changes in the condition of selected watersheds. In the...

Oxygen isotope records of Holocene climate variability in the Pacific Northwest

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Steinman, Byron A.; Pompeani, David P.; Abbott, Mark B.; Ortiz, Joseph D.; Stansell, Nathan D.; Finkenbinder, Matthew S.; Mihindukulasooriya, Lorita N.; Hillman, Aubrey L.

2016-06-01

Oxygen isotope (δ18O) measurements of authigenic carbonate from Cleland Lake (southeastern British Columbia), Paradise Lake (central British Columbia), and Lime Lake (eastern Washington) provide a ∼9000 year Holocene record of precipitation-evaporation balance variations in the Pacific Northwest. Both Cleland Lake and Paradise Lake are small, surficially closed-basin systems with no active inflows or outflows. Lime Lake is surficially open with a seasonally active overflow. Water isotope values from Cleland and Paradise plot along the local evaporation line, indicating that precipitation-evaporation balance is a strong influence on lake hydrology. In contrast, Lime Lake water isotope values plot on the local meteoric water line, signifying minimal influence by evaporation. To infer past hydrologic balance variations at a high temporal resolution, we sampled the Cleland, Paradise, and Lime Lake sediment cores at 1-60 mm intervals (∼3-33 years per sample on average) and measured the isotopic composition of fine-grained (<63 μm) authigenic CaCO3 in each sample. Negative δ18O values, which indicate wetter conditions in closed-basin lakes, occur in Cleland Lake sediment from 7600 to 2200 years before present (yr BP), and are followed by more positive δ18O values, which suggest drier conditions, after 2200 yr BP. Highly negative δ18O values in the Cleland Lake record centered on ∼2400 yr BP suggest that lake levels were high (and that the lake may have been overflowing) at this time as a result of a substantially wetter climate. Similarly, Paradise Lake sediment δ18O values are relatively low from 7600 to 4000 yr BP and increase from ∼4000 to 3000 yr BP and from ∼2000 yr BP to present, indicating that climate became drier from the middle through the late Holocene. The δ18O record from Lime Lake, which principally reflects changes in the isotopic composition of precipitation, exhibits less variability than the closed-basin lake records and follows a

The Pacific Northwest's Climate Impacts Group: Climate Science in the Public Interest

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mantua, N.; Snover, A.

2006-12-01

Since its inception in 1995, the University of Washington's Climate Impacts Group (CIG) (funded under NOAA's Regional Integrated Science and Assessments (RISA) Program) has become the leader in exploring the impacts of climate variability and climate change on natural and human systems in the U.S. Pacific Northwest (PNW), specifically climate impacts on water, forest, fish and coastal resource systems. The CIG's research provides PNW planners, decision makers, resource managers, local media, and the general public with valuable knowledge of ways in which the region's key natural resources are vulnerable to changes in climate, and how this vulnerability can be reduced. The CIG engages in climate science in the public interest, conducting original research on the causes and consequences of climate variability and change for the PNW and developing forecasts and decision support tools to support the use of this information in federal, state, local, tribal, and private sector resource management decisions. The CIG's focus on the intersection of climate science and public policy has placed the CIG nationally at the forefront of regional climate impacts assessment and integrated analysis.

3D Modeling of Strong Ground Motion in the Pacific Northwest From Large Earthquakes in the Cascadia Subduction Zone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Olsen, K. B.; Geisselmeyer, A.; Stephenson, W. J.; Mai, P. M.

2007-12-01

The Cascadia subduction zone in the Pacific Northwest, USA, generates Great (megathrust) earthquakes with a recurrence period of about 500 years, most recently the M~9 event on January 26, 1700. Since no earthquake of such magnitude has occurred in the Pacific Northwest since the deployment of strong ground motion instruments, a large uncertainty is associated with the ground motions expected from such event. To decrease this uncertainty, we have carried out the first 3D simulations of megathrust earthquakes (Mw8.5 and Mw9.0) rupturing along the Cascadia subduction zone. The simulations were carried out in a recently developed 3D velocity model of the region of dimensions 1050 km by 550 km, discretized into 2 billion 250 m3 cubes with a minimum S-wave velocity of 625 m/s. The model includes the subduction slab, accretionary sediments, local sedimentary basins, and the ocean layer. About 6 minutes of wave propagation for each scenario consumed about 24 Wall-clock hours using a parallel fourth-order finite-difference method with 1600 processors on the San Diego Supercomputer Center Datastar supercomputer. The source descriptions for the Mw9.0 scenarios were designed by mapping the inversion results for the December 26, 2004 M9+ Sumatra-Andaman Islands earthquake (Ji, 2006) onto a 950 km by 150 km large rupture for the Pacific Northwest model. Simulations were carried out for hypocenters located toward the northern and southern ends of the subduction zone. In addition, we simulated two M8.5 events with a source area of 275 km by 150 km located in the northern and central parts of the model area. The sources for the M8.5 events were generated using the pseudo-dynamic model by Guatteri et al. (2004). All sources used spatially-variable slip, rise time and rupture velocity. Three major metropolitan areas are located in the model region, namely Seattle (3 million+ people), Vancouver (2 million+ people), and Portland (2 million+ people), all located above sedimentary

Barberry as alternate host is important for Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici, but not for Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici in the U.S. Pacific Northwest

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Common barberry (Berberis vulgaris) has been known to serve as an alternate host for the wheat stem rust pathogen, Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici (Pgt), under natural conditions in the U. S. Pacific Northwest for a long time. The plant has been recently shown to be infected by basidiospores of th...

A Method to Identify Estuarine Water Quality Exceedances Associated with Ocean Conditions

EPA Science Inventory

Wind driven coastal upwelling along the Pacific Northwest Coast of the US results in oceanic water that may be periodically entrained into adjacent estuaries and which possess high nutrients and low dissolved oxygen (DO). Measurement of water quality indicators during these upwe...

Dwarf eelgrass, Zostera japonica: a malevolent, benevolent, or benign invasive ecosystem engineer?

EPA Science Inventory

Dwarf eelgrass, Zostera japonica, is an introduced ecosystem engineering species first reported on the US west coast in 1957. In some US Pacific Northwest estuaries its areal coverage now exceeds that of the native eelgrass species, Zostera marina. Natural resource management’s...

ESTIMATING DENSITIES OF ESTUARINE EELGRASS AND BENTHIC MACROALGAE VIA AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY

EPA Science Inventory

The goal of this research was to distinguish meadows of native eelgrass (Zostera marina L.) from adjacent beds of benthic green macroalgae in the exposed intertidal zone of Pacific Northwest estuaries, using false-color near-infrared aerial photography. Aerial photographs of Yaq...

The National assessment of shoreline shange—A GIS compilation of vector shorelines and associated shoreline change data for the Pacific Northwest coast

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kratzmann, Meredith G.; Himmelstoss, Emily A.; Ruggiero, Peter; Thieler, E. Robert; Reid, David

2013-01-01

Sandy ocean beaches are a popular recreational destination and are often surrounded by communities that consist of valuable real estate. Development along sandy coastal areas is increasing despite the fact that coastal infrastructure may be repeatedly subjected to flooding and erosion. As a result, the demand for accurate information regarding past and present shoreline changes is increasing. Investigators with the U.S. Geological Survey's National Assessment of Shoreline Change Project have compiled a comprehensive database of digital vector shorelines and rates of shoreline change for the Pacific Northwest coast including the states of Washington and Oregon. No widely accepted standard for analyzing shoreline change currently exists. Current measurement and methods for calculating rates of change vary from study to study, precluding the combination of study results into statewide or regional assessments. The impetus behind the national assessment was to develop a standardized method that is consistent from coast to coast for measuring changes in shoreline position. The goal was to facilitate the process of periodically and systematically updating the measurements in an internally consistent manner. A detailed report on shoreline change for the Pacific Northwest coast that contains a discussion of the data presented here is available and cited in the Geospatial Data section of this report.

Sensitivity of Rhizoctonia isolates from the Inland Pacific Northwest of the United States to phenazine-1-carboxylic acid and biological control by phenazine-producing Pseudomonas spp

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Rhizoctonia solani AG-8, AG-2-1, and R. oryzae, causal agents of Rhizoctonia root rot and bare patch, are ubiquitous in cereal-based cropping systems of the Columbia Plateau of the Inland Pacific Northwest, yet the severity of this disease differs throughout the region. R. solani AG-8 is most common...

Use of airborne near-infrared LiDAR for determining channel cross-section characteristics and monitoring aquatic habitat in Pacific Northwest rivers: A preliminary analysis [Chapter 6

Treesearch

Russell N. Faux; John M. Buffington; M. German Whitley; Steve H. Lanigan; Brett B. Roper

2009-01-01

Aquatic habitat monitoring is being conducted by numerous organizations in many parts of the Pacific Northwest to document physical and biological conditions of stream reaches as part of legal- and policy-mandated environmental assessments. Remote sensing using discrete-return, near-infrared, airborne LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) and high-resolution digital...

Northwest Forest Plan: outcomes and lessons learned from the Northwest economic adjustment initiative: Proceedings of a forum; 1997 July 29-30; Portland, OR.

Treesearch

Harriet H. Christensen; Terry L. Raettig; Paul Sommers; [tech. eds.].

1999-01-01

This monograph is an examination of the experience in the Pacific Northwest implementing the Northwest Forest Plan, Economic Adjustment Initiative (NWEAI). First, a brief description of the NWEAI background and framework, and a socioeconomic overview of the region prior to the NWEAI provide the setting. Next, accounts of the NWEAI experience in each of the three states...