The more clearly we can focus our attention on the wonders and realities of the universe about us, the less taste we shall have for destruction. - Rachel Carson
Current Projects
Northern Waterthrush distribution, occupancy, habitat associations, and vocal distinctiveness in the Oregon Cascades population- The Northern Waterthrush (Parkesia noveboracensis; NOWA) is an extremely rare and local breeding bird of Oregon's southern Cascades. First reported in 1977, the species Oregon range seems primarily comprised of a single, isolated population restricted to montane riparian and wetland habitats of the south-central Cascades, biogeographically disjunct from the species’ core breeding range across boreal North America. Despite consistent informal reports of NOWA in the region for nearly 50 years, there have never been strategic efforts to formally estimate and describe the species breeding range, occupancy, or habitat, nor has an active nest ever been described. The waterthrush is currently listed as a sensitive species by the U.S. Forest Service Region 6. The rarity and isolation of Oregon NOWA 1) provide significant socioeconomic value to birding recreation and tourism in the state and 2) may represent phylogenetic diversity and local adaptations of conservation value to the species. Currently there is insufficient data to assess distribution, population trends, and breeding habitat as well as population responses to active habitat management, changing wildfire dynamics, and drought and Climate Change in the southern Cascades. In cooperation with the Deschutes National Forest in 2023, we are working to 1) design and implement a range-wide survey protocol and monitoring program of NOWA in Oregon’s southern Cascades in partnership with US Forest Service, 2) conduct nest searching and describe nest habitat/site characteristics, and 3) assess vocal distinctiveness of the Oregon NOWA population relative to populations in core boreal breeding range.
Harlequin Duck distribution, brood rearing, and drought impacts - The Willamette Basin encompasses the southern-most breeding populations of Harlequin Duck (Histrionicus histrionicus, HADU) in the Pacific Northwest where they HADU breed on fast-flowing mountain streams and rivers and winter in marine coastal habitats. Surveys by the US Forest Service since 1993 suggest that HADU has experienced range contraction of over 40Km in the Oregon Cascades. They are likely threatened by habitat loss and degradation throughout their annual range, especially water quality decline and hydrological disturbance from land use and pollution, however exact causes of population declines are unknown. Harlequin Duck is a Bureau Sensitive (BS) Species and prioritized in Northwest Oregon District as a priority BS species. It is also listed as an Oregon Conservation Strategy Species. North American Bird Conservation Initiative (NABCI) and US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Migratory Bird Program Bird Conservation Committee (MBP BCC) warn that urgent action is needed before HADU becomes endangered. Despite their priority conservation status, detailed information that could guide conservation and management is severely limited for Oregon populations. The Bureau is required to consider the impact of management actions on sensitive species and water resources on all lands, however without complete data on species such as HADU, this cannot be effectively accomplished. Our objectives are to make robust model estimates of species distribution, occupancy, brood rearing habitat requirements, demographic trends, and movement ecology. Additional objectives include determining the impacts of snowpack and snowmelt driven drought, wildfire, and recreational activity on survival and reproduction.
Assessing snowpack dynamics and conifer forest phenology through ground-based remote sensing - The Earth’s surface is experiencing unprecedented warming. However, mountain ecosystems are experiencing greater rates of change globally. Snowmelt fed watersheds in the western United States have experienced up to 80% snowpack declines since 1950. Changing patterns of snowpack accumulation and ablation due to warmer winter temperatures and more winter precipitation falling as rain is driving reductions in spring snowpack and earlier snowmelt, altering hydrological systems, forest ecology, and fire regimes. Drought impacts plant phenology, the timing of life cycle events, and stressed trees may have limited growth, cone production, and increased mortality. Ultimately, snowpack-driven drought can impact forest community composition including species’ elevational expansion and encroachment. We commonly use satellite-based remote sensing to assess snow cover and vegetation phenology, however, these data products often have limited temporal and special resolution to analyze ecological processes and dynamics such as within-stand timing of individual species phenology relative to snowmelt timing. Ground-based remote sensing can provide daily, stand-level imagery to assess vegetation phenology and snowpack dynamics. The southern Cascades of Oregon comprise the headwaters of large watersheds including the Klamath, Rogue, Deschutes, and Santiam Rivers and have experienced significant declines in spring snowpack, increasing drought, and greater incidence, size, and severity of wildfires. NASA snow cover and vegetation index data products through MODIS (or Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) instruments on the Terra and Aqua satellites are commonly used to assess snowmelt and vegetation phenology. We are using timelapse cameras that range from 1500m to 3000m, sample north, south, east and west aspects, and multiple conifer forest community types to perform ground-based remote sensing across elevational-ecological gradients in the southern Oregon Cascades to assess tree phenology and snowpack dynamics, then upscale derived data products with NASA’s MODIS products. This project is funded by the NASA Oregon Spage Grant Consortium.
Granivore community ecology and foraging behavior along a WUI - Seed-eating animals play vital ecological roles. Foraging strategies can be predatory or mutualistic and communities can vary with vegetation, season, and anthropogenic development. We are examining seed-eating community ecology and associations with vegetation, season, and distance to the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) using experimental habitat patches comprised of food boxes paired with trail cameras. In February 2024, we detected 6 mammal and 6 bird species foraging. The community included predatory, caching and scatter-hoarding species. Giving-up-density (GUD), the daily remaining seed weight, a metric commonly used to assess time spent foraging in a habitat patch and perceived predation risk increased with distance from WUI. This may be due to a greater abundance of granivores closer to human settlement, especially species that can consume large amounts of seed in a short period such as mule deer, racoon, and western grey squirrel and have low predation risk.
Wintering range of western Yellow Railsusing stable isotopes - In collaboration with the Western Yellow Rail Working Group, and Dr. Chris Butler at Texas A&M, we are using stable feather isotopes to assess the wintering range of Yellow Rails breeding in the upper Klamath Basin of southern Oregon. Although there have been scattered reports of Yellow Rails in the San Francisco Bay and other regions of the central and southern California coast over the past 150 years, the specific wintering grounds of Oregon's breeding population has never been documented. In summer 2022, we collected feathers from over a dozen individuals to analyze carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and sulpher isotopes which will allow us to assess wintering latitude and habitat use in terms of fresh vs. salt water wetlands. We were also able to collaborate with the San Diego Natural History Museum to include samples from a Yellow Rail found this winter 2022 in San Diego Bay region, which should reveal its breeding latitude.
Past Projects
Avian community response to riparian restoration in the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument 2021-2023 - The Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument (CSNM), the first National Park unit established to protect biodiviersity specifically, is planning and implementing riparian and aquatic restoration using Beaver Dam Analogs and large woody structure techniques that harness natural hydrological and ecological processes. Riparian habitat restoration is likely to have significant impacts on avian communities. We surveyed planned restoration sites within CSNM in 2022 using variable-radius point counts to establish baseline diversity and relative abundance of avian communities. I detected 65 total species across all sites and surveys. The most commonly detected species within a 75m radius were Hermit Warbler, Nashville Warbler, Oregon Junco, Black-headed Grosbeak, and Mountain Chickadee. Foliage insectivores and omnivores were the most abundant foraging guilds, Canopy nesters and open cup nesters were the most abundant nest layer and nest type guilds respectively. We are currently planning continued and expanded research for 2023. (Photo: Frode Jacobsen)
Meso and Apex carnivores on Oregon Tech campus 2022- We are using trail cameras to document presence, diversity, occupancy, phenology, species interactions, and habitat associations of mesocarnivores and apex carnivores, as well as small mammals and other species on the Oregon Tech campus in Klamath Falls, OR. This project involves a large, devoted team of undergraduate research students to maintain cameras, process and analyze imagery, and present results. We have support from the Fremont-Winema National Forest who provided cameras, batteries, and SD cards,
Wildfire aviation response and wildfire duration - 2018-2020 - McKenna Armantrout, ENV Senior, and partners at the Washington Department of Natural Resources Wildfire Division are analyzing associations of spatial environmental factors and aviation response with wildfire duration.
Phenological synchrony of bird migration in a rare oak woodland - 2014-2019 - My students and I studied the phenological synchrony of resident and migratory bird movements with the flowering and leaf phenophases of Oregon white oak in a rare oak woodland on the west side of upper Klamath Lake. This project was integrated into my Ornithology class (BIO386) and was designed to be a long-term, small scale study integrating research and education for undergraduates.
Natural Resource Career Pathways - 2020 - In partnership with Ore-Cal RC&D and the NRCS, ENV senior Shannon Keane studied pathways from high school to college to agancy careers in natural resource in southern Oregon and Northern California. Our goal was to address the widespread problems of recruitment, retention and diversity in natural resource agency hiring, especially in rural areas and the desire to create workforce initiatives that create pathways for local youth to find good jobs in their local communities. Update: Shannon was just accepted into the Masters
Chilling and Forcing Unit Effects on the Growth Phenology of Ponderosa Pine - 2018-2019 - In cooperation with Connie Harrington at the USFS Pacific Northwest Research Station our lab assessed experiments on the impacts of different temperature regimes on growth phenology of tree species to understand the potential impacts of climate change on forest in the Pacific Northwest.
Climate Change Scenario Planning for Whitebark Pine and American Pika - 2015-2017 - project jointly funded and undertaken by the Klamath, Upper Columbia Basin, and Sierra Nevada National Park Service Inventory & Monitoring Networks. Current and projected climatic change impacts on ecosystems are threatening montane and subalpine species in National Parks and protected areas throughout the western U.S., including those within the Klamath, Upper Columbia Basin, and Sierra Nevada regions. The goal of this project was to set foundations for future scenario planning for these high elevation species.
American dipper distribution and occupancy at Crater Lake National Park - 2015 - ENV seniors Remy Williams and Thomas Wells surveyed Crater Lake NP's streams for American Dippers (Cinclus mexicanus), a sensitive stream obligate species which provides a valuable biological indicator of stream health as they primarily feed on cold freshwater macroinvertebrates. Declining snow pack and drought in the southern Cascades threaten the population persistence of dippers in arid regions of the species' range.
Black-backed Woodpecker Ecology & Distribution - 2013-2015 - I have had several students do projects on Black-backed Woodpeckers in the region. In 2015, ENV senior Alyssa Gunning studied the post-fire occupancy of BBWO in association with fire severity, forest type and the presence of wood-boring beetle species following the National Creek Fire Complex within Crater Lake National Park. A talk we presented at the 2017 Northwestern Scientific Association meeting in Ashland, OR can be viewed here. In 2013, ENV senior Andrew Robatcek used eBird data and annual aerial MPB survey data for his sophomore project to assess relationships of BBWO with MPB disturbance across Oregon. A poster we presented at the 2014 AOU conference in Estes Park, CO which included data collected by an undergraduate from Southern Oregon University, and surveys conducted by the Klamath Bird Observatory can be found here.
Phenological synchrony of wocus and wocus beetles - 2013-2014 - Tosha Bunnell, a senior in Environmental Sciences, studied the phenological snychrony of the Wocus Lily (Nuphar luteum) and its obligate herbivore pest, the Wocus beetle (Galerucella nymphaeae). Wocus, also called the yellow pond lilly is an iconic aquatic plant of wetlands and lakes in the upper Klamath Basin.
Diversity and phenology of butterflies at Crater Lake National Park -2013 - Chelsea Long, a post baccalaureate in ENV, studied the temporal and spatial distribution of butterflies at Crater Lake in relationship to wildfire and mountain pine beetle disturbance.
Bird migration and wetland management in Klamath Basin IBAs - 2013 - A team of students surveyed the lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge in northern California tobetter understand birds and bird habitat within Important Bird Areas (IBA) of the upper Klamath Basin.