A Connecting Thread

The College of Forestry has had a number of collaborative research programs connected by an intellectual thread. As more is learned and as forest management evolves, new questions open up, leading to new areas of research. In the 1980s, the Forest-Intensive Research (FIR) Program dealt with forest regeneration in harsh conditions. Work on regeneration issues continued in the COPE Program, which is ending in 1998, but extended to riparian areas. A new program in 1997, the Cooperative Forest Ecosystem Research (CFER) program is now extending that research by conducting long-term ecosystem-based research that will facilitate management of forest ecosystems on public land.

CFER cooperators include the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM's) Oregon State Office, the US Geological Survey's (USGS's) Biological Resources Division's Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center (FRESC), the Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF), and OSU's Colleges of Forestry and Agricultural Sciences. Within the BLM and ODF, many contact people facilitate coordination and implementation of research. In addition, BLM has committed roughly half of one staff member's time specifically to acting as liaison with the program.

To narrow the CFER program's initial research focus, in 1997 Jeff Smith (then of Forest Science), Bob Gresswell (Fisheries and Wildlife), and John Hayes (Forest Science) wrote a problem analysis, identifying research areas of interest and information needed to implement the Northwest Forest Plan on BLM land; a record of decision (ROD) for the plan imposed specific requirements on BLM that required a better knowledge of ecosystem functions. The information needed is broad; the problem analysis narrowed the scope of the program but remained quite broad to allow the new program to take shape according to the specific skills researchers brought to bear.

BLM had three initial areas of concern:

1) management of riparian areas, specifically for aquatic conservation, including development of buffersÑhow big should buffers be, and what management (if any) could be done in the buffers?

2) biodiversity of young stands and management for such diversityÑthe ROD carries specific constraints, but there are options within those constraints that must be considered, and the ecological ramifications of some approaches remain unclear.

3) management for species of special concernÑspecies were identified in the ROD for which little information was as yet available.

 The CFER program took on the task of addressing these concerns. Although these issues as they relate specifically to the ROD are not concerns for the ODF, that agency is proposing new management strategies for similar goals and has joined the cooperative to gain the same kinds of information.

The research team is led by six principal investigators: John Hayes (Forest Science; also coordinator for the program), wildlife ecologist; Dave Hibbs (Forest Science), plant ecologist; Dan Edge (Fisheries and Wildlife), wildlife ecologist; John Tappeiner (FRESC), silviculturist; Ed Starkey (FRESC), wildlife ecologist; and Bob Gresswell (FRESC), aquatic ecologist.

Another important team member is information exchange specialist Betsy Littlefield (Forest Science). The cooperative program is putting a strong emphasis on information exchange. Not only do the researchers want to get information to managers promptly, they want a two-way exchange to ensure that they stay in touch with agency needs. The exchange has occurred in the form of field tours, symposia, and small group meetings. A Web site is being developed, as are a newsletter, a video on biodiversity in young forests, and a seminar series. This emphasis on information exchange reflects the program's research philosophy. The integrated interdisciplinary research is intended to be sensitive to the short-term needs of the cooperators within a long-term vision.

The research being done at present is all field oriented. (Summer 1998 was the program's first field season.) Much of the work is observational, especially studies concerned with old-growth. At the same time, a large experimental study is being planned in southwestern Oregon concerning manipulation of stand structure and the responses of plant and animal populations. That project also takes advantage of several experimental stands established in the Tillamook area 4-5 years ago under the COPE program and a series of plots established on BLM lands. More experimentation may be possible on species responses in riparian areas. Possibilities include examining different responses to the presence of hardwoods versus conifers in streams, and considering differences resulting from differences in thinning densities.

The geographic area covered by the CFER program is huge. At that landscape level, replication of observations is difficult. Nevertheless, the influence of landscape patterns on animal populations presents important management issues. The CFER program is tackling these issues in its studies. One component of this work is looking at the amphibians present in headwater streams, and how they are affected by landscape structure. The researchers are considering the landscape in terms of the management history of the basins, measuring characteristics of the area in a variety of ways so that they can tease apart the factors responsible for determining the presence and abundance of various species. In short, they start with simplified variables and coarse differences, and as they learn more they will move on to more complexity.

As the program develops, it is becoming increasingly integrated. Three primary focus areas are planned for 1999:

1) coarse woody debris in riparian ecosystemsÑPast management of riparian areas was driven in part by concerns over its effect on sedimentation and water temperature. More recently woody debris has been recognized as being important in the ways it modifies stream structure and creates spawning and rearing habitat for salmonids. Researchers are looking at how a stand's condition and characteristics influence its potential to produce such debris, how the wood gets into the stream, and what it does once there. Answering the questions requires knowledge about silviculture (stand structure and management), as well as knowledge about the role of wildlife in changing structure (for instance, beaver who cut trees and deposit wood into streams) and aquatic ecology (how coarse woody debris affects fish and invertebrates). Thus the mix of scientists in the program is well suited to the research.

2) stand management and biotic responses to management of stand structureÑResearchers are seeking to answer numerous questions: How does management influence structure? How did old-growth originally develop? How do plant species respond to different structural characteristics? How do animal populations respond to structure and to management activity?

3) landscape structureÑThere is a mix of theories about how the differences at the landscape scale affect vertebrates, and how this relates to fragmentation. However, because of the challenges of addressing questions at this scale, only a limited amount of data is available. Researchers are starting by considering how patterns vary at that scale for fish and amphibians.

 The integration of CFER research is necessary because many resource-related problems are complex and interdisciplinary. Hayes notes that although as a wildlife researcher he might be able to draw up a workable research plan, by working closely with plant ecologists, silviculturists, and aquatic biologists, he can better address the issues as integrated research problems. By joining forces, the team gains a synergy, and the end product exceeds what the individuals could have accomplished separately.

According to Hayes, unless we pursue this kind of interdisciplinary work, we will simply be unable to address many of the big questions that influence the future of forestry in the region.
 
 

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