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Mountain
meadows — a small portion of the largely forested western
Cascade landscape — serve many important ecological and
societal functions. Fire suppression and changes in climate and
grazing pressure have led to recent and rapid conifer
encroachment into meadows throughout the Pacific Northwest.
Faced by gradual loss of these habitats, land managers have begun
to experiment with prescribed fire as a potential tool for restoration.
To
improve our understanding of the ecology and dynamics of mountain
meadows, and to guide strategies for their restoration and maintenance,
we are engaged in a program
of research and adaptive management at Bunchgrass Ridge, Oregon.
Our
studies are designed to yield useful short-term products for scientists,
managers, and the public, and in doing so, to provide opportunities
for further study, additional experimentation, and education.
We
bring together scientists and resource specialists with a long,
successful history of collaboration in and around the H. J. Andrews
(HJA)
Experimental Forest, a Long-term Ecological Research (LTER) site.
Our goal is to build an ecological basis for maintaining and restoring
meadows throughout the western Cascades, using Bunchgrass Ridge
as a center for research, adaptive management, and outreach.
Participants
include scientists and land managers from the University of Washington,
Oregon State University, University of Victoria, PNW Research
Station (Corvallis), H. J. Andrews Experimental Forest/LTER, and
the U.S. Forest Service (McKenzie River District, Willamette National
Forest). For a full list of participants, click here.
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