Home

Study Area

Research

People

Products

Photos

Search

Beyond our JFSP-sponsored research, Bunchgrass Ridge has served as a nucleus for related studies of meadow ecology and a catalyst for broader implementation of meadow restoration practices in the western Cascade region. As a result, our restoration experiment was the focus of this year’s Forest Plan Monitoring Review by the Willamette National Forest (WNF) Supervisor’s Office (details below).

Many individuals have taken advantage of research, training or educational opportunities at Bunchgrass Ridge, through the Central Cascades Adaptive Management Partnership, the Andrews Forest-LTER, and other institutional relationships. In addition, Cheryl Friesen, Research Liaison on the Willamette National Forest, has coordinated communication among individuals from numerous meadow-related projects on the Forest — projects that draw from or contribute to our studies.

Bunchgrass Ridge provides numerous opportunities for research, education, and training. Here we list projects and internships that are completed or in progress. We encourage those interested in conducting independent research or in contributing to ongoing projects to contact us.

Graduate students directly funded through the Joint Fire Science Program

• Ryan D. Haugo. M.S. thesis (2006), University of Washington. Vegetation responses to conifer encroachment in a dry, montane meadow: a chronosequence approach. Haugo is now pursuing doctoral research at the University of Washington and will continue studies at Bunchgrass Ridge.
• Nicole L. Lang. M.S. thesis (2006), University of Washington. The soil seed bank of an Oregon montane meadow: consequences of conifer encroachment and implications for restoration.

Graduate students with external funding

• Janine Rice. Ph.D. dissertation (pending), Oregon State University. Forest-meadow dynamics of the western Oregon Cascades: patterns of change and environmental causes. NSF-IGERT Fellowship.

• Joseph Antos. Collaborating faculty, University of Victoria. Tree invasion of a montane meadow: a spatial and temporal analysis.
• Eric Seabloom and Elizabeth Borer. Faculty, Oregon State University. Bunchgrass Ridge now serves as an experimental site in the global network of grassland sites that comprise the Nutrient Network (NutNet) Experiment. NutNet investigates the effects of soil resources and herbivory on ecosystem processes.

• Ziyu Ma. Independent research (2005), Sichuan University (Chengdu). Vegetation dynamics in a montane meadow: effects of conifer encroachment. University of Washington-Sichuan University Undergraduate Exchange Program Fellowship.
• Michael Frank and Marcus Koch. Undergraduate research internships (2003), University of Applied Sciences, Department of Forest Science and Forestry, Freising, Germany.
• Florian Steer, Tina Volkl, and Katrin Wendt (2004). Undergraduate research internships (2004), University of Applied Sciences, Department of Forest Science and Forestry, Freising, Germany.

Independent undergraduate research

• Nina Griffin. Independent research (2007), University of Maine. Plant diversity in bunchgrass meadows: an analysis of the intermediate disturbance hypothesis through gopher mounds. NSF Ecosystem Informatics – Oregon State University EcoInformatics Summer Institute.
• Sheena Hillstrom. Independent research (2007-2008), Washington State University. Effects of burn treatments on vegetation and soil following conifer removal from a montane meadow. Ecological Society of America SEEDs Program.
• Jessica Niederer. Independent research (2004), Cornell University. Gopher disturbance in meadows: effects on species diversity and heterogeneity. NSF Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) Fellowship.
• Kyle Smith. Senior thesis (2005), University of Washington. Effects of conifer encroachment and changes in forest structure on understory light. College of Forest Resources.

Outreach

Outreach has taken a diversity of forms, including workshop presentations, field trips, publications, and the creation of key institutional links that provide opportunities for research, training, and education. We share examples below.

Workshops

In April 2006, we were invited to share the results of our JFSP-sponsored research at a regional information-sharing workshop sponsored by the Northwest Oregon Ecology Group: The Ecology of Openings. Attendees included University and PNW Research Station scientists, as well as natural resource managers from federal and state agencies, including NCASI, ODF, USFS, USFWS, and many others. We have also made presentations at regional scientific meetings.

Field tours

In June 2007, we hosted a field tour of the Bunchgrass Ridge restoration experiment for a review team from the Willamette National Forest Supervisor’s Office. The team is charged with evaluating the planning process, implementation, and outcome of management projects on each Ranger District. Summary comments from the review team and the Forest Supervisor were highly complimentary, noting in particular the successful implementation of treatments, the opportunities for future research, the strong research-management partnership, and the potential for developing management plans for the larger landscape that build on this research.

Publications

In June 2007 we completed a key publication that will have wide circulation — an issue of PNW Science Findings — a series devoted to disseminating current research that has relevance to land managers, policy makers, and the public (see PNW_Science_Findings_no94_2007). We review the current state of knowledge on extent, condition, and trends in mountain meadows, the causes and ecological consequences of conifer encroachment, and the potential for restoration. Retrospective and experimental studies at Bunchgrass Ridge are prominent in this work.

Through affiliation with the Andrews Forest-LTER, Oregon State University, and other groups, we have formalized several institutional relationships that have, and will continue to provide students with financial and educational resources to pursue independent research and training at Bunchgrass Ridge. (Details on the research activities of the students are provided above.)

The National Science Foundation

• Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU), which funds summer programs for undergraduates via supplements to existing NSF grants.
• Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeships (IGERT), which fund Ph.D. students.
• The Ecosystem Informatics Summer Institute (under IGERT) funds advanced undergraduates from around the U.S. for summer education and research at the Andrews Forest.

SEEDs’ mission is “to diversify and advance the profession of ecology through opportunities that stimulate and nurture the interest of underrepresented students“

University of Washington-Sichuan University Undergraduate Exchange Program

The UEP engages undergraduates in a year of independent research with a faculty mentor

Graduate student research

• Michele Dailey. M.S. thesis (pending), Oregon State University. Conifer encroachment into montane meadows, Chucksney-Grasshopper Complex, Oregon. Michele’s research has two components: (1) a remote-sensing based classification of non-forest openings in the Willamette National Forest; and (2) a change-detection analysis of meadows in the Chucksney-Grasshopper Complex using aerial photography in combination with tree-age and vegetation data from selected edges.
• Harold Zald. Ph.D. dissertation (pending), Oregon State University.Associated with the Forest Inventory and Analysis program of the Forest Service, Harold is examining sampling methods to document long-term changes in forest-meadow dynamics in the subalpine zone of the Mt. Jefferson Wilderness, Oregon.

Additional collaborators and related research

• Sadao Takaoka. Collaboratoring faculty, Senshu University, Japan. Change in extent of meadows and shrub fields in the central western Cascade Range, U.S.A. Takaoka and Swanson collaborated during a sabbatical visit to examine historical changes in the extent of meadows and shrub fields in the central western Cascades of Oregon. Aerial photography, fire records, and other archival data were used to examine possible influences of wildfire and sheep grazing on rates of meadow closure. A manuscript is in review at Professional Geographer. This work is also described in the June 2007 issue of PNW Science Findings (see above).

• Meadow restoration in the Chucksney-Grasshopper Complex (Chucksney Mountain Roadless Recreation Area, McKenzie River Ranger District, Willamette National Forest). Tree removal and prescribed burning are under way; additional treatments are proposed to restore the aerial extent of this once large meadow complex.
• Restoration of natural meadow through mechanical and hand treatments to remove lodgepole pine at Lodgepole Flat Meadow, Lost Prairie, and Tombstone Prairie (Sweet Home Ranger District).