Paleoenvironmental Overview of Olympic National Park
Project ID: J8W07100028
Federal Agency: National Park Service
Partner Institution: University of Oregon
Fiscal Year: 2010
Initial Funding: $49,596
Total Funding: $49,596
Project Type: Technical Assistance
Project Disciplines: Physical
National Park: Olympic National Park
Principal Investigator: Gavin, Daniel
Agreement Technical Representative: Louter, David
Abstract: The National Park Service (NPS) and the University of Oregon (UO) will collaborate in the development of a paleoenvironmental overview of Olympic National Park (OLYM). The purpose of this project is to: 1) provide a synthesis of the evidence of environmental change over the past 18,000 years in the vicinity of the Olympic Peninsula, including the evidence of the archeological record, 2) evaluate the current and potential impacts on archeological and historic sites, such as from wildland fire risk and coastal inundation, and 3) assess the need for new studies of the paleoecological record and of the climate change impacts on specific regions within OLYM. New analyses of existing data sets from lake sediments and tree rings will be conducted to address the first objective, while new GIS analyses of climate change, species distribution, and sea-level change will address the second objective. UO and NPS will collaborate on a report that informs managers, the general public, and the scientific community of the environmental dynamics in the OLYM region since the end of the last glaciation. The report will be written in accessible language to teach concepts of historical variability and causes of climatic changes.
Deliverables: