GEOG 566

Background & Question The north American deer mouse (Paramyscus maniculatus) is the most widely distributed rodent species in north America and has the highest proportional abundance across many of the rodent communities in the Great Basin. Understanding its distribution in space is important for understanding its impact on the spatial arrangement of the rest rodent […]

A quick summary of my project and objectives: I am using a subset of the FIA (Forest Inventory and Analysis program run by the USFS) dataset, which is contained in a .csv file. I want to assess the understory vegetation response to ponderosa pine canopy cover and other environmental factors, and I am using USFS […]

Salmon River Estuary: Map of study site and plot locations Species Area curves represent the relationship between a specified area of habitat and the number of species present there. Species-area curves are useful for comparing species richness data from sample units that differ in area, especially nested sampling plots. Empirically, the larger the area, the […]

Overview: Question & Tool Often patch dynamics are examined under the lens of single disturbance events, but contemporary disturbance regimes are demonstrating that large-scale disturbances can overlap in time and space.  The spatial configuration of patches from an initial disturbance may influences the spatial configuration of patches of a sequential disturbance.  The broader research question […]

  Research problem: Japanese Tsunami Marine Debris species Six years ago, the devastating Tohoku earthquake and tsunami struck the coast of Japan. Since then, it has become evident that hundreds of coastal species from Japan have crossed the Pacific Ocean on tsunami debris, including species that have become invasive and been known to cause ecosystem/economic […]

Research Question For this exercise, I elected to compare the spatial autocorrelation of snow cover frequency (SCF) before and after the Grays Creek wildfire in central Idaho. Approach/tools used After trying out a few different tools, I decided to use ArcGIS to create semivariogram plots for my SCF data within the Grays Creek wildfire perimeter. […]

A description of the research question that you are exploring. In 2015, Elsen and Tingley published “Global mountain topography and the fate of montane species under climate change,” in the journal Nature – climate change. They combined two data sets, the global data set of mountain ranges from Natural Earth’s physical vectors and a high-resolution […]

Research question. For this problem I want to answer: How socio-demographic and spatial variables explain patterns of survey responses about attitudes regarding flood-safety in neighborhoods?   Description of the dataset. The dataset for the study has the following characteristics: Data is obtained from Household voluntary survey Convenience sampling. Households located within the 100 and 500 […]

Introduction Spatial patterns in disease spreading in agriculture are important to understand. For example, what causes the infection and how to avoid further spreading. In this project, we focus on the Red Blotch virus in vineyards located in Oregon. Red Blotch affects the sugar content in the grapes, which changes the taste of the produced […]

Introduction My master’s thesis involves quantifying geomorphic change in streams after the addition of a large wood jam for salmon habitat restoration purposes. Large wood has been shown to have many positive effects on salmon habitat, including creating pools and backwater areas that are essential for juvenile salmon survival. This past summer, I surveyed seven […]

Research Question A tsunami is a set of ocean waves caused by any large, abrupt disturbance of the sea surface. As evidenced by the 2004 Indian Ocean and 2011 Japan tsunamis, local tsunamis can destroy coastal communities in a matter of minutes. Tsunamis rank high on the scale of natural disasters. Since 1850 alone, tsunamis […]

My Spatial Problem Blog Post Contents: A description of the research question that you are exploring. Salmon River is one of the smallest estuaries on the northern Oregon coast (800 ha), with the largest proportion of tidal marsh (400 ha) for any Oregon estuary. It borders Tillamook and Lincoln counties, and is designated as an […]

Research objectives My research focuses on the ecology of blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus brevicauda) in New Zealand’s South Taranaki Bight region (STB). Despite the recent documentation of a foraging ground in the STB (Torres et al. 2015), blue whale distribution remains poorly understood in the southern hemisphere. The STB is New Zealand’s most industrially active […]

Research Description I am exploring aquatic chemistry among 10 streams in the Oregon Coast range. I am running anion analysis over the period of 1 year, sampling monthly. These streams are divided into three categories, three are located East of Mary’s Peak in the Rock Creek Watershed, three near the top of Mary’s peak (highest […]

Research Question What controls high-severity patch size during wildfire when landscape have large portions of dead forest from a prior disturbance of beetle outbreak? Background Fire is a complex landscape process that is controlled by the heterogeneity of vegetation/fuels, topography, and weather.  The landscapes created by fire may dictate forest structure and function for decades. […]

1. The research question I explored in GEOG 566 is: “What relationship do spectral reflectance signatures of southwestern white pine (P. strobiformis) seedlings in common garden boxes have with box number and distance from center of box?” Another way to word the question is : “How do spectral responses differ with the boxes that seedlings are grown […]

Background: The emission of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) is one of the greatest factors causing climate change. Forests, as the largest terrestrial carbon reservoir have an important role to reduce CO2 emissions and to prevent climate change. Considering the important role of forests to reduce CO2 emissions and prevent climate change, it is necessary to manage […]

Background & Research Question(s) The research I am conducing is focused on understanding and quantifying the competitive interactions between two apex predators, wolves and cougar. Populations of large carnivores have been expanding across portions of their historical range in North America, and sympatric wolves (Canis lupus) and cougars (Puma concolor) share habitat, home ranges, and […]

Carson Lillard My Spatial Problem 4-6-17 Description Ranavirus (Rv) and chytrid fungus (Bd) are both deadly pathogens that infect amphibian hosts all over the world. Amphibian die-offs associated with both pathogens have occurred throughout North America, but not much is known about ranavirus in Oregon due to most research being concentrated on Bd. I plan […]

Research Question My spatial question looked into the relationship between winter snowpack and re-vegetation following a severe wildfire. I used variograms and binned scatter plots to characterize this relationship in a visual manner. Datasets To estimate snowpack, I used our research group’s new snow cover frequency (SCF) product, which uses satellite reflectance data from the […]

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My research focuses on using radar measurements to isolate the water content of a landscape. This will involve comparing measurements taken during wet periods and dry periods, and comparing the backscatter. The areas of interest will mostly be single-age monoculture forest stands, for simplicity in isolating backscatter due to trees (branches, trunks, etc.) from backscatter […]

Research Question My research explores the extent and distribution of ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) plantations in the Willamette Valley, and the understory plant communities associated with them. In this class, I will be substituting my own field data with FIA (forest inventory and analysis) data collected by the USFS. The data I am collecting and assessing […]