Plenary Abstracts

Erim Gomez, University of Montana, Missoula MT.

Age of Invasive Species: Inland Northwest Amphibian Case Study

The spread of invasive species is a leading driver of biodiversity loss. We will cover both global and regional examples, with a case study on regional amphibians in the Inland Northwest and the threats they face from invasive species. Amphibians are the most endangered vertebrate group worldwide, underscoring the importance of their conservation. To improve conservation and management efforts for amphibians, understanding the ecological and environmental factors that affect their habitats is crucial. We investigated amphibian occupancy across four ecoregions, from the Columbia River Basin in Central Washington to Western Montana. Our findings reveal that native amphibian populations were negatively affected by the presence of invasive fish and bullfrogs. Addressing this issue can be straightforward: increasing public awareness of the issue can prevent the spread of invasive species.

Diana Six, University of Montana, Missoula MT. 

From microbes to ecosystems: How bark beetles do what they do

Many of us have seen the aftermath of tree-killing bark beetle outbreaks either in person or in the media. In response to these events, bark beetles are often portrayed as ‘destroying’ forests, but do they? Are the typically simplistic explanations offered for their behavior and effects in forests accurate?  Mostly, no. Bark beetles are among the most complex organisms found in conifer forests and how they do the remarkable things they do is no less complicated. Tree-killing bark beetles are relatively rare – only about a dozen species out of thousands worldwide have this ability. So, what sets them apart? It turns out it is the interactions with little things like microfungi and big things like host tree condition and genetics. Starting from the small (microbial symbioses) and working to the big (effects on forest structure and function) I will cover how these tiny beetles manage to be the crucial ecosystem engineers that shape the structure and function of many coniferous forests around the globe. Along the way, I will do some myth-busting and discuss ways to avoid research ‘ruts’ in developing an understanding of these and other biological systems.

Richard B. Waitt, Cascades Volcano Observatory, US Geological Survey, Vancouver WA.

The “debacle which swept the Columbia Plateau” one hundred years on

“It was a debacle,” wrote J Harlan Bretz in 1923, that carved Washington’s Channeled Scabland. This prescient finale today brings to mind debacles geologic, personal, and periodic. The Oxford English Dictionary credits geology with first English use of “debacle”: “a . . . violent rush of water, which . . . carries . . . blocks of stone and other debris,” with which Playfair (1802: Huttonian Theory of the Earth) dismisses catastrophic flooding in shaping the land. Charles Lyell’s influential Principles of Geology (12 editions, 1830–1875) then eloquently all but denies catastrophic events including giant floods as plausible Earth processes. Does Bretz’s italicized “was” allude partly, ironically, to Playfair and Lyell?

The cataclysm in Bretz’s “Spokane flood” initiated a famous controversy. Published arguments against great Scabland flood erupted in the 1920s and raged on into the 1940s—critics by various Lyellian schemes calling for less water over more time. As Bretz had no published support, to many it must have seemed his personal debacle. Yet re-reading the early reports, I sense that by the extraordinary field evidence he had documented, eventually throughout the region, Bretz knew all along that catastrophysm would prevail. After Pardee showed that huge glacial Lake Missoula had discharged abruptly, Bretz and colleagues in 1956 show with the old evidence—and with stark new evidence in giant current dunes adorning many gravel bars—that water from huge glacial Lake Missoula had indeed carved the Channeled Scabland. With detailed geomorphic field evidence they skewer Bretz’s critics—this in turn their personal debacle.

Yet the story takes a more gradualistic turn with discovery that Lake Missoula drained periodically. In his final Scablands paper in 1969, Bretz by geomorphic evidence counts seven floods at most. But hardly a decade later, new stratigraphic evidence was showing that Lake Missoula released scores of giant floods during the last glaciation alone. These outbursts were both periodic and gigantic by degrees—truly colossal and coming many decades apart when the damming Purcell Trench lobe was thick, but as the ice gradually thinned diminishing to coming only a decade or a few years apart, and at the end one year apart. This scores-of jökulhlaups idea erupted new controversy, this one too lasting more than two decades. If it has simmered down lately this argument is also being settled by field evidence.

If Missoula floods were numerous and periodic during last-glacial marine isotope-stage 2 (25–15 thousand years ago), what happened during seemingly equally deep glaciations at isotope stages such as 6 and 12 (140–440 thousand years ago)? So far we know of no supporting field evidence—only scattered field sites that suggest one gigantic flood far back, perhaps a million years ago. It will be for today’s young scientists to decipher this and other remaining enigmas.

Contributed talks and posters (updated periodically)

SITKA SPRUCE ECOPHYSIOLOGY.; Lucy P. Kerhoulas, Cal Poly Humboldt, Department of Forestry, Fire, and Rangeland Management, 1 Harpst Street, Arcata, CA 95521.

FIRE ECOLOGY AND THE FORGOTTEN LICHENS; Roger Rosentreter, Department biology, 1910 University Dr., Boise State University, Boise ID 83725-1515

90 YEARS OF TREE-RING STUDIES ON SUBFOSSIL WOOD IN CASCADIA—WITH EMPHASIS ON THE PIONEERING WORK OF DONALD B. LAWRENCE AND DAVID K. YAMAGUCHI; Patrick T. Pringle, Science Department, Centralia College, Centralia, WA 98531

THE OCCURRENCE OF WESTERN OAK MISTLETOE (Phoradendron villosum subsp. villosum) ON NON-NATIVE URBAN TREES OF WESTERN OREGON, USA.; David C. Shaw, Max Bennett, Central Point, Oregon, Don Goheen, Jacksonville, Oregon, Scott Altenhoff, Oregon Department of Forestry, Salem, Oregon, Gabriela Ritokova, Oregon Department of Forestry, Salem, Oregon, Alan Kanaskie, Salem, Oregon, Stephen Calkins, Marysville, Washington.

COEUR D'ALENE LAKE: UPDATED CONCEPTUAL MODEL FOR STRUCTURE AND MIXING; D. Craig Cooper, Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, Coeur d'Alene, ID, 83814

INTERACTING DISTURBANCE ACROSS THE CLIMAX LODGEPOLE PINE FORESTS OF SOUTH-CENTRAL OREGON PUMICE PLAINS.; David Shaw, Michelle Agne, USFS PNW Research Station, Olympia, Washington.

VISUALIZING USNIC ACID IN LICHENS WITH ANISALDEHYDE REAGENT.; Bruce McCune, Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon 97331; Wilmer H. Perera, CAMAG Scientific, Inc., 515 Cornelius Harnett Drive, Wilmington, NC 28401; Xinhui Yu, Kerry McPhail, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon 973313

MODELING RECREATIONAL RISK ON THE LANDSCAPE: A GIS ANALYSIS OF RECREATION ACCIDENT RESPONSE IN THE VICINITY OF THE I-90 CORRIDOR, WASHINGTON.; Naomi van Roon, Geography Department, Central Washington University, Ellensburg, WA 98926.

TIMING IS EVERYTHING! FOLIAR DAMAGE AND GROWTH OF DOUGLAS-FIR ASSOCIATED WITH PROVENANCE AND ENVIRONMENT.; Constance Harrington, USDA FS Pacific Northwest Research Station, Olympia, WA 98512; Richard Cronn, USDA FS Pacific Northwest Research Station, Corvallis OR 97331; Adam Sibley, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331; Kevin Ford, USDA FS Pacific Northwest Region, Portland, OR 97204; Nicholas Wilhelmi, USDA FS Flagstaff, AZ 86001; Peter Gould, Mason, Bruce & Girard, Olympia, WA 98501

FACTORS THAT COULD PREDISPOSE WESTERN REDCEDAR TO PROBLEMS IN OUR WARMING CLIMATE.; Bill Carlson Weyerhaeuser retired

AN ANNOTATED CHECKLIST OF THE BEES OF WASHINGTON STATE; Chanda S. Bartholomew, Washington State Department of Agriculture, Tumwater, WA 98501; Elizabeth Murray, Department of Entomology, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164; Silas Bossert, Department of Entomology, Washington State University, Pullman, WA Department of Entomology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20013; Joel Gardner, Department of Entomology, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164; Chris Looney, Washington State Department of Agriculture, Tumwater, WA 98501

SYMBIOTIC SYNERGY: WHEN CHEMIST MEET LICHENOLOGIST; Xinhui Yu and Kerry L. McPhail. Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA

METALS MATTER FOR MOSSES: POLLUTION EFFECTS ON INVERTEBRATE COMMUNITIES.; Olivia Roberts, Gabe Veltri, Kristin Hultgren, Department of Biology, Seattle University, 901 12th Ave, Seattle, WA 98122

SETTLING IN: OBSERVATIONS OF THE NESTING AND OVERWINTERING BIOLOGY OF B. impatiens IN ITS INTRODUCED RANGE.; Chris Looney, Chanda S. Bartholomew, Washington State Department of Agriculture, Tumwater WA, 98501; Jonathan B. U. Koch, Tien T. Lindsay, United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Pollinating Insect-Biology, Management, Systematics Research Unit, Logan, Utah, 84341; Susan M Waters, Quamash EcoResearch, Olympia, Washington, 98504

A HYPOTHESIZED AGGREGATIVE PREDATORY RESPONSE OF WALLEYE (Sander virtues) ON WHITE STURGEON (Acipenser transmontanus) IN THE UPPER COLUMBIA RIVER IN LAKE ROOSEVELT, WASHINGTON; Seth A. Barr, Department of Biology, Eastern Washington University, 526 5th St, Cheney, WA 99004; Andy Miller, Spokane Tribal Fisheries, 1100 S Garfield Rd Suite A., Airway Heights, WA 99001; Dr. Paul Spruell, Department of Biology, Eastern Washington University, 526 5th St, Cheney, WA 99004

THE EFFECTS OF SALINITY ON THE CUTANEOUS MICROBIOME AND BD INFECTION OF THE PACIFIC TREE FROG (Pseudacris regilla).; Hannah E. Kim, Jenifer B. Walke, Department of Biology, Eastern Washington University, 526 5th St, Cheney, WA 99004

QUANTIFYING LANDSCAPE-SCALE CULTURAL BURNING PATTERNS ON KARUK ANCESTRAL TERRITORY IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA THROUGH BLENDED INDIGENOUS AND WESTERN SCIENTIFIC METHODS. ; Skye M. Greenler, USDA Forest Service, Region 6 Ecology Program, 1220 SW 3rd Ave, Portland, OR 97204, Oregon State University, College of Forestry; Frank K. Lake, USDA Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station, 1700 Bayview St, Arcata, CA 95521; Chris J. Dunn, Oregon State University, College of Forestry; Susan J. Prichard, University of Washington, School of Environmental and Forest Sciences 3715 W Stevens Wy NE, Seattle, WA 98195; Paul F. Hessburg, USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station 1133 N Western Ave, Wenatchee, WA 98801; John D. Bailey, Oregon State University, College of Forestry, 3100 SW Jefferson Way, Corvallis, OR 97331; William A. Tripp, Karuk Tribe Department of Natural Resources, PO Box 282, Orleans, CA 95556; Will Harling, Mid Klamath Watershed Council, 38150 CA-96, Orleans, CA 95556

RARE PLANTS AND POLLINATOR DIVERSITY IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST.; Susan M. Waters, David Cappaert, Quamash EcoResearch, 2023 46th Ave NE Olympia, WA 98506; Scott Harris, Thomas Kaye, Christina Mitchell, Institute of Applied Ecology, 4950 SW Hout St., Corvallis, OR 97333

DIFFERENTIAL WATER HOLDING CAPACITY IN BRYOPHYTE SPECIES AND ORGANIZATIONAL LEVELS.; Meghan Lake, Jessica Allen, Krisztian Magori, Department of Biology Eastern Washington University, Cheney, WA 99004; Bruce McCune, Posy Busby, Sofia Green, Mark Schulze, Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331; Joseph LaManna, Department of Biological Sciences, Marquette University, WI 53233; Jeffery Diez, Department of Biology, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403

THE EFFECT OF MOON PHASE ON PREDATOR AND PREY ACTIVITY LEVELS ON TURNBULL NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE.; Jeff Schell, Charlotte Milling, Department of Biology, Eastern Washington University, 1175 Washington Street, Cheney, WA, 99004

STRATEGIES TO TOLERATE TRACE METAL MIXTURES EMPLOYED BY MACROINVERTEBRATES IN THE LATERAL LAKES OF THE COEUR D’ALENE RIVER.; Chantilly Higbee; Dechen Edwards; Roxanne McPeck; Aleesha Grove, Department of Biology, Eastern Washington University, Cheney, WA 99004; Helen Poynton, School for the Environment, University of Massachusetts, Boston, Boston, MA 02125; Jenifer Walke, Department of Biology, Eastern Washington University, Cheney, WA 99004; Carmen Nezat, Department of Geosciences, Eastern Washington University, Cheney, WA 99004; Joanna Joyner-Matos, Department of Biology, Eastern Washington University, Cheney, WA 99004

AN INDEX OF BIOTIC INTEGRITY FOR MACROINVERTEBRATE STREAM BIOASSESSMENT CONDUCTED BY COMMUNITY SCIENTISTS IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST.; Elisa Mickelson, Patrick M. Edwards, Environmental Science and Management, Portland State University, Box 751, Portland, OR 97207-0751

CLIMATE HISTORY SINCE THE MISSOULA FLOODS RECORDED IN THE SEDIMENTS OF THE PROGRADING DELTA OF THE ST JOE RIVER, COEUR D'ALENE LAKE. Daniel Gavin, Department of Geography, University of Oregon.

A RIVER IN TIME: THE GEOLOGIC HISTORY OF SKAGIT RIVER VALLEY, WASHINGTON.; Jon L. Riedel, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA 98229

NONNATIVE ENGLISH HOLLY (Ilex aquifolium) REDUCES NATIVE FOREST UNDERSTORY PLANT COVER AND DIVERSITY.; Elliott Church, David Stokes, Warren Gold, University of Washington (Bothell) 18115 Campus Way NE, Bothell, WA 98011

COMPARISON OF BIODIVERISTY IN TEMPORARY AND PERMANENT PONDS.; Rosie Ogborn, Gonzaga University, Spokane, WA 99258; Courtney Hendrickson, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331; Carson Sellers, Mia Mastrangelo, Holly Fijolek, Joseph Baum, Owen Vanderpuy, Bella Centanaro-Castro, Lily Sager, Mia Lucas, Clare McGowan, Katie Ellis, Allie Greenhouse, Sidney Ashby, Betsy Bancroft, Gonzaga University, Spokane, WA 99258

THE EVERGREEN STATE COLLEGE PARKING LOTS: A HOTSPOT FOR MACROLICHEN DIVERSITY. ;Elise Grage, Lalita Calabria, The Evergreen State College, 2700 Evergreen Parkway NW, Olympia, WA 98505

SPECIES ABUNDANCE AND RICHNESS OF NATIVE BEES IN EWU'S PRARIE RESTORATION SITE COMPARED TO ADJACENT WHEAT FIELD, AND NATURAL AREAS.;Alejandro Torres-Gonzalez, Justin Bastow, Biology Department, Eastern Washington University, 1175 Washington St., SCI 226, Cheney, WA 99004

INDICATORS OF BIODIVERSITY ACROSS TAXA FOR EARLY SERAL FORESTS;Graham Frank, Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331; Jake Verschuyl, National Council for Air & Stream Improvement, Anacortes, WA 98221; Matt Betts, Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331; James W. Rivers, Mark Swanson, Department of Forest Engineering, Resources & Management, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331; Meg Krawchuk, Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331

EXAMINING THE DRIVERS OF NOCTURNAL BEHAVIOR OF PIKAS AT LOWER ELEVATIONS IN LASSEN NATIONAL FOREST, CALIFORNIA.;Evan Burnett, Rick Brown, Department of Wildlife, Cal Poly Humboldt, 1st Harpst St, Arcata, CA, 95521; Tom Rickman, Lassen National Forest, United States Forest Service, 477-050 Eagle Lake Road, Susanville, CA 96130

SUCCESSIONAL TRAJECTORIES IN POST-FIRE FORESTS: INSIGHTS FROM REVISITED FOREST INVENTORY PLOTS IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST.;Claire Tortorelli; Matthew Reilly, USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, Corvallis, OR, 97330; Derek J. Young; Andrew M. Latimer, University of California, Davis, 1 Shields Ave, Davis, CA 95616

CONSERVATION GRAZING: PUBLIC- PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS FOR GRASSLAND RESTORATION TO PROMOTE POLLINATOR DIVERSITY.;Cody B. Blackketter, Marisa D. Fisher, Susan M. Waters, 2302 46th Ave NE, Olympia, WA 98506

POLLINATORS OF TWO RARE WASHINGTON SHRUB-STEPPE ENDEMIC PLANTS.;Cody B. Blackketter, Marisa D. Fisher, Erin M. Mau, Susan M. Waters, Quamash EcoResearch, 2302 46th Ave NE, Olympia, WA 98506

EFFECTS OF TIME, LOCATION, AND HIVE WEIGHT ON HONEY BEE (Apis mellifera) GUT MICROBIOME COMPOSITION AND DIVERSITY;Jonah O. Frago, Jenifer Walke, Department of Biology, Eastern Washington University, 526 5th st, Cheney, WA 99004

FLORAL MUTUALISTS AND ANTAGONISTS OF AN ENDANGERED MONTANE WILDFLOWER IN EASTERN WASHINGTON.;Marisa D. Fisher, Cody B. Blackketter, Erin M. Mau, Susan M. Waters, Quamash EcoResearch, 2302 46th Ave NE, Olympia, WA 98506

CHANGES IN AQUATIC INSECT FAUNA ALONG MILL CREEK (BLUE MOUNTAINS, SE WA) AND CAUSATIVE FACTORS;Quinn E. Miller; Heidi E.M. Dobson; Lucien Rochelois; Briley Shults, Department of Biology, Whitman College, Walla Walla, WA 99362

ESTIMATED DISPERSAL ABILITIES OF A DIVERSE WILD BEE ASSEMBLAGE ACROSS A FRAGMENTED ENDANGERED ECOSYSTEM.;Justin Bastow, Emma Hoskins, Eastern Washington University, Biology Department, 1175 Washington St. SCI 226, Cheney, WA 99004

RARITY, CAUSE OR CONSEQUENCE: COMPARATIVE POPULATION GENOMICS OF SIX LICHENIZED FUNGI WITH CONTRASTING RANGE SIZES, LIFE HISTORIES, AND MORPHOLOGIES;Stephen T. Sharrett, Department of Biology, Eastern Washington University, Cheney, WA 99004.; Julianna Paulsen, Department of Biology, Eastern Washington University, Cheney, WA 99004.; James C. Lendemer, Department of Botany, Research & Collections, The New York State Museum, Albany, NY 12230; Krisztian Magori, Department of Biology, Eastern Washington University, Cheney, WA 99004; Jesse E.D. Miller, Natural Heritage Program, Washington State Department of Natural Resources, Olympia, WA 98501; Jessica L. Allen, Department of Biology, Eastern Washington University, Cheney, WA 99004