This document is intended to be a step‐by‐step guide to using scenarios to plan for climate change adaptation. The intended audience includes natural resource managers, planners, scientists and other stakeholders working at a local or regional scale to develop resource management approaches that take future possible climate change impacts and other important uncertainties into account. VIEW PDF
Coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) populations that spawn in the coastal rivers of Oregon, U.S.A., formerly supported robust fisheries but are now listed as a “threatened species” under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. Climate change is an increasing concern in salmon conservation, and we assess the effects of climate change on sustainability of this population group. Four distinct habitats are important to different life-history stages of coho salmon: terrestrial forests, freshwater rivers and lakes, estuaries, and the ocean. Each of these habitats is affected by multiple aspects of climate change, resulting in a complex web of pathways influencing sustainability. We [...]
The five river basins in the Tillamook Bay Watershed drain from Oregon’s northern Coast Range into Tillamook Bay, a shallow estuary that is an important nursery for Oregon fisheries, including the $45 million Dungeness crab industry. This report describes the past climate of the watershed, projects future climate change over the next century and suggests possible impacts. While the scope of this project did not include next steps, it is expected that future reports will identify actions that may provide resiliency against anticipated impacts. VIEW PDF
This is the second annual report produced by Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) for the Oregon Coast Coho Conservation Plan (OCCCP). Unlike the initial annual report this report spans 18 months in order to better synchronize our reporting with the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board (OWEB). Future reports will only cover a 12 month period. VIEW PDF
Aquatic ecologists are working to develop theory and techniques for analysis of dynamic stream processes and communities of organisms. Such work is critical for the development of conservation plans that are relevant at the scale of entire ecosystems. The stream network is the foundation upon which stream systems are organized. Natural and human disturbances in streams alter the configuration of stream habitats such as pools, riffles, and glides across seasons, decades, or centuries. Thus, native aquatic species have developed mechanisms for adapting to the dynamic configuration of habitats in stream networks. VIEW PDF
Ecological studies relating population parameters to climate conditions are limited by a lack of experimental control systems and rely instead on correlative evidence to draw inferences about how populations respond to environmental forcing. Consequently, some correlations turn out to be spurious and not ecologically meaningful. To strengthen inferences, multiple populations may be examined simultaneously to confirm whether relationships can be generalized across multiple systems; however, this assumes that populations respond similarly to climate drivers, ignoring the potential for ecological complexity. Using data on eight sockeye salmon populations from southwestern Alaska, we constructed a series of models based on ecological [...]
This Citizen’s Guide is intended to serve as an introduction to the vast amount of information available on topics related to climate change effects on the Oregon coast, as well as a sourcebook for citizens interested in helping their communities to begin the long process of adapting to these effects. In publishing the Guide, the Oregon Shores Conservation Coalition anticipates that most readers will access and read it online with Internet access or in an electronic format, such as a PDF, which will enable easy access to additional information. VIEW PDF
Severe scouring from splash damming was one of the earliest reported forms of widespread anthropogenic disturbance in streams of the Pacific Northwest, USA. Splash damming was a common method of log transport in western Oregon from the 1880s through the 1950s. Before being released in large freshets to downstream lumber mills, water and logs were stored in reservoirs behind splash dams. Further protocol called for dynamiting downstream obstacles such as large boulders and natural logjams. In recent literature, the legacy effect of historical splash damming is proposed as contributing to currently poor habitat conditions for lotic species, such as [...]
Tidal marshlands in the upper estuary ecotone provide essential habitat for juvenile salmonids. In this environment, salmonids grow rapidly and acclimate to saltwater. Worldwide, tidal marshes have been diked and drained to provide agricultural and residential land. Tide gates are one-way doors integrated into dike systems that prevent saltwater flooding and allow upland drainage to the estuary during low tide. By preventing tidal exchange, tide gates have significant upstream effects on water temperature and chemistry, plant and animal community structure, and geomorphology. Since they are closed most of the day and may be difficult to pass when open, tide [...]
In spite of numerous habitat restoration programs in fresh waters with an aggregate annual funding of millions of dollars, many populations of Pacific salmon remain significantly imperiled. Habitat restoration strategies that address limited environmental attributes and partial salmon life-history requirements or approaches that attempt to force aquatic habitat to conform to idealized but ecologically unsustainable conditions may partly explain this lack of response. Natural watershed processes generate highly variable environmental conditions and population responses, i.e., multiple life histories, that are often not considered in restoration. Examples from several locations underscore the importance of natural variability to the resilience of [...]
