Home | People | Research Projects | The Laboratory | Software | Data

Environmental Change Research Group | Geography Department

Research Projects
Forest responses to climate change
Tree species will shift their ranges in response to future climate change but the mode and tempo of such changes is largely speculative. The duration of migrational lags depends upon dispersal rates dispersal distances (existence of refugial or disjunct populations) and colonization success. We address these biogeographical questions using a retrospective approach involving statistical treatment of pollen and macrofossil data and quantitative climate reconstruction using a variety of paleoclimate proxies from lake sediments. Specific projects under this theme include:
  • Establishment of the "inland temperate rainforest" species disjunctions in Idaho and British Columbia and the nature of the Clearwater refugium of northern Idaho. Current funding from the National Science Foundation. Past funding by the NSF and the National Geographic Committee on Research and Exploration.
  • Coastal Oregon aquatic and forest responses to late Holocene climate change. Starter-funding from University of Oregon.
Scale-dependent controls of disturbance regimes
The historical range of variability of disturbance regimes is an important baseline to guide ecosystem management and to aid studies of ecosystem dynamics and species coexistence. For forest disturbances the observational record does not adequately characterize this variability over time spans relevant to tree life cycles. Paleoecological methods using proxy evidence from lake sediment and soils provide unique long-term data for reconstructing disturbance regimes.  
  • Fire frequency and severity of the late Holocene in the Siskiyou Mountains of southwest Oregon. Past funding to Daniele Colombaroli by the Swiss National Science Foundation.
  • Correlates of fire severity in the B&B fire of central Oregon: insect defoliators forest density fuel loads and weather.
  • Patterns of synchrony of forest fires in subalpine forests of western British Columbia. Past funding from Global Forest Science and the National Science Foundation.
Tree-ring records of forest growth and disturbance dynamics
A persistent challenge to the study of growth rates of tree species is attributing causal factors to long-term growth trends. Factors affecting growth rates vary from simple mechanisms such as stand dynamics and the natural growth trends of trees to insect outbreaks soil nutrition climate and interactions of all these factors.
Bioclimatic envelope modeling
A study of climatic controls on forest composition during the Holocene should begin with an assessment of the current controls on species distribution. One way to study climatic controls of species distribution is bioclimatic envelope modeling: the prediction of species occurrence as a function of a small number of biologically meaningful variables.
Georeferenced field sites: photos and references
Photos References
Eleanor Lake

  

Gavin, D.G., A.C.G. Henderson, K.S. Westover, S.C. Fritz, I.R. Walker, M. Leng and F.S.Hu. 2011. Abrupt Holocene climate change and potential response to solar forcing in western Canada. Quaternary Science Reviews. In Press.

Photos References
Thunder Lake

Chase M. Bleskie C. Walker I.R. Gavin D.G. and Hu F.S. 2008. Midge-inferred Holocene summer temperatures in southeastern British Columbia Canada. Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology 257:244-259.

Photos References
Gerry Lake

 

• Westover K.S. 2006. Diatom-inferred records of paleolimnological change and Holocene paleoclimate variability from the Altai Mountains (Siberia) and Columbia Mountains (British Columbia) PhD. Dissertation. University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
• Gavin D.G. F.S. Hu I.R. Walker and K.S. Westover. 2009. The northern inland temperate rainforest of British Columbia: Old forests with a young history? Northwest Science 83:70-78.

Photos References
Redmountain Lake

  

• Chase M. Bleskie C. Walker I.R. Gavin D.G. and Hu F.S. 2008. Midge-inferred Holocene summer temperatures in southeastern British Columbia Canada. Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology 257:244-259.
• Gavin D.G. F.S. Hu I.R. Walker and K.S. Westover. 2009. The northern inland temperate rainforest of British Columbia: Old forests with a young history? Northwest Science. In press.

Photos References
Cooley Lake

• Gavin D.G. Hu F.S. Lertzman K.P. and Corbett P. 2006. Weak climatic control of stand-scale fire history during the late Holocene. Ecology 87:1722-1732.
• Foit F.F. Gavin D.G. and Hu F.S. 2004. The tephra stratigraphy of two lakes in south-central British Columbia Canada and its implications for the mid-late Holocene volcanic activity at Glacier Peak and Mount St. Helens Washington. Canadian Journal of Earth Science41:1401-1410.

Photos References
Rockslide Lake

• Gavin D.G. Hu F.S. Lertzman K.P. and Corbett P. 2006. Weak climatic control of stand-scale fire history during the late Holocene. Ecology 87:1722-1732.
• Foit F.F. Gavin D.G. and Hu F.S. 2004. The tephra stratigraphy of two lakes in south-central British Columbia Canada and its implications for the mid-late Holocene volcanic activity at Glacier Peak and Mount St. Helens Washington. Canadian Journal of Earth Science 41:1401-1410.

Photos References
Windy Lake

  

Chase M. Bleskie C. Walker I.R. Gavin D.G. and Hu F.S. 2008. Midge-inferred Holocene summer temperatures in southeastern British Columbia Canada. Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology 257:244-259.

Photos References
Clayoquot Valley

  

• Gavin D.G. 2003. Forest soil disturbance intervals inferred from soil charcoal radiocarbon dates. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 33:2514-2518.
• Gavin D.G. Brubaker L.B. and Lertzman K.P. 2003. Holocene fire history of a coastal temperate rain forest based on soil charcoal radiocarbon dates. Ecology 84:186-201.
• Gavin D.G. Brubaker L.B. and Lertzman K.P. 2003. An 1800-year record of the spatial and temporal distribution of fire from the west coast of Vancouver Island Canada. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 33:573-586.
• Lertzman K. Gavin D. Hallett D. Brubaker L. Lepofsky D. and Mathewes R. 2002. Long-term fire regime estimated from soil charcoal in coastal temperate rainforests. Conservation Ecology 6(2): 5. [online] URL: http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol6/iss2/art5
• Gavin D.G. 2001. Estimation of inbuilt age in radiocarbon ages of soil charcoal for fire history studies. Radiocarbon 43: 27–44.

Photos References
Martins Lake

 

• Gavin D.G. McLachlan J.S. Brubaker L.B. and Young K.A. 2001. Postglacial history of subalpine forests Olympic Peninsula WA USA. Holocene: 11:177–188.
• Gavin D.G. Brubaker L.B. McLachlan J.S. and Oswald W.W. (2005). Correspondence of pollen assemblages with forest zones across steep environmental gradients Olympic Peninsula Washington USA. Holocene 15:648-662.

Photos References
Moose Lake


Photo from the USGS

• Gavin D.G. McLachlan J.S. Brubaker L.B. and Young K.A. 2001. Postglacial history of subalpine forests Olympic Peninsula WA USA. Holocene: 11:177–188.
• Gavin D.G. Brubaker L.B. McLachlan J.S. and Oswald W.W. (2005). Correspondence of pollen assemblages with forest zones across steep environmental gradients Olympic Peninsula Washington USA. Holocene 15:648-662.

Photos References
Royal Basin

 

• Gavin D.G. and Brubaker L.B. 1999. A 6000-year soil pollen record of subalpine meadow vegetation in the Olympic Mountains Washington USA. Journal of Ecology 87: 106–122.

Photos References
Mirror Lake

   

• Westover K.S. 2006. Diatom-inferred records of paleolimnological change and Holocene paleoclimate variability from the Altai Mountains (Siberia) and Columbia Mountains (British Columbia) PhD. Dissertation. University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Photos References
Beaver Lake

  

Core has been archived; analysis in the future is possible

Photos References
Horseshoe Lake

  

Work in progress

Photos References
Upper Squaw Lake

   

Colombaroli, D. and D.G. Gavin. 2010. Highly episodic fire and erosion regime over the past 2000 years in the Siskiyou Mountains, Oregon. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 107: 18909-18914.

Photos References
Dismal Lake

  

Work in progress

Photos References
Round Lake

  

Core has been archived; analysis in the future is possible

Photos References
Yahoo Lake

Panaramio photo

Work in progress

Photos References
Wentworth Lake

No photos

Work in progress

Photos References
Woahink Lake
 

Work of M.S. student Jenn Kusler in progress