The seeps and cold, fast-flowing headwater streams in the Andrews Forest are home to one of the Pacific Northwest's most charismatic, and yet little understood, species: the Cascade torrent salamander (Rhyacotriton cascadae).

Forests and streams are inextricably linked in our western Oregon landscapes, so the significant changes to the forest resulting from the fire will inevitably affect the streams.

High-precision dendrometer bands measure daily fluctuations in water balance of a tree bole, in addition to the tree's seasonal growth. Over the course of a strong dry season like we are experiencing in 2023 even the nighttime maximum circumference decreases from day to day, as growth ceases and stem water cannot be fully recharged.

Ongoing work by Andrews Forest researchers on vegetation response to fire is poised to interpret forest response to simultaneous increased fire and warming.

What wildlife lives in the HJ Andrews Experimental Forest, and what do those animals do in a wildfire? 

Researchers are investigating the response of trout and salamanders to drought conditions by using an experimental approach to mimic drought by diverting stream flow to create a low-flow reach and passively heating water through a coil system to increase water temperature.

The on-going Following Fire: A Resilient Forest | An Uncertain Future project by photographer David Bayles and Fred Swanson uses a chronosequence approach which gives everyone a chance to find their own stories – both technical and emotional.

Data collected in Lookout Creek were part of a larger study on how body size of fish and salamanders relate to their trophic position in the food web.

A long-term study suggests that old-growth forests provide thermal refugia for bird species that are sensitive to climate change effects, including fire.

With a digital camera and oil paints, artist Leah Wilson set out to document the change of light and color in three streams at the Andrews Forest. “My paintings isolate changes that are missed by human perception, even when staring directly at the landscape with eyes wide open.”

Since 1987, researchers have visited the same sections of Mack Creek to measure the numbers, size, and mass of trout and salamanders.

Rivers are mirrors to understand how ecosystem processes occur across the landscape

Weather data stream from our weather stations, through our radio communications system, and are loaded to data graphs on our website.

Robert Michael Pyle's adventurous hike in Watershed 2, and his 2004 writer's residency, launched the Long-Term Ecological Reflections program

Mack Creek has been central to the International Biological Program, the River Continuum Concept, Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER), and many other major projects of discovery.

Fire imposes rapid changes in forest structure and environmental conditions, and may accelerate vegetation response to a changing climate.

McRae Creek is home to an aquatic field site of the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON), a continental-scale network that collects long-term ecological data to understand how ecosystems are changing.

Webcams  provide real-time information on conditions at the HJ Andrews Experimental Forest. Viewers can get a sense for current weather, road conditions, or the progression of the seasons. During the Lookout Fire, webcams showed the progression of the fire across the site.

Studying forest dynamics takes decades, even centuries. In 1971, scientists established multiple permanent sample plots to study old-growth forest ecosystems. Scientists continue to visit the plots to measure tree health, growth, and mortality.

Seven weather stations spread out across the H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest capture the environment across the entire research site.

Rob Mutch, the USFS Fire Lookout stationed on Carpenter Mountain, was on duty on August 5 and was the first to spot the tell-tale waft of smoke from the flank of Lookout Mountain, following the lightning storm on August 5, 2023.

Cold Creek has more water in the summer than would be estimated for the size of its watershed. In fact, water from Cold Creek flows into Lookout Creek and makes up about 80% of the flow of Lookout Creek during the dry summer months.

The Lookout Creek Old Growth trail runs across the slope of lower Lookout Mountain and crosses Lookout Creek.

Researchers have been studying how pollinators — like bees, flies, moths and butterflies — are connected to flowering plants and how networks of plants and pollinators respond to environmental change. 

A story map, with videos and infographics, shares information on how wildlife use large wood in streams.