A recent publication out of the HJ Andrews Experimental Forest LTER site illustrates the role that summer research experiences can play in contributing to LTER science and in engaging and mentoring students. The paper, “Drought impacts to trout and salamanders in cool, forested headwater ecosystems in the western Cascade Mountains” knits together research from a graduate student, two undergraduate students, and their OSU advisor, Assistant Professor Dana Warren. 

Researchers at the Andrews Forest, and the forest itself, are featured on OPB's EarthFix television program, "Old Growth Could Be Key For Native Songbird Species To Beat Climate-Change Heat."

Streams could pump carbon dioxide into the air at increasing rates if they continue to warm, potentially compounding the effects of global warming.

A recent study on how historical timber harvests affect the structure of neighboring old-growth forests finds that forests within 75 meters of harvest edges had less live tree basal area than forests tucked in the interior away from edges. The length of time since harvest had little or no effect. This study is important in examining the subtle impact of human activity on forest landscapes in western Oregon and showing how widespread and long-lasting the edge influence of past clearcutting has been on neighboring old-growth forest.

Adam Ward (Indiana University) was awarded an NSF CAREER Grant to implement an integrated program of research and education on river corridors. The multi-scale project will take advantage of the long-term data available from the Andrews Forest site and build upon a body of work from the Andrews Forest on streams, hyporheic zones, and valley bottoms. Results of the research will improve our ability to predict the transport and fate of contaminants in river corridors, enabling more effective management of water resources.