The Forests of Oregon Elevation Gradient (FOREG) is a network of large sample plots established in the HJ Andrews Experimental Forest (HJA) in 2019. Run by Dr. Joseph LaManna with Marquette University, the FOREG study is designed to answer questions about the drivers of forest biodiversity. The FOREG project is part of the broader Smithsonian Forest Global Earth Observatory (ForestGEO) program, a global network of scientists and forest research sites dedicated to advancing long-term study of the world's forests. Specifically at HJA, the FOREG project connects with the Permanent Sample Plot long-term study, thereby leveraging, and adding to, long-term data on tree growth and mortality. As of 2026, the FOREG study completed its first resurvey of all 6 plots, assessing tree mortality and remeasuring living tagged trees. Pictures below are from FOREG-38, a low-elevation plot that also contains the highest diversity in the FOREG network. Related images from field work in 2019 can be found in our Forests of Oregon Elevation Gradient (FOREG) 2019 image gallery.
Forests of Oregon Elevation Gradient (FOREG) 2026
Technician Claire Kubacki checks the health status of a large Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) in FOREG-38
Claire Kubacki checking the number on the tree tag for a large Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii)
Technician Jack Shultz records data
Tagged trees in FOREG-38. The double tag indicates that the tree is part of the Big Plots study and the long-term Permanent Study Plot study, while the folded tag indicates the tree is dead
Technician Gio D'Innocente measures where to mark and measure the diameter of a big leaf maple (Acer macrophyllum)
Technicians working in a dense plot along Lookout Creek measuring a patch of red huckleberries (Vaccinium parvifolium) with calipers
Technician Gio D'Innocente uses calipers to measure the diameter of a red huckleberry (Vaccinium parvifolium)
Technicians search for missing tagged trees, which had been crushed by a large fallen Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii)
Technicians looking for missing tree tags, which were marked on trees five years prior and now have fallen on the ground
Technician Gio D'Innocente looking for missing tree tags for a hazelnut (Corylus cornuta var. californica) patch, which were marked on trees five years prior and now have fallen on the ground
Looking up into the canopy
The study plot (FOREG-38)
Technician Gio D'Innocente uses a diameter tape to measure a hazelnut tree (Corylus cornuta var. californica) in the plot
Tree tags that will be assigned to new trees as they "in-growth" into the plot when they become 1 cm in diameter
Large Douglas firs (Pseudotsuga menziesii) in FOREG-38
Technician Claire Kubacki measures the diameter of a western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla) in FOREG-38
Technician Claire Kubacki measures the diameter of a vine maple tree (Acer circinatum), growing sideways, in FOREG-38
Vine maple (Acer circinatum) recently tagged and marked with markal paint stick to indicate it was measured and recorded
A tagged tree in FOREG-38
A tagged tree in FOREG-38 with technicians working in the plot
Measuring and recording tree diameter and health conditions
Technician Claire Kubacki measures and marks a vine maple (Acer circinatum)
Technician Claire Kubacki measures a small western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla) in FOREG38
Tools of the trade--diameter tape, wire clippers, markal paint stick, calipers, compass, tree tags, wire
Technician Claire Kubacki uses calipers to measure the diameter of a small western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla) in the study plot
Technician Amelia Leonard measures distance from an established tree to a tree that is being added to the study now that it is large enough
Technician Claire Kubacki measures the distance between trees
Technician Claire Kubacki measures the diameter of a large Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) tree
A check at the base of a hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla) reveals rot inside the trunk
Technician Amelia Leonard records data