Biological Diversity

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). The entire family is endemic to the PNW, and two of the four species are currently being considered for listing under the Federal Endangered Species Act. These salamanders are biphasic, with a larval form that can take up to 5 years to metamorphose into a terrestrial form that is still highly sensitive to desiccation and changes in temperature.

What wildlife lives in the HJ Andrews Experimental Forest, and what do those animals do in a wildfire? Marie Tosa, a PhD graduate student at Oregon State University, conducted a camera trap study and scat study of mammalian carnivores in and around the Andrews Forest from 2017-2019. Marie’s surveys detected a diverse array of carnivores including cougars, black bears, coyotes, raccoons, opossums, gray foxes, mink, short-tailed and long-tailed weasels, striped skunks, and Marie’s favorite, western spotted skunks.

OSU Professors Dana Warren, Catalina Segura, and PhD student Madelyn Maffia are investigating the response of trout and salamanders to drought conditions in a tributary of McRae Creek. The researchers are using an experimental approach to mimic drought by (1) diverting stream flow to create a low-flow reach and (2) passively heating water through a coil system to increase water temperature.

Daniel McGarvey, an associate professor at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia, contacted us early on in the fire to share his memories and connection to the Andrews Forest and Lookout Creek. “I traveled to Lookout Creek in 2018 to sample fish and stream invertebrates with a crew made up entirely of underrepresented minorities.

This is the time of year when migratory birds head south for the winter. Hermit Warblers fly two and a half thousand miles (4000 km) each fall, from their breeding grounds in the western Unities states to their wintering grounds in central America. In the spring, they’ll make the trip in reverse. When the warblers return to the Andrews Forest, graduate students Maddie Sutton and Nina Ferrari are waiting for them. Maddie, Nina, and their team record the abundance of over 80 bird species each spring across 184 locations, or points, as part of a long-term study on bird populations.

The first week of September typically marks the annual trip to Mack Creek for our team of researchers working on a long-term study of trout and salamanders. Since 1987, we have visited the same sections of Mack Creek to measure the numbers, size, and mass of these aquatic vertebrates. The study constitutes one of the longest continuous records of salmonid populations on record. The Lookout Fire burned over Mack Creek so we will not be able to go to the site to sample and collect data this year.

Did you know that the HJ Andrews Experimental Forest, and Lookout Mountain, has high elevation meadows? Those meadows are full of flowers in the summer. 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.  So far, research in 12 meadows, over 11 years, has identified >670 flower-visitor species and >150 species of flowering plants.

A story map created by graduate student Alyssa Eklund contains videos, infographics and basic information about wildlife: “Nature's Hidden Encounters: Unveiling Wildlife Biodiversity - Large Wood Crossings at Lookout Creek, H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest, OR”. Much of the video footage and photos come from areas that are now within the Lookout Fire perimeter. This study shows that large logs laying across streams serve as important corridors to many different species of animals.