Biodiversity
Biodiversity is a critical element of life on this planet. We are interdependent on other species to support healthy and functioning ecosystems, provide nutrition, pollinate crops and break down pollution. The NCASI Foundation supports projects focused on understanding the relationships between sustainable forest management and biodiversity. This includes understanding the contributions that working forests make to conservation of at-risk species. This work is being accomplished through collaborative conservation with many partners.
Projects
Pacific Marten habitat use and distribution on the Gold Beach Ranger District
The marten is currently listed under the ESA as Threatened and this work ties directly to the management of marten habitat on RRSNF lands.
Pollinator pathways across landscapes: floral occurrence, pollinator richness, and plant/pollinator interactions in the Oregon Coast Range
This project will be evaluating the occurrence of multiple taxa (bees, bats, passerines, hummingbirds) and quantifying their interactions and use of the existing floral community.
Marten and Fisher Surveys
NCASI will provide an evaluation of recent wildfires on forest carnivores, focused on fishers (Pekania pennanti) and Pacific martens (Martes caurina).
Identifying science-based conservation opportunities for Humboldt martens
This is a multi-faceted telemetry study paired with non-invasive techniques to evaluate critical information gaps for Humboldt martens.
Red Tree Voles in Working Forests
A more comprehensive examination of whether young forest expands the availability of suitable habitat for red tree voles will provide needed information for conservation and management decisions.
Fisher conservation in Oregon under the Candidate Conservation Agreements with Assurances (CCAA) program
Projects will address fisher distributions, population trends, habitat relationships, and other activities that inform fisher conservation.
BLM OR/WA Coos Bay Coastal Marten Surveys
The proposed work would survey in areas of relatively contiguous forested habitat with characteristics likely to support marten.
Humboldt marten connectivity in the southern Oregon coast ranges
This effort will help to identify whether southern Oregon has multiple small meta-populations, making them more vulnerable to local extinctions and genetic isolation, or whether martens constitute a connected population,…
Assessing wildlife value of slash piles including implications for martens and fishers
This project explores opportunities for increased conservation value on working forest landscapes for martens and fishers in Northern Californian and the southern Oregon coast.
Black-backed Woodpecker demographic rates in an understudied habitat: Unburned conifer forest
Principal Investigator: Jake Verschuyl, PhD, NCASI / Director of Forestry Research, Western U.S. & B.C. Collaborator: Oregon State University Supported by: Western Trade Association Member Companies Project Summary: Woodpeckers respond…
Intensive Forest Management (IFM) Avian point count and vegetation
Principal Investigator: Jake Verschuyl, PhD, NCASI / Director of Forestry Research, Western U.S. & B.C. Collaborator: Oregon State University Supported by: Western Trade Association Member Companies Project Summary: To develop…
Evaluating pollinator plant associations, diversity, and abundance across a watershed-scale gradient of forest management intensity in the Oregon coast range
Potential effects of forest management on pollinator populations have received little research attention.
Wildlife Conservation Initiative: Quantifying the contribution of sustainable forest practices to at-risk species and terrestrial and aquatic communities
WCI Project – The purpose of this project is to quantify the role of working forest landscapes in conserving species-at-risk and maintaining aquatic and terrestrial communities.
Biodiversity in natural and managed early seral forests of southern Oregon
Principal Investigator: Jake Verchuyl, PhD, NCASI /Director of Forestry Research, Western U.S & B.C. Collaborator: Oregon State University Supported by: Western Trade Association Member Companies Project Summary: Federal forest management…
Manipulating retained structures to improve wildlife value
Principal Investigator: Jake Verschuyl, PhD, NCASI /Director of Forestry Research, Western U.S & B.C. Collaborator: Michigan State University Supported by: Western Trade Association Member Companies Project Summary: Although research on…
Developing a Pacific marten habitat connectivity model for Lassen National Forest (CA)
The objective of this project is to develop a Pacific marten habitat connectivity model within the Storrie Fire boundary for Lassen National Forest in California.