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Anthropogenic Stressors in Oregon (Wallowa Mountains, Siuslaw National Forest, and Crater Lake National Park)

 Anthropogenic Stressors

 In the three locations I’ve previously discussed (Wallowa Mountains, Siuslaw National Forest, and Crater Lake National Park), there have been anthropogenic stressors present. Anthropogenic stressors our Human actions that cause a negative impact (directly or indirectly) on a native species in an area. These Anthropogenic stressors have vast effects on the environment and especially the biotic organisms that live in each of the regions. 

                                    Crater Lake National park

Anytime a non native species is introduced to an area, conflicts with the native species can occur. This is because the introduction of a new species can create competition that the native species have never had to deal with. This is exactly what happened at Crater lake national park when Crayfish were introduced. Humans introduced Crayfish to Crater lake in 1915 as a food source for non native fish (Landers 2015). Crayfish were introduced to the area with only their interactions with the fish in mind, and not the many other biotic organisms that live there. One species that has had their population drastically reduced by the introduction of the invasive Crayfish is the Mazama Newt. Crayfish predation on the Newt population has directly contributed to the reduced distribution of Newts at Crater Lake (Girdner, 2018).

https://www.heraldandnews.com/email_blast/crayfish-in-crater-lake-threaten-newt-population/article_3805215c-67e3-11e4-a35d-27285908390e.html 

Wallowa Mountain range

The Wallowa Mountain range is home to many big game animal species like the white-tailed deer, mule deer, bighorn sheep, and mountain goats. This makes the Wallowa Mountain range a very popular place for instate and out of state hunters to go. The pressure that hunting (and possibly tourism) puts on the ungulates of Wallowa Mountain range can cause predatory animals to look elsewhere for their diet. This can be seen by the American grey wolf. While looking for other prey, wolves in Oregon have killed a total of 242 livestock or domestic animals since the 1990s (ODFW, 2021). Wolves migrating to urbanized areas could be devastating to the wolf population. We’ve seen in Oregon's history that the wolves population was once estimated at 90, due to overhunting and people protecting their livestock (Young, 1944).

https://oregonwild.org/wildlife/wolves-come-home-oregon

Siuslaw National Forest

The biggest Arthropathic stressor at Siuslaw National Forest is human recreational activities on the dunes. Other than camping, or hiking, the biggest anthropogenic stressor caused by recreational activities is vehicles driving in the dunes. Off road vehicles in the dunes directly affect the Western Snowy Plover nest sites on the open sand (Oregon Wild. 2019). 


https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.flickr.com%2Fphotos%2Fforestservicenw%2F49200411091&psig=AOvVaw3Ohd3wxj25lSxa9Q42TBkc&ust=1619929367457000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CA0QjhxqFwoTCKj2kqrRp_ACFQAAAAAdAAAAABAD 


Effects of Climate Change

Under the RCP 8.5 scenario, the average daily max temperature in Fahrenheit is expected to rise from 58 degrees to 60 degrees by the year 2050 at the Wallowa Mountain range (Climate Explorer). The warming temperatures will cause a higher frequency of extreme climate events (drought, low snowpack) and events like wildfires will in turn increase (Halofsky, 2017). The grey wolf population will be greatly displaced if wildfires become more frequent, pushing them further into urbanized areas.


Under the RCP 8.5 scenario, the average daily max temperature in Fahrenheit in the Crater Lake area is projected to 62.5 degrees by the year 2050 (2.5 degree increase from now) (Climate Explorer). The Climatic warming at Crater Lake will cause the amount of dissolved organic carbon in the water to decline, which will allow freshwater ecosystems to be harmed by increased UV exposure (Schindler, 1996b). This will increase the vulnerability of the Mazama Newt population.


According to the RCP 8.5 scenario, the average daily max temperature in Fahrenheit is expected to rise to 64.9 degrees by the year 2050 at Siuslaw National Forest (an increase of 2.9 degrees)(Climate Explorer).  As the ocean warms due to Global warming, the overall volume of the ocean will expand (Church, 2011). This will cause a massive loss in the amount of dunes at Siuslaw National Forest, which will be a direct loss in habitat for the Western Snowy Plover.

(The average predicted daily max temperature in Fahrenheit at National Forest) () 

(graph of the predicted average daily max temperature for Siuslaw National Forest, Climate Explorer)






Conservation Plan

The Conservation plan I would construct for the Wallowa Mountain Range would focus on dealing with invasive plant species by implementing more controlled burns. In higher elevation areas like the Wallowa Mountain invasive species aren’t fairly common. However, Invasive species are beginning to migrate into the Wallowa Mountain Range. This is because these invasive species utilize disturbances for spread into higher elevation sites (Averett JP. 2014). The solution to this would be to maintain seasonal controlled burns to rid the non-native species. This will also help with eliminating the odds of a severe wildfire occurring. Since this invasion can take much longer to occur, it is the least vulnerable location.


For Siuslaw National Forest my conservation plan would consist of creating stricter laws on where humans can go. In particular I would focus on limiting the amount of off-road vehicles allowed on the dunes. This is because the dunes at Siuslaw National Forest offer a very diverse ecosystem that is not particularly common in the United States. The Western Snowy plover for example lays their eggs in shallow sand depressions, which lead to constantly changing nesting habitats (U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Nov. 2019). This could create problems with determining where the Western Snowy Plover nests are located. I believe that Siuslaw National Forest is the most vulnerable out of the three locations in Oregon, because the actions by humans can be more directly seen, and possibly more drastic to the species that live there. 


The conservation plan I would create for Crater Lake National Park would deal with the effects and actions of the species which have been externally introduced. Much of the species that now reside at Crater lake are invasive. For example fish were not originally native to Crater Lake, but were introduced. Out of the originally six species of fish that were introduced the only two surviving species were Rainbow Trout and Kokanee (USGS). What I would like to do with my conservation plan is create very strict rules on fishing, and other recreational activities. These rules would be put in place to try and prevent the introduction of any other invasive species, which could potentially harm any of the native species. The rules on fishing would prohibit the use of any live bait. This would prevent people from potentially introducing more Crayfish that forever changed the Mazama Newt population. Out of all the three locations Crater lake is the middle most vulnerable. Because the species that were introduced have already begun to outcompete native species.






                                                                    Work Cited 



Averett JP. Non-native and native plant species distributions and variability along an elevation gradient in the Wallowa Mountains, Oregon. M.Sc. Thesis, Oregon State University. 2014. Available: http://hdl.handle.net/1957/51655  


Church, J. A., and White, N. J. (2011). Sea-Level Rise from the Late 19th to the Early 21st Century. Surveys in Geophysics, 32(4-5), 585–602. http://doi.org/10.1007/s10712-011-9119-1


Halofsky, J.E. and D.L. Peterson (eds.). 2017. Vulnerability and adaptation to climate change in the Blue Mountains. USDA General Technical Report PNW-GTR-939. Pacific Northwest Research Station, Portland, OR.

Girdner, S.F., Ray, A.M., Buktenica, M.W. et al. 2018.  Replacement of a unique population of newts (Taricha granulosa mazamae) by introduced signal crayfish (Pacifastacus leniusculus) in Crater Lake, Oregon. Biol Invasions 20, 721–740. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-017-1570-6

Landers, Rich. 18 Dec. 2015. “Crater Lake Threatened by Boom in Non-Native Crayfish.” The Spokesman Review, www.spokesman.com/blogs/outdoors/2015/dec/29/crater-lake-threatened-boom-non-native-

Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. 2021. “ODFW Frequently Asked Questions About Wolves.”www.dfw.state.or.us/wolves/faq.asp.

Schindler DW, Curtis PJ, Parker BR & Stainton MP (1996b) Consequences of climatic warming and lake acidification for UVb penetration in North American boreal lakes. Nature 379: 705–708

“Siuslaw National Forest.” Oregon Wild, 2019, oregonwild.org/siuslaw-national-forest.

USGS. Geology and Ecology of National Parks, www.usgs.gov/science-support/osqi/yes/national-parks/ecology-crater-lake-national-park#:~:text=Fish%20are%20not%20native%20to,the%20years%201888%20to%201941. 

Young, Stanley P. and Edward A. Goldman. 1944. The Wolves of North America. Part 1. Dover Publications, New York.


Climate Explorer, crt-climate-explorer.nemac.org/local-climate-charts/?county=Wallowa+County&city=Wallowa%2C+OR&fips=41063&lat=45.57&lon=-117.53&zoom=7&id=tmax&nav=local-climate-charts. 




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