Oak Savanna Landscape Planning and Restoration
Oregon white oak savanna, once common in Oregon's Willamette Valley, is now
considered an imperiled ecosystem. We are investigating the potential to integrate
oak savanna restoration with reducing the risk of catastrophic wildfire in
the wildland urban interface. We are using extensive biophysical data sets
to analyze the mechanisms underlying historical trajectories of ecological
change, and to project future changes under a suite of alternative futures
land management scenarios developed in collaboration with a stakeholder advisory
group.
Current Projects
A Landscape-Level Approach to Fuels Management Through Ecological Restoration:
Developing a Knowledge Base for Application to Historic Oak-Pine Savanna. Funded
by the U.S. Department of Interior Joint Fire Sciences Program. $398,000.
PI: Bart Johnson, Co-PIs: Scott Bridgham (UO), Jane Kertis (USFS)
Graduate Students: Jonathon Day, Jenna Garmon, Meghan McNeil, Adrienne Moll,
Karen Sonnenblick, Gabe Yospin
Completed Projects
Jim's Creek Savanna: Trajectories of change and potential for restoration. Funded
by the USDA Forest Service and University of Oregon Institute for Sustainable
Environment. $15,000.
PI: Bart Johnson, Co-PIs: Jane Kertis (USFS), Jenny Lippert (USFS)
Graduate Student: Karen Sonnenblick
Publications
Jenna Garmon. 2006. Restoring Oak Savanna to Oregon's Willamette Valley: Using
Alternative Futures to Guide Land Management Decisions. Master Thesis, Environmental
Studies Program, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR.
(download PDF)
Sonnenblick, Karen L. 2006. Environmental Controls Over Forest Succession
of a Former Oak Savanna, Jim's Creek, Willamette National Forest, Oregon.
Master Thesis, Department of Biology, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR.
Day, Jonathan W. 2005. Historical savanna structure and succession at Jim's
Creek, Willamette National Forest, Oregon. Master Thesis, Department of Geography,
University of Oregon, Eugene, OR. (download PDF)
Oak Savanna Landscape Planning and Restoration