Knowledge of post-dispersal seed fates and other regeneration characteristics is crucial for predicting abundances and distributions of populations and, ultimately, community species composition and diversity. Seed fate studies, however, are rare primarily due to the difficulty of determining seed fates and causes of mortality. This thesis investigated post-dispersal seed fates for four species common to western Oregon native prairies: Bromus carinatus Hook and Am. var. carinatus, Cynosurus echinatus L., Daucus carota L., and Prunella vulgaris var. lanceolata (Barton) Fern. The general approach was to sow seeds of these species into experimentally manipulated field plots for each of two years, and to recover these seeds from the soil one year later to determine their fates (persistence, death, or establishment as seedlings). The effect of mowing on seedling establishment was also addressed. Additional studies focused on the effects of a single mortality factor, fungal disease, on seed and seedling deaths. The fate of most seeds was death (44%-80%). Few seeds established as seedlings (4%-17%), and mowing did not significantly increase seedling establishment. Only Daucus carota formed a persistent seed bank. Fungal disease generally caused less than 10% mortality. Pot studies corroborated these field results. Other investigators have suggested higher levels of disease in natural vegetation. Vertebrate predation significantly reduced seed numbers for only Bromus carinatus (21%). The largest cause of death for all species for both years was the combined group of other mortality causes (invertebrate predation, interference, and abiotic factors) (52%-73%). The components of this combined group, however, differed among species. The most likely components for Bromus carinatus and Cynosurus echinatus were interference (competition plus allelopathy) and abiotic factors, although invertebrate predation cannot be ruled out for Bromus carinatus. Seedling death due to abiotic factors was most likely the largest component for Daucus carota. The most probable components for Prunella vulgaris were invertebrate predation and abiotic factors. Implications of these findings for population patterns and for restoration of native prairies are discussed. / Graduation date: 1996

Although teams are a common method of structuring work activities, there is still much concern over their effectiveness. The primary purpose of this study was to describe the current state of teamwork training in Oregon and to identify critical training design activities, situational barriers and demographic variables related to the perceived success of workplace teamwork training programs. A self-administered questionnaire, based on the literature and a Delphi panel, was mailed to over 500 members of two professional training associations (The American Society for Training and Development and The National Society for Performance and Instruction) representing workplace trainers in Oregon. Of the 319 questionnaires returned, 134 indicated they provided teamwork training in the workplace. Data analysis included computing descriptive statistics on the frequency with which respondents actually performed 61 design and delivery/facilitation activities, the importance they placed on these activities, and the barriers they faced. Factor analysis was used to reduce the items, and correlational methods, including regression and ANOVA, were used to determine the relationships between derived factors and success and the relationship between demographic variables and success. Descriptive analyses indicated that these respondents place highest priority on activities related to a systemic, yet traditional view of teams within an organization. They pay close attention to the potential impact of organizational variables, primarily management support and goal alignment; lesser attention to rewards. They place lower priority on items relating to the task and technology used by the team. Respondents employ participative, problem-solving approaches, encouraging total, voluntary participation, and focus on clarifying individual responsibilities, team goals, and decision-making. Aspects of a systems approach to training (performance objectives, task and person analysis, and continuous evaluation) are among the less frequently performed activities. According to this study, successful teamwork training programs are performance-based, utilize constructive feedback and address individual attributes. Dysfunctional management practices are negatively correlated with success. Management must define clearly what teamwork means and then model desired behaviors. Implications and recommendations for further research are also included. / Graduation date: 1995

The incipient motion of sediment particles in gravel-bed rivers is a very important process. It represents the difference between bed stability and bed mobility. A field study was conducted in Oak Creek, Oregon to investigate incipient motion of individual particles in gravel-bed streams. Investigation was also made of the incipient motion of individual gravel particles in the armor layer, using painted gravel placed on the bed of the stream and recovered after successive high flows. The effect of gravel particle shape was examined for a wide range of flow conditions to determine its significance on incipient motion. The result of analysis indicates a wide variation in particle shapes present. Incipient motion and general transport were found to be generally independent of particle shape regardless of particle sizes. A sample of bed material may contain a mixture of shapes such as well-rounded, oval, flat, disc-like, pencil-shaped, angular, and block-like. These are not likely to move in identical manners during transport nor to start motion at the same flow condition. This leads to questions about the role of shape in predicting incipient motion and equal mobility in gravel-bed streams. The study suggests that gravel particles initiate motion in a manner that is independent of particle shape. One explanation may be that for a natural bed surface many particles rest in orientations that give them the best: protection against disturbance, probably a result of their coming to rest gradually during a period of decreasing flows, rather than being randomly dumped. But even when tracer particles were placed randomly in the bed surface there was no evident selectively for initiation of motion on the basis of particle shape. It can be concluded from analysis based on the methods of Parker et al. and Komar that there is room for both equal mobility and flow-competence evaluations. However, the equal mobility concept is best applied for conditions near incipient motion and the flow-competence concept is best applied for larger flows and general bedload transport. Furthermore, with an armored bed, such as that at Oak Creek, there is a tendency for a more-nearly equal mobility (or equivalent) for the normalized transport rates for the various size fractions when incipient motion and moderate bedload transport occurs. / Graduation date: 1995

The vegetative communities in the subalpine meadows of Hunts Cove, Mt. Jefferson, and some of the major environmental factors affecting them were studied in the summer of 1971. Hunts Cove is in the subalpine Tsuga mertensiana parkland of the Central Oregon High Cascades. Habitats within the Cove vary considerably; elevation changes from 1500 m to 1900 m; water regime ranges from bogs and seeps to desert; snowlie varies as much as two months at different points in the same year. Estimates of vegetative cover and frequency were taken on 300 quadrats. Snow lie was monitored on a weekly basis. Soils were collected and analyzed. Eleven meadow communities were distinguished. They are: A. The short sedge communities, 1) Carex nigricans-Aster and 2) Carex nigricans-Polytrichum on late snowfree, poorly drained sites; B. Bryophyte, on very late snowfree, damp, shaded soil; C. Heath communities on well drained sites, 1) Phyllodoce-Cassiope on exposed late snowfree slopes, 2) Vaccinium deliciosum on moderately late snowfree slopes and 3) Potentilla-Carex nigricans on very late snowfree sites with rodent activity; D. Senecio lush herb on mesic warm sites; E. Hydric communities, 1) Eleocharis-Aulacomnium occurring in stagnant water, 2) Carex rostrata-Sphagnum in freely moving water, 3) Carex scopulorum in seeps and bogs with permanent water supply, probably an edaphic climax, and 4) Carex sitchensis in swamps flooded during meltoff. These communities were arrayed in a floristic ordination and the position of all hydric, lush herb, and short sedge sample plots was found to parallel snowfree dates. Well drained heath communities became snowfree in the order expected from other studies. Comparison of the communities with other studies from the Northwest suggests Phyllodoce-Cassiope, Vaccinium deliciosum and the Carex nigricans communities to be parts of a consistent vegetative pattern extending north into Southern B. C. / Graduation date: 1973

Thesis (M.A.)--Pan American University, 1983. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 127-137). Also available via Internet as PDF file through Southern Oregon Digital Archives: http://soda.sou.edu. Search History Collection.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--Oregon State University, 1975. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references. Also available online.

Graduation date: 1991

For the type of museums discussed in this paper, the nonprofit organization type, the board of directors is the governing body. The board approves the policies that guide the staff in administering the museum. The relationship between the board and the staff should be one of respect and cooperation; but often the relationship is fraught with controversy and antagonism. The purpose of this study is to examine the duties and the relationships between the staffs and the boards of small history museums in Oregon. A comparison will be made between the ideal duties and responsibilities of boards of directors of a museum as set forth in the professional literature and how those duties and responsibilities are perceived and performed in actual practice as revealed by information gathered from a questionnaire distributed to selected small history museums in Oregon with a staff of six or less. The hypothesis that the board of trustees is a deterrent to the smooth operation of a museum was not entirely borne out by the study. A more democratic view, as discovered in conducting the research for this study, is that boards and staff may be insufficiently trained to understand their respective roles in the organization. To that end, guidelines to sue in development of an orientation meeting and manual are included in Appendix B. / Graduation date: 1991

Graduation date: 1993

Small broomrape, a holoparasitic weed, is a relatively new weed introduction in the Pacific Northwest that has contaminated a limited number of red clover fields in Oregon. Greenhouse and field studies were conducted to evaluate small broomrape response to common crop and weed species in the Pacific Northwest. Host species in the greenhouse or field study included alfalfa, arrowleaf clover, carrot, celery, common vetch, crimson clover, lettuce, prickly lettuce, red clover, spotted catsear, subterranean clover, white clover, and wild carrot. False-host species included barley, birdsfoot trefoil, creeping bentgrass, cucumber, field corn, fine fescue, flax, Italian ryegrass, nasturtium, oat, orchardgrass, perennial ryegrass, snap bean, sugar pea, sunflower, sweet corn, tall fescue, tomato, and wheat. Non-host species included sugar beet and curly dock. The greenhouse polyethylene bag system provided a rapid and inexpensive screening for plant species host status to small broomrape. Germination and attachment to host roots are initiated by chemical exudates, that may change concentration in response to nutrient availability and microorganisms. Red clover was grown in varying concentrations of ammonium sulfate fertilizer with and without Rhizobium inoculation, and with small broomrape seeds. Neither Rhizobium inoculation nor ammonium concentration influenced the number of small broomrape attachments to red clover roots. A survey was conducted of red clover seed growers with small broomrape-contaminated fields in the Pacific Northwest. Red clover seed from six respondents were cleaned at the same cleaning facility, and the same respondents purchased their seed stock from this cleaning facility. Small broomrape was not identified in red clover fields prior to or during the first clover seed harvest of fall planted red clover in small broomrape-contaminated sites. / Graduation date: 2003