Many resource management controversies indicate
disagreement about the possible intended and unintended effects
of management actions on ecosystems. Researchers have
documented a variety of negative effects on specific ecosystems, e.
g. the degradation of salmonid habitat due to mass wasting
(Hagans et al. 1986). While the effects of some management
actions are reversible, others change systems capacities and are
therefore irreversible, e.g. the poisoning of Kesterson Wildlife
Refuge with selenium due to agricultural practices (Schuler 1987).
The difference between reversible and irreversible management
effects is often a matter of scale. Management actions that are out
of concordance with the properties of a system have the potential
to irreversibly change a system if applied over large spatial and
temporal scales. Using the method of contextual watershed
classification (Warren 1979) the concordance of forest
management with the properties of the Yaquina drainage (an
Oregon coastal watershed of 220 sq. mi. size) and its
environmental class (the North-central Coast Range) are
evaluated.
For this purpose, the watershed and its environment are
classified according to five components: climate, substrate, biota,
water, and culture. Properties are selected that are rather
invariant and general, and therefore reflect the potential
capacities of system and environment. The climatic, geologic,
geomorphic, and hydrologic characteristics are compared to
trophic relationships and life history traits of selected tree species
in an attempt to understand the biophysical relationships in the
forest environment that dominates the watershed. It is found
that commonly applied harvest regimes are out of concordance
with the biophysical environment and thus have the potential to
lead to resource loss. Alternative management practices that
would be more concordant with resource properties are proposed.
The influence of dominant world views (namely mechanism,
realism, rationalism, individualism, utilitarianism, and elitism) on
the forest planning process and on the opinions of community
leaders is evaluated. It is found that forest management
practices, although they are out of concordance with the
biophysical environment, are in concordance with the larger
cultural environment and the perceptions and opinions of local
community leaders. Hence, adopting new practices that are more
concordant with the biophysical environment will be difficult. The major hindrance is located in the economic sphere. Concerns
relating to the economical sphere are discussed and a probable
route to more concordant resource use is proposed. / Graduation date: 1989
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ORGSU/oai:ir.library.oregonstate.edu:1957/32126 |
| Date | 29 June 1988 |
| Creators | Goetze, Brigitte |
| Contributors | Warren, Charles E. |
| Source Sets | Oregon State University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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