Geology topics
Michael L. Morrison
Publications and source records attributed to Michael L. Morrison.
Flows for floodplain forests: a successful riparian restoration
Throughout the 20th century, the Truckee River that flows from Lake Tahoe into the Nevada desert was progressively dammed and dewatered, which led to the collapse of its aquatic and riparian ecosystems. The federal designation of the endemic cui-ui sucker ( Chasmistes cujus ) as endangered prompted a restoration program in the 1980s aimed at increasing spring flows to permit fish spawning. These flows did promote cui-ui reproduction, as well as an unanticipated benefit, the extensive seedling recruitment of Fremont cottonwood ( Populus fremontii ) and sandbar willow ( Salix exigua ). Recruitment was scattered in 1983 but extensive in 1987, when the hydrograph satisfied the riparian recruitment box model that had been developed for other rivers. That model was subsequently applied to develop flow prescriptions that were implemented from 1995 through 2000 and enabled further seedling establishment. The woodland recovery produced broad ecosystem benefits, as evidenced by the return by 1998 of 10 of 19 riparian bird species whose populations had been locally extirpated or had declined severely between 1868 and 1980. The dramatic partial recovery along this severely degraded desert river offers promise that the use of instream flow regulation can promote ecosystem restoration along other dammed rivers worldwide.
Response of avian communities to herbicide-induced vegetation changes
The relationships between avian communities and herbicide modification of vegetation were analyzed on early-growth clear-cuts in western Oregon that had received phenoxy herbicide treatment 1 or 4 years previously. For both 1 and 4 years post-spray, vegetation development was greater in the third height interval (> 3.0 m) on untreated sites. All measures of vegetative diversity on untreated sites exceeded those on treated sites. Overall density and diversity of birds were similar between treated and untreated sites. Several bird species altered their foraging behavior on treated sites, i.e., birds using deciduous trees increased use of shrubs on treated sites. The primary effect of herbicide application was a reduction in the complexity of vegetation, a condition due primarity to the removal of deciduous trees. Small patches of deciduous trees scattered in clear-cuts treated with phenoxy herbicides can maintain an avian community similar to that on untreated sites.
The structure of western warbler assemblages: Analysis of foraging behavior and habitat selection in Oregon
This study examines the foraging behavior and habitat selection of a MacGillivray's ( Oporornis tolmiei )-Orange-crowned ( Vermivora celata )-Wilson's ( Wilsonia pusilla ) warbler assemblage that occurred on early-growth clearcuts in western Oregon during breeding. Sites were divided into two groups based on the presence or absence of deciduous trees. Density estimates for each species were nearly identical between site classes except for Wilson's, whose density declined on nondeciduous tree sites. Analysis of vegetation parameters within the territories of the species identified deciduous tree cover as the variable of primary importance in the separation of warblers on each site, so that the assemblage could be arranged on a continuum of increasing deciduous tree cover. MacGillivray's and Wilson's extensively used shrub cover and deciduous tree cover, respectively; Orange-crowns were associated with both vegetation types. When the deciduous tree cover was reduced, Orange-crowns concentrated foraging activities in shrub cover and maintained nondisturbance densities. Indices of foraging-height diversity showed a marked decrease after the removal of deciduous trees. All species except MacGillivray's foraged lower in the vegatative substrate on the nondeciduous tree sites; MacGillivray's concentrated foraging activities in the low shrub cover on both sites. Indices of foraging overlap revealed a general pattern of decreased segregation by habitat after removal of deciduous trees. I suggest that the basic patterns of foraging behavior and habitat selection evidenced today in western North America were initially developed by ancestral warblers before their invasion of the west. Species successfully colonizing western habitats were probably preadapted to the conditions they encountered, with new habitats occupied without obvious evolutionary modifications.