Relevant Research

Relevant Research

David Sparks Ph.D.
David Sparks Ph.D.
Carlos Ochoa, an OSU rangeland scientist hopes to conduct a 10- to 20-year study in central and eastern Oregon in an effort to better understand how grazing, farming, wildlife, timber harvesting, and even the natural environment affect the quality and quantity of water in creeks. Ochoa, who specializes in hydrology, wants to know how shade from trees influences the water temperature. How much water do the trees suck up? How does irrigation water that seeps into the soil change the temperature of a stream?

All across the state, OSU's rangeland scientists are seeking answers to such questions, to help inform policy, boost ranchers' profits, and strengthen rural economies. They are wading in streams, trekking up hillsides, and scrutinizing everything in between in an effort to restore native vegetation, minimize the impact of wildfires, fight invasive weeds, and keep eastern Oregon watersheds healthy.

"Cheat grass is an invasive exotic. It can do a lot of harm to a lot of areas." Some distance away, Ann Kennedy, a USDA-Agricultural Research Service soil microbiologist at Washington State University, has isolated a native bacteria as a perfectly natural way to fight cheatgrass. Just wanted to let you taxpayers in the Northwest know that at least part of your money is funding some pretty important and relevant research efforts.

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