Last updated: July 5, 2023
Article
The Klamath Kaleidoscope: Fall-Winter 2022
In this issue of the Klamath Kaleidoscope, we share an article about the rocky intertidal community, as well as news about post-Dixie Fire monitoring, the upcoming Klamath Conversations gathering, vital sign monitoring this past year, and recent publications. We also highlight news about Klamath Network people, including Sean Smith’s departure, Sonya Daw’s award, intern Sarah Gwynn’s experience, and where our 2011 intern, Shadassa Ourshalimian, has landed in his career.
NPS
On the Edge: The Curious Lives of Intertidal Organisms and How We Monitor Them at Redwood National and State Parks
Learn about life in the rocky intertidal zone and how we track its health in this article by Southern Oregon University science writing intern, Natalie DiNenno.
Imagine a trip to the Redwood National and State Parks. What do you see? The majestic trees, towering above you? Let’s go a bit further, past the trees. You travel past rivers and oak woodlands and prairies, and all the way to the coastline. There, just in front of you: a smattering of rocks, exposed by the low tide. You take a step closer and see water pooling between the rocks, a crab disappearing into the sand, an anemone waving hello, and perhaps a purple sea star, clinging to one of the rocks. You’ve discovered the rocky intertidal zone. Read more...
NPS/S. Daw
Farewell to Sean Smith, Klamath Network Botanist/Vegetation Ecologist
The Klamath Network is losing a foundational member of its team: Sean Smith. Smith has been with the network since 2003, soon after it started, moving from intern to crew lead to botanist, and finally, plant ecologist. Though nothing can replace his in-depth knowledge of vegetation communities and how they have changed over time in network parks, we know he’ll apply that valuable experience well to his new position as Forest Botanist with the Idaho Panhandle National Forest in Coeur d’Alene. We are deeply grateful to Sean for his near 20 years of service with the Inventory and Monitoring Division.
Reflecting on his time as an IMD scientist, Smith is proud of his dedication to its core tenets. He has always appreciated the “fantastic data management” that he considers the “core of I&M.” And he’s kept an unwavering commitment to the repeatable protocols designed to deliver value over the long-term, not the short-term. From the start, he believed in the division’s mission, quipping, “I drank the kool-aid.”
Though he won’t be around to see how Klamath Network plant communities change in the aftermath of big disturbances—a question that fascinates him—there is one thing he won’t miss: poison oak! Years of constant exposure increased his sensitivity so much that it landed him in the ER this summer. “I can barely even look at the stuff without getting poison oak!”
Read this profile of Smith for a glimpse into his journey as a scientist.
Monitoring in a Time of Big Disturbances: The Dixie Fire
NPS
With some finagling, the Klamath Network’s aquatic ecologist, Eric Dinger, made the most of an unfortunate one-year delay in streams monitoring at Lassen Volcanic NP caused by the 2021 Dixie Fire. Dinger used funding freed in 2020 by COVID-19 pandemic fieldwork cancellations to sample 30 ponds and lakes outside of the regular schedule at Lassen in 2022. Lakes and ponds are usually sampled every 3 years, but monitoring them this year, along with streams, captured a snapshot of conditions 1 year after the Dixie Fire.
A major disturbance event like the Dixie Fire sets in motion physical changes to the lake environment. For example, trees killed by the fire will start falling into the lake, causing an influx of woody debris that shapes aquatic invertebrate habitat. An equally significant—though different—kind of change will occur at lakes in the park where snags created by the 2012 Reading Fire were largely incinerated by the Dixie Fire. These lakes, such as in the area of Hat Creek drainage, will experience a sudden loss of woody debris input for many years until the trees grow back.
Sampling soon after the fire helps us understand what is changing and how fast it is changing. For example, Dinger’s crew also conducted unscheduled sampling at Whiskeytown NRA immediately after the 2018 Carr Fire. Between 2018 and 2021, they documented substantial recovery of the aquatic invertebrate species assemblage in the 3 years after the fire. With large fires increasing throughout the West, what we learn about these kinds of postfire changes is essential to managers.
Back on the regular schedule, crews will sample ponds and lakes again at Lassen in 2023, documenting 2 consecutive years of postfire conditions in the park.
Summer on the High Slopes
NPS
Intern Sarah Gwynn has climbed more than just a literal mountain to spend the summer monitoring whitebark pine at high elevations in Crater Lake and Lassen Volcanic National Parks. After graduating from high school, her 10-year path to college faced several setbacks before landing her at Southern Oregon University. Though she sometimes can’t relate to the younger students in her cohort, being a nontraditional student has also given her a unique hunger for learning. She is laser focused on her studies as an Environmental Science and Policy student, and already applying for master’s degree programs. She'll return to the network next summer as the crew lead for whitebark pine monitoring. She shares some highlights from her 2022 summer internship experience with the Klamath Network.
Tell us about a typical day?
“Wake up early, have breakfast (and coffee), and be ready to go at 7:30 for a brief meeting to discuss the plan for the day. We’d hit the road and drive to the hike-in spot, which could either be long or short and steep. Once we reach the location, we’d set up the plot and work the site. Depending on the location it could be done in a day or two, or we might finish the site in a few hours and pack up to move on to the next one. Typically we were back to camp by 6:00 to eat dinner and enjoy a little recreation time.”
“One particular moment in Lassen Volcanic National Park the weather turned quickly and it began to thunder and rain on Lassen Peak. Because of our proximity to the peak and lightning strikes, we left the site early for safety reasons. The sudden rain was both exhilarating and refreshing after being in the summer heat. That day as we left, I remember feeling inspired by the majestic power of our world, as the rain painted what almost felt like a Martian landscape.”
What did you find challenging and how did you deal with it?
“Although this internship was moderately physical, the most challenging moments for me were when I felt inadequate, due to a lack of knowledge on a particular subject. I am grateful that I had the insight to remember that as an intern, you aren’t expected to know everything! By being open and willing to learn, I was able to take in so much more, especially as a new person in the field.”
What did you learn from the internship?
“This experience was great for learning lots of practical skills, including navigating and using GPS technology, and inputting information into a database. Just as valuable was the perspective I gained working as part of a field crew, and the practical application of a protocol in the field.”
Did the internship influence future plans?
“I’m really excited to get back on a crew once I finish my Bachelor’s degree! I am struck by the impacts of climate change on vegetation, and this internship has heightened my interest in pursuing a career in biology. I’m currently applying to Master’s programs, and am eager to learn more about plant physiology.”
How can an intern make the most of this experience?
“Ask questions. I know everyone says that, but if you really want to make the most out of this internship, don’t be afraid to ask questions. Having an open dialogue with my supervisor and fellow crew members was invaluable. I found the knowledge and experience shared just as important as the practical skills I learned in the field.”
To learn about internships with the NPS Klamath Network, watch for classroom presentations at SOU by our staff or visit our booth at the spring Southern Oregon University Career and Internship Fair. To learn about seasonal summer technician positions with the NPS Klamath Network, browse USA Jobs (search "Klamath Network") and job listings at The Great Basin Institute in the fall. December and January are the best time to email our staff directly about job and internship openings.
Cover art by Frontiers for Young Minds.
Sonya Daw Shares National Inventory and Monitoring Division Communication Award
As part of an editorial team, Klamath Network Science Communication Specialist, Sonya Daw, helped lead an adventurous group of IMD scientists on a deep dive into writing about their projects for a new audience: youth. The special collection editor team of Erin Shanahan, Nina Chambers, Rebecca Weissinger, and Sonya Daw (+ two non-IMD staff) won the 2021 Inventory and Monitoring Division Communication Award for leading the project.
“Taking the Pulse of US National Parks” is a special collection of articles that brings to life how and why scientists monitor natural resource “vital signs” in parks, highlighting what’s especially cool. Youth actually review each article before publication with guidance from a PhD science mentor, who shares what life as a scientist is like as well. Published in the international, open-access youth journal, Frontiers for Young Minds, these articles make science fun and aim to inspire the next generation of scientists.
The collection, which should be complete by the end of 2022, contains 27 articles, several of which were co-authored by Klamath Network staff:
Diversity and Disturbance: How Mussels and Sea Stars Strengthen the Rocky Intertidal Community
Monitoring the Migrators: Tracking the Animals Passing Through Our Parks
The Wild and Wonderful World of Stream Bugs
How Healthy Is a Stream? Ask the Stream Bugs!
Klamath Conversations Returns
After a four-year pause, Klamath Conversations is back! Klamath Network park staff will join science partners and Southern Oregon University guests to gather for 2 days of project presentations about natural and cultural resources, as well as interpretation and communication. Combined with the Klamath Network Technical Committee and Board of Director’s meetings, the event will occur between December 6–8 in Ashland, Oregon. We are excited to host the gathering and catch up on one another’s projects.
Charles Griswold
Featured Creatures Are Online and Easy to Find
A favorite Klamath Network tradition—the Featured Creature natural history article—is slowly but steadily becoming more accessible online. For the past 2–3 years, we’ve been creating an online web version of each printable pdf. The Featured Creature tradition started back in 2005, meaning that we’ve published over 200 articles to date! We are now going back in time to bring older printable pdfs into the new web format for easier access. Both the web articles and the printable pdfs became searchable from our website last year with a new online lookup table (note that you can always find them in IRMA). We hope this online format helps you find and use Featured Creature articles much more easily. Take a look and watch for older articles—like trogloraptor—to appear in the new form!
With over 200 species described, finding new ones with a sufficient body of study to plumb for natural history and fun facts is challenging. Thus, we are shifting from a monthly to a quarterly schedule.
Where Are They Now?
The Klamath Network works with a variety of interns to support our program and to offer educational experiences. Interns may find themselves sampling water quality, monitoring whitebark pine, identifying native plants, mist-netting bats, or writing about our science. Here we highlight where our interns have landed professionally or educationally.
Shadassa Ourshalimian
Klamath Network position: Stream monitoring technician, 2011
Current job: Biostatistician III, Health Outcomes & Policy Effects (HOPE) Lab, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, CA
As an SOU biology student, Shadassa Ourshalimian spent a summer with the Klamath Network collecting data from streams to monitor aquatic health. Several years and a Master of Public Health degree later, he works with biological data in a different capacity – health care. As a biostatistician, he refines research methods and statistical approaches to better understand, predict, and minimize the risk of opioid addiction in adolescents who need pain management after surgery.
“I love what I do and feel fortunate to be able to apply my passion for research and public health. It's exciting work that constantly challenges me to learn and problem solve. The end result of our work will hopefully have far reaching implications for improving clinical outcomes for adolescent surgical patients.”
He reflects on his early experience working with scientific data as a Klamath Network intern:
“The support and mentorship that I received from Dr. Dinger and the KLMN staff was exceptional, and looking back, the experience has served me well. It was a great opportunity to get hands-on learning in conducting science and data recording in the field – from data collection, verification, and processing, to trouble-shooting study deviations. Even more so now, data and data quality continue to be extremely important in my career and I’m constantly learning in my field.”
2022 Vital Sign Monitoring Updates
To find out which Klamath Network scientist leads each monitoring program, visit the Contact Us page for the Klamath Network.
Crater Lake National Park
landbird point counts
-
Completed 5th visit since 2008; all 35 routes were surveyed.
whitebark pine monitoring
-
All 10 sites surveyed.
Lava Beds National Monument
cave monitoring
-
All annual and even-year cave monitoring was completed by Lava Beds NM staff and SIP interns, including repair or replacement of TrafX counters and replacement of shields for surface climate loggers melted by fires. A previously undocumented dipluran invertebrate (genus Japygid) was found in Cox Ice cave.
Lassen Volcanic National Park
lakes and ponds monitoring
-
Thirty lake and pond monitoring sites were surveyed outside of the regular monitoring schedule in the aftermath of the Dixie Fire.
landbird point counts
-
Completed 5th visit since 2008; 24 of 25 routes were surveyed. Approximately 1/3 of routes were located in areas burned since the last visit.
streams monitoring
-
Twenty-six stream sites were surveyed. (Annual goal is 25 to 30 sites.)
terrestrial vegetation
-
Completed all 10 high elevation and all 23 matrix (low- to mid-elevation upland) sites. Staffing shortage precluded surveying any riparian sites.
whitebark pine monitoring
-
All 10 sites surveyed.
Oregon Caves National Monument and Preserve
cave monitoring
-
All sites surveyed. The winter bat count was not as high as last year, but still consistent with rising numbers since 2011.
landbird mist netting
-
The banding station caught 351 birds of 34 species from June 1 to Oct 12. Notable captures included a Pileated Woodpecker, which is common but rarely captured, and a Cassin's Vireo, which is occasionally heard but has not been captured since 2017.
landbird point counts
-
Completed 5th visit since 2008; all 4 landbird point count routes surveyed.
streams monitoring
-
All 3 stream sites surveyed.
Redwood National and State Parks
rocky intertidal zone
-
Fifth year of biodiversity protocol; 18th year of targeted species monitoring. All regularly scheduled sites sampled.
streams monitoring
-
Twenty-five sites surveyed. (Annual goal is 25 to 30 sites.)
Whiskeytown National Recreation Area
landbird point counts
-
Completed 5th visit since 2008; all routes (30) are located in areas that burned since the last visit. One of the most common birds observed was Lazuli Bunting—a Partners In Flight focal species for post-fire conditions. This species was much more abundant in 2022 than any of the years before the fire (187 observations in 2022 compared to 28 in 2018).
terrestrial vegetation monitoring
-
Completed all 10 high elevation and 20 of 21 matrix (low- to mid-elevation upland) sites. A closed trail prevented access to 1 matrix site. Staffing shortage precluded sampling any riparian sites.
Recent Publications and Presentations
Reports and Journal Articles
Ammann, K., E. C. Dinger, and D. Lohse. 2022. Rocky intertidal monitoring: 2017–2018 Results from Redwood National and State Parks. Natural Resource Report NPS/KLMN/NRR—20222425. National Park Service, Fort Collins, Colorado. https://doi.org/10.36967/2293837.
Dinger, E. C., E. W. Schweiger, and T. Simmons. 2022. How healthy is a stream? Ask the stream bugs. Frontiers for Young Minds.
Lohse, D. P, K. N. Ammann, and E. C. Dinger. In press. Long-term monitoring of rocky intertidal communities: Lessons and implications from the Redwood National and State Parks, Northern CA. Northwest Science.
Hendry, E., K. N. Ammann, and E. C. Dinger. 2022. Diversity and disturbance: How mussels and sea stars strengthen the rocky intertidal community. Frontiers for Young Minds.
Rodhouse, T. J., and S. K. Daw. 2022. Monitoring the migrators: scientists track the animals just passing through our parks. Frontiers for Young Minds.
Simmons, T., E. C. Dinger, and E. W. Schweiger. 2022. The wild and wonderful world of stream bugs. Frontiers for Young Minds.
Stephens, J. L., C. R. Gillespie, and C. Stuyck. 2022. Landbird monitoring: 2021 results from Oregon Caves National Monument and Preserve, Lava Beds National Monument, and Redwood National and State Parks. Natural Resource Data Series NPS/KLMN/NRDS—2022/1364. National Park Service, Fort Collins, Colorado.
Conference Presentations
Lavoie, K., A. Pittis, C. Gallegos, A. Chung-MacCoubrey, E. Dinger, and D. Northup. 2022. UV-C to control WNS. Part 1: Limitations and effects on bacterial cultivated from caves. White-Nose Syndrome National Meeting. Minneapolis, MN. June 6–9, 2022.
Chung-MacCoubrey, A., E. Dinger, D. Northup, K. Lavoie, J. Roth, I. Yates, R. Toomey, and D. Hays. 2022. UV-C to control WNS. Part 2: Evaluating nontarget effects on cave bacterial communities at 3 national parks. White-Nose Syndrome National Meeting. Minneapolis, MN. June 6–9, 2022.
Park Presentations
Face to Face Briefings allow Klamath Network staff to present detailed results from annual monitoring of vital signs with park staff. The briefings are conducted either in person or via a Teams call, and provide time for questions and dialogue. We invite interpreters and other park staff outside of resource management to join the higher level overview at the start of each briefing and to read the 2-page public-friendly brief that accompanies each briefing.
-
On March 30, 2022, Dr. Eric Dinger, aquatic ecologist with the Klamath Network, presented detailed results to Lassen Volcanic NP staff via a Teams webinar from monitoring mountain ponds and lakes in the park in 2019. View the 2-page brief associated with the presentation.
-
On April 13, 2022, Sean Smith, vegetation ecologist with the Klamath Network, presented detailed results to Crater Lake NP staff via a Teams webinar from monitoring whitebark pine in the park between 2012 and 2020. View the 2-page brief associated with the presentation.
Science Communication
Featured Creature natural history articles. Note that Featured Creature articles are shifting to a quarterly schedule.
-
California Condor (special issue)
Checking Whiskeytown’s Vital Signs – public-friendly web article and 2-page printable brief describing natural resource vital signs monitored at Whiskeytown NRA.
Newsletter prepared by Sonya Daw
NPS Klamath Inventory & Monitoring Network
Southern Oregon University
1250 Siskiyou Blvd
Ashland, OR 97520
To view past issues of this newsletter, please visit the Klamath Kaleidoscope Newsletter page on our website.