Hypoxia is the scientific term for low oxygen content. The waters near the bottom of Oregon’s Nearshore ocean along with other areas off the Pacific Northwest are becoming more hypoxic over time. The fraction of the waters that are inshore of 200 m (656 ft) that were hypoxic from 1950 to 1980 during the summer …
Oregon is lucky to have a distinct group of gray whales feed right off our coastline every summer and fall. Known as the Pacific Coast Feeding Group (PCFG), these gray whales use unique behaviors to feed, are shorter and skinnier than other gray whales, and use shallow, nearshore habitats that put them near a lot …
The Oregon Connectivity Assessment and Mapping Project (OCAMP) was a multi-year, collaborative effort to analyze and map statewide wildlife habitat connectivity at fine resolutions for 54 species. Initiated in 2019 and completed in 2022, OCAMP aimed to link landscapes for wildlife by identifying current wildlife habitat connectivity throughout the state for a wide diversity …
Background Wildlife rely on the ability to move across the landscape to fulfill their daily and seasonal requirements to access water, food, shelter, and opportunities to reproduce. Human changes to the landscape often restrict the ability of wildlife to move by creating barriers, causing impacts to critical migration stopover sites, increasing habitat fragmentation, and inducing …
ODFW Top 5 Wildlife Priority Strategy Species List In order to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of agency efforts to conserve Strategy Species, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife developed a ODFW Top 5 Wildlife Priority Strategy Species List for each ecoregion (except Nearshore). The intent of this list is to help direct and inform agency …
Oregon’s nearshore semi-pelagic Black, Blue and Deacon Rockfish all lack statewide fisheries independent surveys. These fish all live in subtidal rocky habitat and are important to both the ecosystem and Oregon fisheries. Rocky reef habitat has proven to be a difficult place to sample, especially over larger areas in a short period of time. Semi-pelagic …
The first wholly synthetic plastic was created in 1907, but there are many varieties produced today. Most are fossil fuel based. By the 1950’s and 60’s synthetic plastics had become much more common and widespread in modern life. Plastics have continued to be used for more and more purposes because they have many useful properties, …
The sunflower star was listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) on December 10, 2020. An estimated 5.75 billion sunflower stars have died due to sea star wasting syndrome with the global decline in population calculated to be 90.6%. The assessment is based on 61,000 surveys from 31 datasets …
Have you ever taken a picture of wildlife in Oregon and wondered if anyone might want to know where you saw it? We do! The Oregon Wildlife Conservation project is an iNaturalist project that allows you to share your wildlife observation data directly with biologists. Participation in this project helps to enhance our understanding …
There is a critical need to develop connectivity maps for a broad array of Oregon’s terrestrial wildlife species. Many species rely on the ability to move throughout the landscape to fulfill their daily and seasonal needs for access to food, shelter, and opportunities to reproduce. Human changes to the landscape often restrict the ability of …