Redwood Reader

Blue-green algae making reservoirs toxic
http://times-standard.com/local/ci_2972379
The bloom of bluie-green algae reported in the Klamath is not really news. As the article points pout, it is a native in the watershed, although usually in sluggish water and not in the river itself. The algae produces microcystin, was can produce skin irritation, diarrhea and other ill effects and may be harmful to the liver. It has killed dogs locally in low water in Big Lagoon and the South Fork of the Eel River. What is surprising to me is that this would be overlooked in the reports concerning various aspects of water quality sent to Pacificorps planners preparing for relicensing of the two dams., since it is listed as a regular concern in Tom Stienstra’s July 31 San Francisco Chronicle article, “The best of times, the worst of times”, and is a recurring problem on the North Coast.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2005/07/31/SPGE2E0R6H1.DTL. In that column he points out the difference in the Klamath and the Trinity Rivers and summarizes the problems on the Klamath, especially at Iron Gate and Copco reservoirs. He then points out success of Trinity restoration. In conclusion he states for better rivers and fishing just add water, just as the Southland managers were saying about steelhead “Kool-Aid Fish” last month. The article says the effects of Pacificorps project were not considered by stakeholders concerned with water quality, and the company has no reason to.
Science grinds along proving theories, tossing pretenders and sometimes really uncovering a gem. An unexplainable cooling in the troposphere, ammunition for those not believing in global warming, was found to be a result of data collection errors. Readjusting previous readings shows warming precisely as recorded by other data sets.
The Duke FACE experiment wasw recently releasede under the title Study Yields Mixed Results on Potential for Pine Trees to Store Extra Carbon Dioxide http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/08/050809064251.htm (http://www.dukenews.duke.edu/2005/08/ecoface.html). To me these are another set of data drawing the wrong conclusions because not all of the factors have been included. At the same time, this article points up that saving forest will only work if the climate remains similar. No amount of soil conditioning can make up for an absence of sufficient precipitation. We note how easily it would be to add glomalin studies to these FACE experiments, developed by CO2 Science. We may find above ground growth pauses while fungi make use of more of the primary production, which would appear as less growth. We also see there is a water problem. The comment about 15% less soil moisture over the period needs clarification- is the watershed impaired, or precipitation down, or nonnative species being overly aggressive?
In the face of likely changes in weather patterns it would seem beneficial to prepare the forest for emergencies, including drought. This is the same as increasing the water storage capacity of the soil, and must be understood as such and not just a mechanism that locks water into wood.
Also recently released was “200-year Experiment Changes Face Of Forest Management”, an Oregon State project (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/08/050809064251.htm) concerned with the decay of logs in the forest. Here we see another example of the unexpected biodiversity of species and variations on the decomposing function far more complex than previously imagined. Good information for those researching forest processes. “In the future, Harmon said, trees increasingly will be planted that are never meant to be harvested - by design, they will be left to decay and play certain roles in forest ecology, for the health of plants, trees, microbes and wildlife. With large trees that have commercial value, it's still not certain exactly how many must be left for the complete range of forest benefits, he said, and findings on that issue will continue to emerge from studies such as this.” We see the results will eventually be a better understanding of what can be done without too much system compromise. “Oddly enough, some of today's evolving forest management systems may seem more similar to those in the early days of the Pacific Northwest forest products industry - when large amounts of less-valuable wood was left behind in practices that were later deemed "wasteful" and changed dramatically after the 1940s, in order to harvest more of the wood and leave a clean site behind.” Cleaning up was a problem in the streams then too, so they hauled most of the big stuff out, only to discover the critical importance of Large Woody Debris in salmonmid habitats a few years later.
Finally, with European leaders in Greenland and Senators in Alaska all checking out global warming, it seems as though not enough attention is being paid to scientific critics of global warming from man made causes. The originators think it is the most likely reason but deeper scientific reading reveals earlier warm periods in these places from causes other than CO2, such as solar oscillations. It reveals that even with increased carbon emissions the earth will continue to warm and cool to its own rhythms, and that we may have to be more adaptable for long term survival, especially in water, food production and political boundaries if we hope to avoid repeated famines across the globe.
http://www.co2science.org/scripts/Template/MainPage.jsp?Page=BrowseCatalogEnlarged&sProductCode=v8n34edit.