Research Interests (visit the tree ring lab)
My research interests center on both theoretical questions regarding forest ecology and biogeography, as well
as the application of theory to managing and restoring forests.
INFO ON THE ZENA FOREST PROJECT
The Forest Islands Project (with Keith Hadley
http://geog.pdx.edu/tree_ring/index.html) examines forest structure, composition, and disturbance
history of forested island habitats (kipuka), located in a lava field at Newberry National Volcanic
Monument in central Oregon. The research will help forest managers assess how landscape fragmentation
influences the fire regime, and it will assist them in anticipating unintended ecological change
resulting from current management strategies. The research will also contribute to a more explanatory,
non-equilbrium theory of species diversity for fragmented landscapes by merging components of island
biogeographic theory, the intermediate disturbance hypothesis, and succession theory.
Publications (available as pdf files for download)
Arabas, K.B., K.S. Hadley, and E.R. Larson. 2006. Fire history of a naturally fragmented landscape in central Oregon. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 36(5): 1108-1120.
Pohl, K., K.S. Hadley, and K.B. Arabas. 2006. Decoupling tree-ring signatures of climate variation, fire, and insect outbreaks in central Oregon. Tree Ring Research 62(2): 37-50
Pohl, K.A., K.S. Hadley, and K.B. Arabas. 2002. A 545-year drought reconstruction from central Oregon, Physical Geography . 21(4): 302-320
I am also working on Oak Savanna Restoration in the Willamette Valley. Working with Marion County
Public Works, I have prepared a forest history, and I am currently monitoring oak regeneration
following prescribed fire.
Publications (available as pdf files for download)
Arabas, K.B. 2000 . Forest Restoration at Bonesteele Ecological Park, Marion County, Oregon . Report for Marion County Department of Public Works, Parks Department.
I am also collaborating on a project looking at the Disturbance History of a mixed conifer stand
in central Idaho. This project resulted from research done during the 2005 North American
Dendroecological Fieldweek (NADEF)