NORTHWEST
East Oregonian
Page 2A
Friday, November 25, 2016
Scientists go all out with first
aquatic species map for U.S. West
By KEITH RIDLER
Associated Press
BOISE, Idaho — It sounds like
a big fish story: a plan to create a
biodiversity map identifying thousands
of aquatic species in every river and
stream in the western U.S.
But scientists say they’re steadily
reeling in that whopper and by next
summer will have the first Aquatic
Environmental DNA Atlas available
for the public.
Boise-based U.S. Forest Service
fisheries biologist Dan Isaak is leading
the project and says such a map could
help with land management decisions
and deciding where to spend limited
money and resources.
“It’s kind of the Holy Grail for biol-
ogists to know what a true biodiversity
map looks like,” he said. “To have that
formatted digitally so you can do lots
of science with it will be transformative
in terms of the quality of information
we’ll have to conserve species.”
Isaak said annual surveys could
provide snapshots so scientists can
see how biodiversity and ecosystems
change over time. Because of the proj-
ect’s immense scale, he said, sample
collecting likely will require help
from many entities, including citizen
scientists.
The map eventually will include
everything from insects to salmon to
river otters. It’s possible because of
a new technology that can identify
stream inhabitants by analyzing water
samples containing DNA. The tech-
nology also can be used to identify
invasive species.
That technology is evolving, said
Michael Schwartz, the Forest Service’s
director of the National Genomics
Center for Wildlife and Fish Conserva-
tion in Missoula, Montana. Currently,
he said, scientists can detect only one
species at a time in a stream sample.
He said the goal is to identify multiple
species in a single test from one sample.
A rough estimate for when that might
be possible is about a year, he said.
The trove of information has the
potential to be so vast that questions
not presently imagined might arise.
“Any time science undertakes large
projects like this, the payouts can be in
directions you don’t expect,” Schwartz
said.
Ultimately, he said, the publicly
available information could be used by
someone with an iPad or other device
EO Media Group
Gov. Kate Brown’s office says she will propose
legislation to maximize state investment returns,
including reducing costs by ending the outsourcing of
some investment management.
Brown plans bill
to maximize state
investment returns
Tuesday, said that he would
support the Governor’s
Office in its efforts and
emphasized communication
with the public and the
Oregon Legislature about the
state’s investing.
“I expect we will be
supportive and helpful to
the extent that we are asked,
but I’m also cognizant of the
fact that Treasurer Wheeler
and the Treasury have made
specific efforts a number of
times,” Read said.
Reducing
investment
costs might be one small way
to address the $22 billion
unfunded liability facing
the state’s public employee
retirement system.
PERS is managed inde-
pendently and has its own
board, but the Oregon Public
Employees Retirement Fund
is managed by the treasurer,
under the direction of the
Oregon Investment Council,
according to the treasury.
The investment council is
required by state law to get
the highest possible return on
its investments.
In 2015, the Oregon
Supreme Court struck down
most of the legislature’s
recent PERS reform efforts.
A bipartisan legislative work
group is now looking at other
ways to address the PERS
issue.
The governor is expected
to release her balanced
budget Dec. 1.
Capital Bureau
SALEM — Oregon Gov.
Kate Brown plans to advance
a bill in the upcoming legis-
lative session aimed at maxi-
mizing returns on the state’s
investments, according to her
office.
The Oregon State Trea-
sury oversees the state’s
investments, although it
outsources some investment
work to outside firms. It
appears Brown would bring
some of that work back to
Salem to reduce costs.
Kristen
Grainger,
a
spokeswoman
for
the
governor, said in an email
Tuesday that the treasury
“needs to be resourced
adequately to expand the
amount of funds they manage
internally.”
In previous legislative
sessions, Treasurer Ted
Wheeler — who will be
replaced by state Rep.
Tobias Read, D-Beaverton,
come January — introduced
similar legislation aimed at
reducing the cost of investing
by bringing more outsourced
functions in-house.
Wheeler’s effort, referred
to as the Investment Modern-
ization Act, stalled out
several times after meeting
opposition from lawmakers
on both sides of the aisle who
voiced trepidation about the
proposal.
Read, in an interview
Kellie Carim/U.S. Forest Service via AP
This 2014 photo provided by the U.S. Forest Service shows Michael
K. Schwartz in the process of filtering 5 liters of water to concentrate
DNA on a filter to be analyzed at the National Genomics Center for
Wildlife and Fish Conservation, on Rattlesnake Creek near Missoula,
Mont. Scientists are aiming to create a biodiversity map that identifies
thousands of aquatic species in every river and stream in the west-
ern United States. They say that by next summer, the first Aquatic
Environmental DNA Atlas will be available to the public.
— Dan Isaak,
U.S. Forest Service fisheries biologist
who could go to a section of river and
see what species it contains.
The Aquatic Environmental DNA
Atlas for the western U.S. has its
genesis in a smaller-scale project called
the Bull Trout Environmental DNA
Atlas involving five states — Idaho,
Montana, Nevada, Oregon and Wash-
ington — where the federally protected
fish is found. That effort, Isaak said,
has discovered bull trout in areas where
they were thought not to exist.
Isaak also has been working on
something called the Cold Water
Climate Shield to identify streams that
could serve as a refuge for cold water
species, such as bull trout, if global
warming continues. That map uses
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REGIONAL CITIES
Forecast
TODAY
SATURDAY
Cloudy with a bit
of rain
Cloudy with a
shower or two
52° 41°
48° 36°
SUNDAY
MONDAY
Partial sunshine
Mostly cloudy with
a shower
Times of sun and
clouds
PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
45° 37°
46° 33°
46° 36°
HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
51° 37°
54° 40°
PENDLETON
through 3 p.m. yesterday
TEMPERATURE
HIGH
LOW
50°
38°
45°
31°
71° (1960) -11° (1985)
PRECIPITATION
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
Trace
0.78"
1.14"
11.17"
7.81"
11.17"
HERMISTON
through 3 p.m. yesterday
TEMPERATURE
HIGH
Yesterday
Normals
Records
LOW
56°
40°
46°
31°
70° (1959) -11° (1985)
PRECIPITATION
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
Trace
0.52"
0.93"
7.85"
5.39"
8.24"
SUN AND MOON
Sunrise today
Sunset tonight
Moonrise today
Moonset today
New
First
Nov 29
Dec 7
52° 33°
51° 37°
Seattle
51/44
ALMANAC
Yesterday
Normals
Records
49° 40°
Full
7:08 a.m.
4:16 p.m.
3:13 a.m.
2:46 p.m.
Last
Dec 13
Dec 20
Today
TUESDAY
Spokane
Wenatchee
44/39
47/36
Tacoma
Moses
51/40
Lake
Pullman
Aberdeen Olympia
Yakima 50/38
46/40
50/43
50/39
51/37
Longview
Kennewick Walla Walla
51/44
54/43 Lewiston
56/42
Astoria
49/39
54/45
Portland
Enterprise
Hermiston
51/44
Pendleton 42/35
The Dalles 54/40
52/41
51/38
La Grande
Salem
46/40
51/44
Albany
Corvallis 51/45
51/45
John Day
47/43
Ontario
Eugene
Bend
49/31
51/43
46/34
Caldwell
Burns
49/36
45/25
Astoria
Baker City
Bend
Brookings
Burns
Enterprise
Eugene
Heppner
Hermiston
John Day
Klamath Falls
La Grande
Meacham
Medford
Newport
North Bend
Ontario
Pasco
Pendleton
Portland
Redmond
Salem
Spokane
Ukiah
Vancouver
Walla Walla
Yakima
Hi
54
42
46
53
45
42
51
50
54
47
46
46
44
51
52
53
49
57
52
51
51
51
44
44
50
54
51
Lo
45
32
34
45
25
35
43
39
40
43
30
40
38
41
44
45
31
40
41
44
34
44
39
35
45
43
37
W
r
sn
sn
r
sn
sn
r
r
r
r
c
c
sn
r
r
r
c
r
r
r
sn
r
r
sn
r
r
c
Hi
52
45
43
49
45
45
49
48
51
48
42
48
46
48
52
53
52
53
48
51
45
51
44
44
50
50
51
Today
Beijing
Hong Kong
Jerusalem
London
Mexico City
Moscow
Paris
Rome
Seoul
Sydney
Tokyo
Lo
23
62
36
41
44
23
44
47
30
63
41
W
pc
c
s
pc
pc
sn
c
sh
s
s
s
Lo
40
27
28
41
22
28
35
33
37
31
25
33
32
37
40
42
28
35
36
39
29
37
33
30
39
33
31
W
r
c
c
r
c
c
r
sh
sh
r
sn
sf
sh
r
r
r
pc
r
sh
r
c
r
r
sn
r
sh
sn
Lo
23
59
38
41
42
29
41
45
34
66
47
W
s
r
s
c
pc
sn
c
pc
r
s
pc
WINDS
Medford
51/41
(in mph)
Klamath Falls
46/30
Boardman
Pendleton
REGIONAL FORECAST
Coastal Oregon: Rain today. Cloudy tonight;
periods of rain, some heavy, but a shower
across the north.
Eastern and Central Oregon: Cloudy today.
Rain across the north and in central parts;
showers of rain and snow near the Cascades.
Western Washington: Mostly cloudy today
and tonight with a stray shower.
Eastern Washington: Cloudy today. A bit of
snow in the mountains; a little rain across
the south and near the Idaho border.
Cascades: Snow today, accumulating 1-2
inches, but a rain or snow shower in the
south.
Northern California: Cloudy today; rain,
heavy at times, except dry in the interior
mountains.
Today
Saturday
WSW 4-8
SSW 6-12
SSW 4-8
E 4-8
UV INDEX TODAY
Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.
0
0
1
0
0
COMMERCIAL PRINTING
Production Manager: Mike Jensen
541-215-0824 • mjensen@eastoregonian.com
Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.
Sat.
Hi
45
66
57
50
67
31
50
63
43
77
52
NEWS
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NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY
Sat.
WORLD CITIES
Hi
41
68
56
52
70
34
51
65
41
75
47
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Subscriber services:
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— Founded Oct. 16, 1875 —
millions of temperature recordings
going back decades and has expanded
to include most of the western U.S.
Stream temperatures in lower eleva-
tions have risen several degrees over
the past 30 years, Isaak said. The DNA
Atlas has been confirming the kind
of species present as predicted by the
Cold Water Climate Shield, Schwartz
said.
What scientists ultimately hope
to do is combine all the information
from stream temperatures, DNA Atlas
sampling, topography and weather
patterns to get more insights into
species distribution patterns and even
how entire ecosystems function.
“The data sets can be bigger because
computers are bigger,” Isaak said.
Even for Isaak, who is called a
visionary by his colleagues, the leaps in
technology that make his ideas possible
can be mind-boggling.
“It’s just been an ongoing reve-
lation,” he said, recalling 15 years
ago using pencil and paper to make
streamside observations. “It still seems
like magic to me that you can go take a
water sample and you have instruments
powerful enough to discern what
species are present.”
“It’s kind of the Holy
Grail for biologists
to know what a true
biodiversity map
looks like.”
0
8 a.m. 10 a.m. Noon 2 p.m. 4 p.m. 6 p.m.
0-2, Low
3-5, Moderate 6-7, High;
8-10, Very High;
11+, Extreme
The higher the AccuWeather.com UV Index™ num-
ber, the greater the need for eye and skin protection.
Forecasts and graphics provided by
AccuWeather, Inc. ©2016
-10s
-0s
showers t-storms
0s
10s
rain
20s
flurries
30s
40s
snow
ice
50s
60s
cold front
70s
80s
90s
100s
warm front stationary front
110s
high
low
National Summary: A little rain will approach the coastal Northeast today, while a little
snow extends from the Great Lakes to the northern Appalachians. Showers will dampen
Texas. Rain and snow will affect the Northwest.
Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states)
High 88° in Edinburg, Texas
Low -3° in Bodie State Park, Calif.
NATIONAL CITIES
Today
Albuquerque
Atlanta
Atlantic City
Baltimore
Billings
Birmingham
Boise
Boston
Charleston, SC
Charleston, WV
Chicago
Cleveland
Dallas
Denver
Detroit
El Paso
Fairbanks
Fargo
Honolulu
Houston
Indianapolis
Jacksonville
Kansas City
Las Vegas
Little Rock
Los Angeles
Hi
53
72
57
58
51
68
50
50
79
53
44
45
63
59
46
61
-2
42
84
75
46
80
52
61
63
77
Lo
32
43
45
37
32
39
39
41
52
34
28
36
43
30
34
45
-8
26
73
54
32
53
33
41
37
51
W
s
s
c
c
pc
s
pc
r
pc
c
c
c
s
s
r
pc
s
pc
pc
pc
c
pc
s
s
pc
s
Sat.
Hi
55
65
54
55
53
63
54
50
68
47
47
45
67
60
46
68
2
43
83
71
49
73
59
64
60
64
Lo
43
38
39
32
34
32
32
36
40
27
33
32
53
34
30
50
-1
27
73
52
32
45
43
48
36
49
Today
W
c
pc
pc
pc
pc
s
c
r
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
s
pc
c
sn
s
pc
s
s
pc
s
s
s
r
Louisville
Memphis
Miami
Milwaukee
Minneapolis
Nashville
New Orleans
New York City
Oklahoma City
Omaha
Philadelphia
Phoenix
Portland, ME
Providence
Raleigh
Rapid City
Reno
Sacramento
St. Louis
Salt Lake City
San Diego
San Francisco
Seattle
Tucson
Washington, DC
Wichita
Hi
55
63
81
46
39
60
73
54
58
51
58
78
45
53
71
55
55
59
54
52
73
62
51
78
61
58
Lo
33
39
68
30
26
34
53
44
31
31
43
56
37
40
42
30
35
42
33
32
51
53
44
53
42
31
W
c
pc
pc
c
c
pc
pc
c
pc
s
c
s
r
sh
pc
s
pc
r
pc
pc
s
c
c
s
c
s
Sat.
Hi
55
61
81
47
44
58
69
52
64
58
55
75
49
52
61
58
55
57
58
55
67
59
50
79
56
63
Lo
31
36
66
33
29
30
48
38
45
34
38
52
33
33
31
28
32
41
37
38
56
49
40
50
37
45
Weather (W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain,
sf-snow flurries, sn-snow, i-ice.
W
s
s
pc
pc
pc
s
s
pc
pc
pc
pc
c
r
r
s
pc
c
r
s
c
c
r
r
c
s
s