Multi-layered, Interdisciplinary Mapping of a Wilderness Watershed: The Big Onion

Presently focused on the Big Creek watershed in the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness Area.

Coordinated by
Colden Baxter, Asst. Professor
Stream Ecology
Idaho State University

Project Summary 2005 and 2006
Anaylsis of the Data to Date
Future Directions 


Project leaders: (2005 Mapping Crew)
Colden Baxter (Idaho State University), Christian Torgersen (USGS/U. Washington), Kate Dwire (US Forest Service), Joe Ebersole (US Environmental Protection Agency), Jen Pierce (Boise State University), Joe Giersch (National Park Service), Jeremy Monroe (Freshwaters Illustrated), and Jim and Holly Akenson (Taylor Ranch Wilderness Field Station, University Idaho).

The “Big Onion” is a multi-layered, interdisciplinary mapping project focused on the Big Creek watershed in the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness Area. This watershed has been the site for numerous ecological studies, including several important long-term monitoring efforts. Many of these studies have been limited in their spatial scope, though (as in the case of the monitoring programs) they may be quite extensive in temporal scope. As in most ecological investigations, past research in this watershed has largely focused on single species, a specific habitat, or a limited set of relationships.

Two of the principal goals of “The Big Onion” are: a) to generate a more spatially continuous biophysical perspective of the watershed that will provide improved context for interpreting results of site-based studies and data from monitoring, and b) to bring together a multi-disciplinary team to identify potentially important patterns within and among “layers”—information that will set the stage for ecosystem-level integration and research in this wilderness watershed. Because many observations are shared in “real-time,” this approach also provides a way to quickly juxtapose perceptions from multiple disciplines and generate ideas that may lead to future integrative research.

  Holly Akenson records snorkel survey notes for Christian Torgersen, USGS