MORAL FICTION OR MORAL FACT? THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN DOING AND ALLOWING IN MEDICAL ETHICS

Opponents of physician‐assisted suicide (PAS) maintain that physician withdrawal‐of‐life‐sustaining‐treatment cannot be morally equated to voluntary active euthanasia. PAS opponents generally distinguish these two kinds of act by positing a possible moral distinction between killing and allowing‐to‐die, ceteris paribus. While that distinction continues to be widely accepted in the public discourse, it has been more controversial among philosophers. Some ethicist PAS advocates are so certain that the distinction is invalid that they describe PAS opponents who hold to the distinction as in the grip of ‘moral fictions’. The author contends that such a diagnosis is too hasty. The possibility of a moral distinction between active euthanasia and allowing‐to‐die has not been closed off by the argumentative strategies employed by these PAS advocates, including the contrasting cases strategy and the assimilation of doing and allowing to a common sense notion of causation. The philosophical debate over the doing/allowing distinction remains inconclusive, but physicians and others who rely upon that distinction in thinking about the ethics of end‐of‐life care need not give up on it in response to these arguments.     

Physician assisted suicide: a new look at the arguments

In this paper, I examine the argumens agains physician assisted suicide (PAS). Many of these arguments are consequentialist. Consequentialist arguments rely on empirical claims about the future and thus their strength depends on how likely it is that the predictions will be realized. I discuss these predictions against the backdrop of Oregon's Death with Dignity Act and the practice of PAS in the Netherlands. I then turn to a specific consequentialist argument against PAS - Susan M. Wolfs feminist critique of the practice. Finally, I examine the two most prominent deontological arguments against PAS. Ultimately, I conclude that no anti-PAS argument has merit. Although I do not provide positive arguments for PAS, if none of the arguments against it are strong, we have no reason not to legalize it.     

Modeling Habitat Occupancy of Orange-Crowned Warblers in Managed Forests of Oregon and Washington,USA

Abstract: As part of a habitat management planning process for commercially managed forests, we developed and evaluated habitat occupancy models for the orange-crowned warbler (Vermivora celata), a conservation priority species in Oregon and Washington, USA. We used repeated surveys to classify a random sample of managed conifer stands at the McKenzie, PeEll, and Tolt study sites in western Oregon and Washington as either occupied or unoccupied during 1994–1995. We modeled occupancy and detection probabilities as a function of stand-level habitat characteristics subject to manipulation by management activities. The best-fitting model indicated that orange-crowned warblers were 2 times (95% CI: 0.99-5.1) and 3.8 times (95% CI: 1.5–6.1) as likely to occupy a stand for every 5% increase in evergreen shrub cover and 5-m decrease in canopy lift (ht to lowest live branch), respectively. Management actions that maintain evergreen shrub cover >10% and permit development of low canopy lifts (4–10 m) should promote habitat occupancy by the orange-crowned warbler in commercial forests in western Oregon and Washington.     

Population dynamics of the threatened Oregon spotted frog before and after drought mitigation

Amphibians are among the most sensitive taxa to climate change, and species inhabiting arid and semiarid landscapes at the extremes of their range are especially vulnerable to drought. The Jack Creek, Oregon, USA, population of Oregon spotted frogs (Rana pretiosa) faces unique challenges because it occupies the highest elevation site in the species' extant range and one that has been transformed by loss of American beavers (Castor canadensis), which historically maintained open water. We evaluated the effects of drought mitigation (addition of excavated ponds) on relationships between local and regional water availability, inactive legacy beaver dams, and Oregon spotted frog population dynamics in the Jack Creek system. We conducted egg mass surveys and capture-mark-recapture sampling at a treatment reach with excavated ponds and 3 reference reaches over 13 years; surveys spanned a period before and after pond excavation at the treatment and 1 primary comparison reference reach. We analyzed data using a combination of robust design capture-mark-recapture estimators and generalized linear mixed models to characterize population dynamics. Adult Oregon spotted frog survival was approximately 19.5% higher at the treatment reach than the primary reference reach during the study period. Annual survival was most strongly associated with late summer vegetation greenness, a proxy for water availability, and males had higher survival than females. Among the 4 study reaches, the treatment reach consistently had higher late summer vegetation greenness, and the hydrology functioned more independently of regional precipitation patterns relative to the reference reaches; however, these dynamics were not linked to pond excavation. Breeding was concentrated in 2 legacy beaver ponds that were deepened by excavation during the study compared to an unexcavated beaver pond, 2 excavated ponds without legacy beaver dams, and 9 reference ponds. These results point to the benefit of enhancing existing beaver structures and indicate that management actions aimed at maintaining surface water for breeding in spring and saturated soils and ponded water for adults in late summer would benefit this unique population of Oregon spotted frogs in the face of drought.     

Long-term observations of deepwater renewal in Crater Lake,Oregon

We examine observations of key limnological properties (primarily temperature, salinity, and dissolved oxygen), measured over a 14-year period in Crater Lake, Oregon, and discuss variability in the hypolimnion on time scales of days to a decade. During some years (e.g., 1994–1995), higher-than-average wintertime deep convection and ventilation led to the removal of significant amounts of heat and salt from the hypolimnion, while dissolved oxygen concentrations increase. In other years, such as the winter of 1996–1997, heat and salt concentrations increase throughout the year and dissolved oxygen levels drop, indicating conditions were dominated by the background geothermal inputs and dissolved oxygen consumption by bacteria (i.e., minimal deep convection). Over the entire 14 year period, no statistically significant trend was observed in the annual hypolimnetic heat and salt content. Measurements from several thermistors moored in the hypolimnion provide new insight into the time and space scales of the deep convection events. For some events, cool water intrusions are observed sequentially, from shallower depths to deeper depths, suggesting vertical mixing or advection from above. For other events, the cooling is observed first at the deepest sensors, suggesting a thin, cold water pulse that flows along the bottom and mixes more slowly upwards into the basin. In both cases, the source waters must originate from the epilimnion. Conditions during a strong ventilation year (1994–1995) and a weak ventilation year (1996–1997) were compared. The results suggest the major difference between these 2 years was the evolution of the stratification in the epilimnion during the first few weeks of reverse stratification such that thermobaric instabilities were easier to form during 1995 than␣1997. Thus, the details of surface cooling and wind-driven mixing during the early stages of␣reverse stratification may determine the net␣amount of ventilation possible during a particular year.     

THE EARLIEST SIRENIAN (MAMMALIA: DUGONGIDAE) FROM THE EASTERN PACIFIC OCEAN

The partial skull and mandible of an unidentified halitheriine dugongid, collected from the Early Miocene Nye Mudstone in Lincoln County, Oregon, USA, is the earliest record of the Sirenia in the eastern Pacific Ocean. It is probably earlier than Early or Middle Miocene sirenians recently found in Peru, and is definitely earlier than any known from California or Baja California. However, it appears to be slightly younger than fossil sirenian remains recently reported from Late Oligocene rocks in Japan. The Oregon specimen is also the most northern record of the Sirenia on the west coast of North America prior to the Pleistocene although other sirenians did evidently reach and surpass such latitudes by the Late Miocene when a dispersal took place from America to the North Pacific coasts of the Old World. The Oregon specimen probably represents sirenians that spread to the North Pacific from the Caribbean, quite possibly prior to the Miocene. The Nye Mudstone was deposited during the warmest period of the Neogene on the coast of Oregon, and it does not seem necessary to postulate a greater degree of cold-tolerance for the Oregon sirenian than is exhibited by living sea cows.     

Environmental correlates of species richness for native freshwater fish in Oregon, U.S.A.

Aim To better understand how environmental factors affect fish species richness across the state of Oregon. Location Oregon, U.S.A. Methods A database showing collection locations of 4911 fish specimens in the Oregon State University museum was modified by the Oregon Natural Heritage Program to include probable occurrences, and mapped within a grid of 375 hexagons that cover the state. The individual species maps of freshwater fish in Oregon were reviewed and revised by thirty regional fish biologists and then synthesized into a single map of native species richness. We used regression tree analysis (RTA) and multiple linear regression (MLR) to assess patterns of fish species richness with twenty environmental, three anthropogenic, and two historical variables. Results RTA explained 66% of the variation in native species richness, associating richness with annual air temperature range, minimum January temperature, introduced species richness, and stream density. MLR explained 68% of native species richness variation and associated richness with maximum July temperature, air temperature range, standard deviation of monthly temperature, stream density, introduced species richness, and basin connectivity. Main conclusions We conclude that for these data and at this scale, native fish species richness in Oregon is associated with annual climatic extremes, spatial variability of climate, stream density, basin connectivity, and introduced fishes.     

AN INVESTIGATION OF DISTRIBUTIONAL PATTERNS IN THE DIATOM FLORA OF NETARTS BAY,OREGON, BY CORRESPONDENCE ANALYSIS1

Distributional patterns in assemblages of epiphytic and sediment-associated diatoms were investigated in Netarts Bay, Oregon. The method of reciprocal averaging revealed a floristic discontinuity between the epiphytic and sediment samples in ordination space. The basis for this discontinuity was the presence of a large number of sediment-associated taxa that were either very rare or not observed in the epiphytic samples. Within the sediment samples, the diatom flora formed a distributional continuum which had relatively high correlations with mean grain size, a sediment sorting coefficient, and the organic matter content of the sediment. A comparison of the flora in Netarts Bay with floras in other Oregon estuaries indicates that epiphytic, epilithic, and sediment-associated diatom assemblages do not exhibit conspicuous latitudinal changes along the coast of Oregon, and that many of the same taxa can be expected to occur in samples from comparable habitats in estuaries throughout the temperate regions of the world.     

ZOOGEOGRAPHY OF OREGON COAST MARINE MAMMALS: THE LAST 3,000 YEARS

Mammalian faunal remains recovered from three archaeological sites on the Oregon, U.S.A. coast provide strong evidence that 18th and 19th century commercial exploitation of marine mammals had major effects on the zoogeography and demography of those taxa. Zalophus californianus and Callorhinus ursinus bred and pupped along the Oregon coast between 3,000 and 100 yr ago. About 100 yr ago Eumetopias jubatus abandoned a major rookery that had been utilized since at least 400 yr ago. Phoca vitulina does not appear to have suffered major modifications to coastal use or demographic patterns in Oregon during the last 3,000 yr, although a minor incident of intensified utilization of one location about 1,000 yr ago is suggested. All age-sex classes of Enhydra lutris lived on the Oregon coast until about A.D. 1900. Oregon's prehistoric remains of E. lutris display some dental characters similar to modern Alaskan specimens, and other dental characters similar to modern Californian specimens, conforming to a latitudinal dine reflected by historic specimens. Additional evidence for many of these observations is found in faunal remains recovered from archaeological sites on the coast of Vancouver Island, the Washington coast, and the northern California coast.     

VERTICAL MIGRATION OF A MIXED‐SPECIES EUGLENA (EUGLENOPHYTA) ASSEMBLAGE INHABITING THE HIGH‐INTERTIDAL SANDS OF NYE BEACH,OREGON1

Comparatively little is known about the vertical migration of the microphytobenthic community forming visible patches on high‐energy beaches. We collected surface and cored samples to evaluate the timing and extent of downward migration of a multispecies Euglena assemblage inhabiting Nye Beach, Oregon. Euglena density at the surface was highly variable and was not correlated with the time of low tide or instantaneous irradiance measurements; however, triplicate cores collected at low and high tides revealed a tidal rhythm in mean depth. On average, 95% of the assemblage occurred within 1 cm of the surface during low tide, but 54% of the assemblage was collected between 1 and 8 cm below the surface during high tide. A midday shading experiment revealed that short‐term changes in irradiance levels altered the Euglena density at the sediment surface by inducing vertical migration. This response to short‐term fluctuations in light may explain the weak correlation between cell density at the surface and time of day. The high‐intertidal location of these patches prevented the removal of nonmigrating cells by daily high tides, which increased the variability in surface samples and obscured the tidal migration rhythm detected in the core samples. Due in part to the semidiurnal nature of Oregon tides, this study provides in situ confirmation of past mesocosm research indicating that sediment disturbance during daily submersed periods is an important process in maintaining the quasi‐tidal rhythm in the appearance and disappearance of Euglena spp. from the surface of beaches and intertidal sandflats.     

Larval dynamics of the sand crab, Emerita analoga, off the central Oregon coast during a strong El Nino period

Populations of the sand crab, Emerita analoga, are well establishedon the California coast. However, populations in Oregon occursporadically and appear to be restocked by larvae drifting northfrom California. Due to increased northward transport in winterduring El Niño events, we would expect that larval recruitmentto northern populations should be higher during these periods.This hypothesis was tested by comparing larval abundances betweennon-El Niño and El Niño years, 1997 and 1998,respectively. In 1997, larval abundances and seasonality weresimilar to historical data from 1969–71. First zoeal (Z1)stage larvae were present during these summers, but in low numbers,indicating that E.analoga spawned off the coast of Oregon. In1998, strong larval recruitment from the south occurred, demonstratedby a large number of fifth zoeal stage (Z5) larvae collectedoff Oregon in April and May. The large numbers of Z1 found insummer 1998 indicate that the Z5, which arrived from Californiaearlier that spring, successfully recruited to adulthood andreproduced. These data indicate that Oregon E.analoga populationsare probably dependent on larvae travelling from Californiain the Davidson Current. It follows that this species couldbe used as an indicator of coastal current fluctuations suchas those seen during El Niño events.     

Public reasoning about voluntary assisted dying: An analysis of submissions to the Queensland Parliament,Australia

The use of voluntary assisted dying as an end‐of‐life option has stimulated concerns and debates over the past decades. Although public attitudes towards voluntary assisted dying (including euthanasia and physician‐assisted suicide) are well researched, there has been relatively little study of the different reasons, normative reasoning and rhetorical strategies that people invoke in supporting or contesting voluntary assisted dying in everyday life. Using a mix of computational textual mining techniques, keyword study and qualitative thematic coding to analyse public submissions to a parliamentary inquiry into voluntary assisted dying in Australia, this study critically examines the different reasons, normative reasoning and rhetorical strategies that people invoke in supporting or contesting voluntary assisted dying in everyday life. The analysis identified complex and potentially contradictory ethical principles being invoked on both sides of the debate. These findings deepen our understanding of the moral basis of public reasoning about end‐of‐life matters and will help to inform future discussions on policy and law reform. The findings underscore the importance of sound normative reasoning and the use of caution when interpreting opinion polls to inform policy.     

Growth and persistence of a recent invader <Emphasis Type="Italic">Carcinus maenas</Emphasis> in estuaries of the northeastern Pacific

During the summer of 1998 a new year class of the invasive European green crab, Carcinus maenas, appeared in Oregon and Washington estuaries as well as in northern California, USA, and on Vancouver Island, Canada. This invader was first discovered in San Francisco Bay almost a decade earlier and by 1995 it had spread to northern California. The coast-wide colonization event we studied in 1998 (El Niño cohort) was correlated with unusually strong north flowing coastal currents from September 1997 to April 1998. Larval transport by ocean currents from established populations to the south appeared to be the mechanism for the colonization. Crabs from the 1998-year class grew faster than counterparts from Maine and Europe, averaging 14 mm in carapace width in June, and 46 mm by September 1998. By the end of their second summer, males ranged from 52 to 80 mm in carapace width, and by fall of 2000 some males attained a carapace width of over 90 mm. The life span for C. maenasit in Oregon, Washington and British Columbia is estimated to be similar as in Europe and Maine: 4–6 years. Even though the initial colonists (98-year class) are dying of senescence, and coastal currents have not been favorable for larval transport from source populations in California, green crabs do persist in Oregon and Washington estuaries. It appears that local reproduction and recruitment in some years is high enough to keep this population from going extinct.     

An unusual bloom of the dinoflagellate Akashiwo sanguinea off the central Oregon, USA, coast in autumn 2009

An algal bloom caused by the dinoflagellate Akashiwo sanguinea was observed in October–November 2009 along the central Oregon coast (44.6°N), off Newport, Oregon, U.S.A. In this paper, the conditions are described which led to the development and demise of this bloom. The bloom was observed for 1 month from 5-October until 4-November with the peak of abundance on 19-October (347,615 cells L⁻¹). The A. sanguinea bloom followed September blooms of the diatoms Pseudo-nitzschia spp, Chaetoceros debilis, and the dinoflagellate Prorocentrum gracile. The bloom occurred when nitrate and silicate concentrations were <2 μM and <8 μM, respectively, and when the water column was stratified. This A. sanguinea dinoflagellate bloom event was closely related to the anomalous upwelling conditions in 2009: upwelling ceased early, at the end of August, whereas a normal upwelling continues into early October. This relaxation extended to near the end of September as a prolonged downwelling event, but then active upwelling reappeared in October and November. The explanation for the occurrence of the A. sanguinea bloom in October may be related to a combination of a prior diatom bloom, a stratified water column with low nutrient concentration in September, and an active upwelling event in October. As for the ultimate source of the cells, the hypothesis is that the seed stock for the A sanguinea bloom off Oregon was southward transport of cells from the Washington coast where a massive bloom of A. sanguinea was first observed in September 2009.     

Temporal changes in age and sex ratios of forest grouse harvested in northeastern oregon

Ratio of immature (young of the year) grouse to adult birds (I:A) in the harvest of upland game birds is commonly used as an index to annual reproduction; however, I:A ratios can vary as the season progresses producing biased estimates. We analyzed I:A ratios in the daily harvest of dusky grouse (Dendragopus obscurus) and ruffed grouse (Bonasa umbellus) in northeastern Oregon over 28 years (1981–2008) and found that I:A ratios in the harvest declined for both species as the hunting season progressed. We also analyzed ratios of adult female to adult male (AF:AM) grouse to determine if female and male grouse were harvested in equal numbers throughout the harvest season. We found that more males than females of both species were harvested, but that AF:AM ratio of both dusky and ruffed grouse did not change during most of the hunting season. Approximately 50% of the annual harvest occurred during the first 14 days of the hunting season. Therefore, we recommend using the ratios of I:A birds in the first 14 days of the harvest season as the best index to annual reproduction of forest grouse in northeast Oregon. © 2011 The Wildlife Society.     

High-elevation mountain hemlock growth as a surrogate for cool-season precipitation in Crater Lake National Park,USA

Snow dominates the hydrology and climate of the United States’ central Pacific Coast, but because local measurements of snowpack and winter precipitation often extend back only a few decades, observations by themselves are not adequate to describe potential amplitude of wintertime conditions. Here we present a set of updated and extended mountain hemlock (Tsuga mertensiana [Bong.] Carr.) tree-ring width records from Crater Lake National Park, Oregon, and use these data to make inferences about snowpack prior to the start of instrumental monitoring. In July and August 2013, we collected cores from 228 trees at seven high-elevation hemlock stands that surround the crater’s rim. The oldest tree had an inner ring date of CE 1474, and the longest ring-width chronology maintained a satisfactory common signal back to the middle of the 16th century. The growth of high-elevation mountain hemlock is strongly and inversely related to cool-season precipitation, making these records some of the most southerly examples of a robust inverse cool-season moisture signal in North American tree rings. The growth of these snow-limited forests does not appear to have been affected by the substantial decline in spring snowpack observed in the past two decades across the broader Cascade Range, and we did not find any indication of changing relationships between tree growth and either monthly or seasonal winter precipitation since the early 1990s. The exceptional three-year sequence in Crater Lake tree rings between CE 1809 and 1811, which includes the narrowest ring since CE 1540 and anatomical abnormalities produced by cold weather, leads us to conclude that 1809–1810 was the most snowy and severe winter to affect south-central Oregon during the past four and a half centuries.     

Social Identity and Culture Change on the Southern Northwest Coast

Driven by the participation of Native American people in the contemporary political, cultural, and academic landscape of North America, public and academic discussions have considered the nature of contemporary American Indian identity and the persistence, survival, and (to some) reinvention of Native American cultures and traditions. I use a case study—the historical anthropology of the Native American people of the Oregon coast—to examine the persistence of many American Indian people through the colonial period and the subsequent revitalization of "traditional" cultural practices. Drawing on archaeological data, ethnohistorical accounts, and oral traditions, I offer a reading of how, set against and through an ancestral landscape, traditional social identities and relationships of gender and authority were constructed and contested. I then consider how American Indian people negotiated the new sets of social relationships dictated by the dominant society.     

1200 years of fire and vegetation history in the Willamette Valley, Oregon and Washington, reconstructed using high-resolution macroscopic charcoal and pollen analysis

High-resolution macroscopic charcoal and pollen analyses were used to reconstruct the fire and vegetation history of the Willamette Valley for the last 1200 years. Presented in this paper are three new paleoecological reconstructions from Lake Oswego, Porter Lake, and Warner Lake, Oregon, and portions of previous reconstructions from Battle Ground Lake, Washington, and Beaver Lake, Oregon. The reconstructions show that prior to Euro-American settlement vegetation and fire regimes were influenced by a combination of natural and anthropogenic factors. Battle Ground Lake shows a stronger influence from climate, while Lake Oswego, Beaver Lake, Porter Lake, and Warner Lake were more controlled by human activity. However, human-set fires were also modulated by regional climate variability during the Medieval Climate Anomaly and the Little Ice Age. Fire reconstructions from Battle Ground Lake, Lake Oswego, Beaver Lake, and Porter Lake imply that fires were infrequent in the Willamette Valley 200-300 years prior to Euro-American settlement. The decline of Native American populations due to introduced disease may have led to this reduction in fire activity. The prehistoric record from Warner Lake, however, indicates that fires in the foothills of the Cascade Range were more frequent than on the valley floor, at least until ca. AD 1800. The historic portions of the reconstructions indicate that Euro-American land clearance for agriculture and logging produced the most dramatic shifts in vegetation and fire regimes. All five records indicate that few fires in the Willamette Valley have occurred since ca. AD 1930, and fires today are predominantly grass fires.     

A hazards approach towards modelling pandora moth risk

Aim Pandora moth (Coloradia pandora Blake) is a phytophagous insect that produces a distinctive tree‐ring pattern in ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa Dougl. ex. Laws.) during outbreak cycles. This paper describes the spatial characteristics of the outbreak regions, determines whether the size of the 1989 outbreak was within the historical range of variability, and constructs a hazard map identifying the forests in Oregon that are susceptible to future pandora moth outbreaks. Location South‐central Oregon along the eastern flank of the Cascade mountain range in the High Lava Plains and Basin and Range Provinces. Methods We used dendrochronological records of 17 pandora moth outbreaks on 14 sites over 31,200 km² area spanning 433 years. Using the site locations, we calculated minimum bounding polygons of adjacent recording sites to determine the relative size of each outbreak. Published literature on past pandora moth outbreaks and the environmental conditions of locally known outbreaks were used to create an outbreak hazard map using a geographical information system (GIS) model. Vegetation, climate, and soil layers were used to determine the potential susceptibility of Oregon forests to pandora moth. Results We found the area affected by past pandora moth outbreaks ranged in size from 12.4 to 3,391.5 km². The 1989 outbreak covered 807.9 km², which was well within the historical range of variability. The vegetation and soil layers greatly restricted the area susceptible to pandora moth while the climate layer seemed to have little effect in restricting the susceptible area. Main conclusions Pandora moth outbreaks did not increase in size over the last century as we have seen with spruce budworm outbreaks in this same region. Analysis of the environmental variables that are known to affect pandora moth outbreaks enabled us to produce a hazard map that predicts the suitable habitat for pandora moth. Temperature at the landscape scale did not restrain the range of pandora moth. The GIS model enabled us to propose areas susceptible to future pandora moth outbreaks providing a predictive model that can now be tested and refined with further sampling.     

Barred owl occupancy surveys within the range of the northern spotted owl

The range expansion by barred owls (Strix varia) into western North America has raised considerable concern regarding their potential effects on declining northern spotted owl (Strix occidentalis caurina) populations, yet most information on the occurrence of barred owls in the region is limited to incidental detections during surveys for spotted owls. To address this shortcoming we investigated response behavior, detection probabilities, and landscape occupancy patterns of barred owls in western Oregon, USA, during conspecific versus spotted owl call-broadcast surveys. Subtle differences in barred owl response behavior to conspecific versus spotted owl vocalizations combined with minor procedural differences between species-specific survey protocols led to a sizeable difference in estimated detection probabilities during conspecific (0.66, 95% CI = 0.61–0.71) versus spotted owl (0.48, 95% CI = 0.39–0.56) surveys. We identified 61 territorial pairs of barred owls during repeated surveys of a multi-ownership study area with the probability of occupancy being highest in the structurally diverse mixture of mature and old forests that occurred almost entirely on public lands. Our findings suggest that research and management strategies to address potential competitive interactions between spotted owls and barred owls will require carefully designed, species-specific survey methods that account for erratic response behaviors and imperfect detection of both species. Our sampling methods can be used by forest managers to determine the occurrence and distribution of barred owls with high confidence. © 2011 The Wildlife Society.