3.11 Summary of Current Status of Oregon’s Biodiversity

• Grasslands, prairies and bottomland hardwood forests have experienced losses of more than 50 percent in all ecoregions (and as high as 98 percent in some) as a result of conversion to agriculture, urbanization, and invasions by exotic plants. • Oregon could eventually lose most of its remaining native stocks of salmonid fishes unless major changes are made in how we manage our streams and waters. • Some of the largest mammals in the state have an uncertain future unless carefully managed. • More than half of the Willamette Valley and Columbia Basin ecoregions have been converted to agriculture or urban uses, and many native types of vegetation have been almost entirely eliminated from these ecoregions. • Many Willamette Valley, Columbia Basin, and southwestern Oregon species that are restricted to areas that lie in the path of urban and suburban development are highly vulnerable to loss if current trends continue