Publications

Predicting species geographic distributions is key to managing invasive species, conserving biodiversity, and understanding species' environmental requirements. Species distribution models (SDMs) commonly focus on climatic predictors, but other environmental factors can also be essential, particularly for species with specialized habitats defined by hydrologic, topographic, or edaphic conditions (

Genetic variation is a well-known indicator of population fitness yet is not typically included in monitoring programs for sensitive species. Additionally, most programs monitor populations at one scale, which can lead to potential mismatches with ecological processes critical to species' conservation. Recently developed methods generating hierarchically nested population units (i.e., clusters of

This standard operating procedure (SOP) provides instructions and considerations for conducting mobile acoustic surveys along road transects to collect bat acoustic data following the North American Bat Monitoring Program (NABat) protocol and sample design. This report discusses measures for ensuring the safety of surveyors and efficiency of mobile transect surveys. This guidance is intended to ai

This document is the first of three standard operating procedures (SOPs) providing instructions and considerations for conducting mobile acoustic surveys along road transects to collect bat acoustic data following the North American Bat Monitoring Program (NABat) protocol and sample design. This SOP focuses specifically on selecting NABat grid cells and establishing mobile transect survey routes u

This document is the second of three standard operating procedures providing instructions and considerations for conducting mobile acoustic surveys along road transects to collect bat acoustic data following the North American Bat Monitoring Program (NABat) protocol and sample design. This standard operating procedure focuses specifically on considerations for establishing the field survey season

Prior research suggests that Indigenous fire management buffers climate influences on wildfires, but it is unclear whether these benefits accrue across geographic scales. We use a network of 4824 fire-scarred trees in Southwest United States dry forests to analyze up to 400 years of fire-climate relationships at local, landscape, and regional scales for traditional territories of three different I

The US National Park Service mission includes conserving native species and historical landscapes ‘unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations’. However, humans have increased the introduction of non-native species that can become invasive and which have harmful impacts on native species and landscapes. We revisit two previous papers, ‘Alien Species in National Parks: Drawing Lines in Space

Understanding factors driving resource selection and habitat use of different species is an important component of management and conservation. Feral horses (Equus caballus) are free ranging across various vegetation types in the western United States, yet few studies have quantified their resource selection and seasonal use. We conducted a study to determine effects of vegetation community, dista

Identifying habitat needs for species with large distributions is challenging because species-habitat associations may vary across scales and regions (spatial nonstationarity). Furthermore, management efforts often cross jurisdictional boundaries, complicating the development of cohesive conservation strategies among management entities. The greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) is a rap

During grazing permit renewals, the Bureau of Land Management assesses land health using indicators typically measured using field-based data collected from individual sites within grazing allotments. However, agency guidance suggests assessments be completed at larger spatial scales.We explored how the current generation of remotely sensed data products could be used to quantify aspects of land h

The movement of plant species across the globe exposes native communities to new species introductions. While introductions are pervasive, two aspects of variability underlie patterns and processes of biological invasions at macroecological scales. First, only a portion of introduced species become invaders capable of substantially impacting ecosystems. Second, species that do become invasive at o

Invasive species and emerging infectious diseases are two of the greatest threats to biodiversity. American Bullfrogs (Rana [Lithobates] catesbeiana), which have been introduced to many parts of the world, are often linked with declines of native amphibians via predation and spreading emerging pathogens such as amphibian chytrid fungus (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis [Bd]) and ranaviruses. Althoug