Publications

The Southern California fires of late Oct. 2003 burned 742,000 ac and destroyed 3,361 homes and 26 lives. Factors leading up to this event were very different between forests, which comprised about 5% of the area burned, and shrublands. Three lessons are (1) although these fires were massive, they were not unprecedented, and future fires of this magnitude are to be expected; (2) the current fire m

Emperor Geese (Chen canagica) are a species of concern because their population has declined rapidly since the mid-1960s and continues to remain below management objectives (Petersen et al. 1994). Emperor Geese are restricted primarily to Alaska and exhibit an east-west migration pattern, whereby most birds begin breeding on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta by mid-May, stage on the Alaska Peninsula by la

We compared three methods to determine nest predators of the Least Bell's Vireo (Vireo bellii pusillus) in San Diego County, California, during spring and summer 2000. Point counts and tracking stations were used to identify potential predators and video photography to document actual nest predators. Parental behavior at depredated nests was compared to that at successful nests to determine whethe

Radio-telemetry was used to continuously monitor the at-sea activity of an adult Marbled Murrelet (Brachyramphus marmoratus) nesting in Santa Cruz County, California. From 05.39 h on 28 May 1997, to 05.14 h on 29 May 1997, the murrelet was followed by tracking teams at Año Nuevo Bay. Between 05.44 h and 20.19 h on 28 May, the bird engaged in eleven dive bouts, with a mean duration of 18.8 ± 5.4 mi

Disturbance is a dominant factor in many ecosystems, and the disturbance regime is likely to change over the next decades in response to land-use changes and global warming. We assume that predictions of vegetation dynamics can be made on the basis of a set of life-history traits that characterize the response of a species to disturbance. For crown-fire ecosystems, the main plant traits related to

This year's catastrophic wildfires in southern California highlight the need for effective planning and management for fire-prone landscapes. Fire frequency analysis of several hundred wildfires over a broad expanse of California shrublands reveals that there is generally not, as is commonly assumed, a strong relationship between fuel age and fire probabilities. Instead, the hazard of burning in m

Anthropogenic resource subsidies have contributed to the dramatic increase in the abundance of Common Ravens (Corvus corax) in the western Mojave Desert, California, during the past 30 years. To better understand the effects of these subsidies on raven demography, we examined whether survival to juvenile departure from the natal territory could be predicted by a set of environmental and morphologi

Brain cholinesterase activities were determined in birds from forests sprayed with Dylox2 at 1.13 kg/hectare (1 lb/acre ? active ingredient [a.i.]) or Sevin-4-oil2 at 1.13 kg/hectare (1 lb/acre ? a.i.) for up to 5 days postspray. Of ten bird species evaluated from the Dylox spray area, four species represented by six individuals had values which were depressed more than 2 standard deviations below

Our study compares data on burn severity collected from multi-temporal Airborne Visible and Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) with similar data from the Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) using the differenced Normalized Burn Ratio (dNBR). Two AVIRIS and ETM+ data acquisitions recorded surface conditions immediately before the Hoover Fire began to spread rapidly and again the following year

An introduced pathogen, white pine blister rust (Cronartium ribicola), has caused declines in five-needled pines throughout North America. Simultaneously, fire exclusion has resulted in dense stands in many forest types, which may create additional stress for these generally shade-intolerant pines. Fire exclusion also allows fuels to accumulate, and it is unclear how affected populations will resp

Spacecraft imagery, especially from the National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration's Improved TIROS (Television Infra-Red Observational Satellite) Operational Satellites, permits timely evaluations of snow and ice conditions encountered by arctic nesting geese. Imagery from the TIROS satellite for 5 wide]y scattered locations in arctic North America was obtained for three 3-day intervals in

No abstract available.