Publications

River water temperatures are increasing globally, particularly in urban systems. In winter, wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluent inputs are of particular concern because they increase water temperatures from near freezing to ~7–15 °C. Recent laboratory studies suggest that warm overwinter temperatures impact the reproductive timing of some fishes. To evaluate winter water temperature’s influ

ObjectiveNonnative fish, including Lake Trout Salvelinus namaycush and Rainbow Trout Oncorhynchus mykiss, are actively invading lakes and streams and threatening Cutthroat Trout O. clarkii and other native species in the western United States. Programs have been implemented to suppress invasive trout using netting, trapping, electrofishing, angling, or other traditional capture methods. Because th

Biologists routinely fit novel and complex statistical models to push the limits of our understanding. Examples include, but are not limited to, flexible Bayesian approaches (e.g. BUGS, stan), frequentist and likelihood-based approaches (e.g. packages lme4) and machine learning methods.These software and programs afford the user greater control and flexibility in tailoring complex hierarchical mod

Fragmentation of rivers through anthropogenic modifications poses an imminent threat to the persistence of migratory fish, necessitating direct actions such as trap-and-haul programs to restore and conserve the migratory life-history component in populations of partially migratory species such as bull trout Salvelinus confluentus. We used a PIT-tag system to assess how biological and abiotic facto

Expansion of an invasive Lake Trout Salvelinus namaycush population in Swan Lake, Montana, threatens a core area population of Bull Trout S. confluentus. Given the recent development of novel suppression methods, such as use of carcass analog pellets to cause high mortality of embryos, there was a need to quantify spawning season aggregation sites, site use, and spawning habitat for Lake Trout in

Infectious bacterial pathogens are a concern for aquaculture as estimates suggest that billions of US dollars are lost annually in aquaculture due to disease. One of the most prevalent salmonid pathogens is the bacterium Flavobacterium psychrophilum that causes bacterial coldwater disease. We reviewed the published F. psychrophilum literature and conducted a Bayesian analysis to examine large-scal

Habitat selection involves a series of decisions that are arguably the most important decisions that animals make and these decisions occur at multiple hierarchical spatial scales. Colonial-nesting birds face a unique challenge when selecting a nest site because each bird’s choices are severely constrained by other birds within their breeding colony. Individuals must seek out optimum nesting locat

Stock assessment modeling provides a means to estimate the population dynamics of invasive fishes and may do so despite data limitations. Blue catfish (Ictalurus furcatus) were introduced to the Chesapeake Bay watershed to support recreational fisheries but also consume species of conservation need and economic importance. To assess management tradeoffs, managers need to understand the current sta

Arthropods are important prey for many avian taxa, particularly during the breeding season. Many studies have used sticky traps to estimate relative abundance of arthropods as avian prey, but we know little about the potential biases associated with sticky traps. We evaluated the effect of small-scale variation in trap placement on the biomass of arthropods caught on sticky traps in six riparian w

Seasonal movements cued by environmental variables are a critical component of riverine fish life history. Life-history events for species such as blue sucker Cycleptus elongatus are likely cued by discharge and temperature and may be disrupted if those life-history events and environmental regimes are mismatched. However, this effect may be dependent upon the habitat occupied when environmental c

The Red Shiner Cyprinella lutrensis is of increasing management interest as an invasive species that negatively impacts many native fishes throughout North America. Trojan sex chromosome (TSC)-carrying individuals could theoretically control invasive fish populations by skewing the sex ratio to 100% male. The efficacy of TSC-based control programs requires an understanding of a population's sex de

Understanding how the Earth's surface (i.e. ‘nature's stage') influences connections between biodiversity and ecosystem function (BEF) is a central objective in ecology. Despite recent calls to examine these connections at multiple trophic levels and at more complex and realistic scales, little is known about how landscape structure shapes BEF relationships among animal communities in nature. We c