Publications

It is important to understand how upland ecosystems of Alaska, which are estimated to occupy 84% of the state (i.e., 1,237,774 km2), are influencing and will influence state‐wide carbon (C) dynamics in the face of ongoing climate change. We coupled fire disturbance and biogeochemical models to assess the relative effects of changing atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2), climate, logging and fire regim

Lakes respond heterogeneously to climate, with implications for fisheries management. We analyzed walleye (Sander vitreus) recruitment to age-0 in 359 lakes in Wisconsin, USA, to (i) quantify the relationship between annual water temperature degree days (DD) and walleye recruitment success and (ii) identify the influence of lake characteristics — area, conductivity, largemouth bass (Micropterus sa

Many nongame fishes are poorly understood but are essential to maintaining healthy aquatic ecosystems globally. The undescribed Sicklefin Redhorse Moxostoma sp. is a rare, imperiled, nongame fish endemic to two southern Appalachian Mountain river basins. Little is known of its behavior and ecology, but this information is urgently needed for conservation planning. We assessed the spatial and tempo

We investigated the spatial and temporal relationship of catch rates and angler party location for two days following a publicly announced put-and-take stocking of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). Catch rates declined with time since stocking and distance from stocking. We hypothesized that opportunity for high catch rates would cause anglers to fish near the stocking location and disperse wit

A “landscape of fear” (LOF) is a map that describes continuous spatial variation in an animal's perception of predation risk. The relief on this map reflects, for example, places that an animal avoids to minimize risk. Although the LOF concept is a potentially unifying theme in ecology that is often invoked to explain the ecological and conservation significance of fear, little is known about the

ContextProxy species, which represent suites of organisms with similar habitat requirements, are common in conservation. Landscape Capability (LC) models aim to quantify the spatially-explicit capability of landscapes to support proxy species that represent suites of forest birds.ObjectivesWe evaluated the North Atlantic Landscape Conservation Cooperative (NALCC) proxy models of LC and represented

Fish monitoring programs often rely on the collection, species identification, and counting of individual fish over time to inform natural resource management decisions. Thus, the utility of the data used to inform these decisions can be negatively affected by species misidentification. Fish species misidentification bias can be minimized by confirming identification using genetic techniques, trai

In 2012, Nebraska experienced one of the worst droughts since the 1930s, accompanied by abnormally high temperatures. We studied the impacts of the 2012 summer drought on female ring-necked pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) body condition and baseline and stress-induced corticosterone concentrations (CORT). We hypothesized that drought conditions would reduce pheasant body condition, increase chronic

We report the age and distance moved for an individual paddlefish (Polyodon spathula) that was tagged March 1998 in the Cimarron River Arm of Keystone Lake, Oklahoma, and snagged by an angler in April 2016 downstream of Eufaula Dam, Oklahoma. The fish was part of a cohort spawned in 1995. At the time of initial capture, the fish measured 795 mm eye–fork length, was estimated to be 3 y old, and 18

The North American Waterfowl Management Plan (NAWMP) has established a model for wildlife conservation planning over the last 3 decades. Management at a continental scale, leveraged funding, regional partnerships, and a strong science basis have been notable features. Periodic updates to the NAWMP occurred since implementation in 1986; however, a fundamental revision was accomplished in 2012 after

Populations of Eleutherodactylus species in Puerto Rico have declined in recent decades due to habitat loss and long-term climatic changes. The conservation of these habitat specialists requires an understanding of factors influencing their abundance and distribution, which at present is scant. We estimated occupancy probability and the probability of encountering ≥2 individuals of E. wightmanae (

Evaluating the precision of age estimates generated by different readers and different calcified structures is an important part of generating reliable estimations of growth, recruitment, and mortality for fish populations. Understanding the potential loss of precision associated with using structures harvested without sacrificing individuals, such as scales or fin rays, is particularly important