Publications
Find out more about Species Management Research Program through our publications. Browse the entire list below or by specific topics at the links below.
Filter Total Items: 653
Estimating freshwater productivity, overwinter survival, and migration patterns of Klamath River Coho Salmon
An area of great importance to resource management and conservation biology in the Klamath Basin is balancing water usage against the life history requirements of threatened Coho Salmon. One tool for addressing this topic is a freshwater dynamics model to forecast Coho Salmon productivity based on environmental inputs. Constructing such a forecasting tool requires local data to quantify the unique
Authors
Christopher V. Manhard, Nicholas A. Som, Russell W. Perry, Jimmy Faukner, Toz Soto
The utility of point count surveys to predict wildlife interactions with wind energy facilities: An example focused on golden eagles
Wind energy development is rapidly expanding in North America, often accompanied by requirements to survey potential facility locations for existing wildlife. Within the USA, golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) are among the most high-profile species of birds that are at risk from wind turbines. To minimize golden eagle fatalities in areas proposed for wind development, modified point count surveys
Authors
Maitreyi Sur, James R. Belthoff, Emily R. Bjerre, Brian A. Millsap, Todd E. Katzner
Green‐wave surfing increases fat gain in a migratory ungulate
Each spring, migratory herbivores around the world track or ‘surf’ green waves of newly emergent vegetation to distant summer or wet‐season ranges. This foraging tactic may help explain the great abundance of migratory herbivores on many seasonal landscapes. However, the underlying fitness benefits of this life‐history strategy remain poorly understood. A fundamental prediction of the green‐wave h
Authors
Arthur D. Middleton, Jerod Merkle, Douglas E. McWhirter, John G. Cook, Rachel C. Cook, P.J. White, Matthew J. Kauffman
Substrate and flow characteristics associated with White Sturgeon recruitment in the Columbia River Basin
A study was conducted to identify habitat characteristics associated with age 0+ White Sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus Richardson, 1863) recruitment in three reaches of the Columbia River Basin: Skamania reach (consistent recruitment), John Day reach (intermittent/inconsistent recruitment), and Kootenai reach (no recruitment). Our modeling approach involved numerous steps. First, we collected in
Authors
James R. Hatten, Michael Parsley, Gary Barton, Thomas Batt, Ryan L. Fosness
Canopy volume removal from oil and gas development activity in the upper Susquehanna River basin in Pennsylvania and New York (USA): An assessment using lidar data
Oil and gas development is changing the landscape in many regions of the United States and globally. However, the nature, extent, and magnitude of landscape change and development, and precisely how this development compares to other ongoing land conversion (e.g. urban/sub-urban development, timber harvest) is not well understood. In this study, we examine land conversion from oil and gas infrastr
Authors
John A. Young, Kelly O. Maloney, E. Terrence Slonecker, Lesley E. Milheim, David Siripoonsup
Effects of experimental removal of Barred Owls on population demography of Northern Spotted Owls in Washington and Oregon—2017 progress report
Populations of Northern Spotted Owls (Strix occidentalis caurina; hereinafter referred to as Spotted Owl) are declining throughout this subspecies’ geographic range. Evidence indicates that competition with invading populations of Barred Owls (S. varia) has contributed significantly to those declines. A pilot study in California showed that localized removal of Barred Owls coupled with conservatio
Authors
J. David Wiens, Katie M. Dugger, Damon B. Lesmeister, Krista E. Dilione, David C. Simon
MonitoringResources.org—Supporting coordinated and cost-effective natural resource monitoring across organizations
Natural resource managers who oversee the Nation’s resources require data to support informed decision-making at a variety of spatial and temporal scales that often cross typical jurisdictional boundaries such as states, agency regions, and watersheds. These data come from multiple agencies, programs, and sources, often with their own methods and standards for data collection and organization. Coo
Authors
Jennifer M. Bayer, Rebecca A. Scully, Jake Weltzin
Raptor nest-site use in relation to the proximity of coalbed methane development
Raptor nest–site use in relation to the proximity of coalbed–methane development. Energy development such as coalbed–methane (CBM) extraction is a major land use with largely unknown consequences for many animal species. Some raptor species may be especially vulnerable to habitat changes due to energy development given their ecological requirements and population trajectories. Using 12,977 observa
Authors
J.D. Carlile, Lindsey E. Sanders, Anna D. Chalfoun, K.G. Gerow
Crowding affects health, growth, and behavior in headstart pens for Agassiz's desert tortoise
Worldwide, scientists have headstarted threatened and endangered reptiles to augment depleted populations. Not all efforts have been successful. For the threatened Agassiz's desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii), one challenge to recovery is poor recruitment of juveniles into adult populations, and this is being addressed through headstart programs. We evaluated 8 cohorts of juvenile desert tortois
Authors
Jeremy S. Mack, Heather E. Schneider, Kristin H. Berry
A comparison of photograph-interpreted and IfSAR-derived maps of polar bear denning habitat for the 1002 Area of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska
Polar bears (Ursus maritimus) in Alaska use the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) for maternal denning. Pregnant bears den in snow banks for more than 3 months in winter during which they give birth to and nurture young. Denning is one of the most vulnerable times in polar bear life history as the family group cannot simply walk away from a disturbance without jeopardizing survival of newly b
Authors
George M. Durner, Todd C. Atwood
Examining speed versus selection in connectivity models using elk migration as an example
ContextLandscape resistance is vital to connectivity modeling and frequently derived from resource selection functions (RSFs). RSFs estimate relative probability of use and tend to focus on understanding habitat preferences during slow, routine animal movements (e.g., foraging). Dispersal and migration, however, can produce rarer, faster movements, in which case models of movement speed rather tha
Authors
Angela Brennan, Ephraim M. Hanks, Jerod Merkle, Eric Cole, Sarah Dewey, Alyson B. Courtemanch, Paul C. Cross
U.S. Geological Survey science for the Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative—2016 annual report
This is the ninth annual report highlighting U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) science and decision-support activities conducted for the Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative (WLCI). The activities address specific management needs identified by WLCI partner agencies. In fiscal year (FY) 2016, there were 26 active USGS WLCI science-based projects. Of these 26 projects, one project was new for FY20
Authors
Zachary H. Bowen, Ellen Aikens, Cameron L. Aldridge, Patrick J. Anderson, Timothy J. Assal, Anna D. Chalfoun, Geneva W. Chong, Cheryl A. Eddy-Miller, Steven L. Garman, Steve Germaine, Collin G. Homer, Aaron N. Johnston, Matthew J. Kauffman, Daniel J. Manier, Cynthia P. Melcher, Kirk A. Miller, Annika W. Walters, Jerrod D. Wheeler, Daniel J. Wieferich, Anna B. Wilson, Teal B. Wyckoff, Linda Zeigenfuss
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Water Resources Mission Area, Science Synthesis, Analysis and Research Program, Land Management Research Program, Science Analytics and Synthesis (SAS) Program, Species Management Research Program, Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center , Fort Collins Science Center, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center, Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center, Wyoming-Montana Water Science Center