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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

Migratory behavior of adult sea lamprey and cumulative passage performance through four fishways

This article describes a study of PIT-tagged sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) ascending four fishways comprising three designs at two dams on the Connecticut River, USA. Migration between dams was rapid (median migration rate = 23 km·day−1). Movement through the fishways was much slower, however (median = 0.02–0.33 km·day−1). Overall delay at dams was substantial (median = 13.6–14.6 days); many fi
Authors
Theodore R. Castro-Santos, Xiaotao Shi, Alexander Haro

Improved supervised classification of accelerometry data to distinguish behaviors of soaring birds

Soaring birds can balance the energetic costs of movement by switching between flapping, soaring and gliding flight. Accelerometers can allow quantification of flight behavior and thus a context to interpret these energetic costs. However, models to interpret accelerometry data are still being developed, rarely trained with supervised datasets, and difficult to apply. We collected accelerometry da
Authors
Maitreyi Sur, Tony Suffredini, Stephen M. Wessells, Peter H. Bloom, Michael J. Lanzone, Sheldon Blackshire, Srisarguru Sridhar, Todd E. Katzner

Disturbance automated reference toolset (DART): Assessing patterns in ecological recovery from energy development on the Colorado Plateau

A new disturbance automated reference toolset (DART) was developed to monitor human land surface impacts using soil-type and ecological context. DART identifies reference areas with similar soils, topography, and geology; and compares the disturbance condition to the reference area condition using a quantile-based approach based on a satellite vegetation index. DART was able to represent 26–55% of
Authors
Travis W. Nauman, Michael C. Duniway, Miguel L. Villarreal, Travis B. Poitras

Optimization of a Plaque Neutralization Test (PNT) to identify the exposure history of Pacific Herring to viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSV)

Methods for a plaque neutralization test (PNT) were optimized for the detection and quantification of viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSV) neutralizing activity in the plasma of Pacific Herring Clupea pallasii. The PNT was complement dependent, as neutralizing activity was attenuated by heat inactivation; further, neutralizing activity was mostly restored by the addition of exogenous compleme
Authors
Lucas Hart, Ashley MacKenzie, Maureen K. Purcell, Rachel L. Thompson, Paul Hershberger

Effects of experimental removal of barred owls on population demography of northern spotted owls in Washington and Oregon—2016 progress report

Evidence indicates that competition with invasive barred owls (Strix varia) is causing rapid declines in populations of northern spotted owls (S. occidentalis caurina), and that the long-term persistence of spotted owls may be in question without additional management intervention. A pilot study in California showed that removal of barred owls in combination with habitat conservation may be able t
Authors
J. David Wiens, Katie M. Dugger, Krista E. Lewicki, David C. Simon

Quantifying the demographic cost of human-related mortality to a raptor population

Raptors are exposed to a wide variety of human-related mortality agents, and yet population-level effects are rarely quantified. Doing so requires modeling vital rates in the context of species life-history, behavior, and population dynamics theory. In this paper, we explore the details of such an analysis by focusing on the demography of a resident, tree-nesting population of golden eagles (Aquil
Authors
W. Grainger Hunt, David Wiens, Peter R. Law, Mark R. Fuller, Teresa L. Hunt, Daniel E. Driscoll, Ronald E. Jackman

Assessing pollinator habitat services to optimize conservation programs

Pollination services have received increased attention over the past several years, and protecting foraging area is beginning to be reflected in conservation policy. This case study considers the prospects for doing so in a more analytically rigorous manner, by quantifying the pollination services for sites being considered for ecological restoration. The specific policy context is the Conservatio
Authors
Richard Iovanna, Amy W. Ando, Scott Swinton, Daniel Hellerstein, Jimmy Kagan, David M. Mushet, Clint R.V. Otto, Charles A. Rewa

Status and threats analysis for the Florida manatee (Trichechus manatus latirostris), 2016

Trichechus manatus (West Indian manatee), especially T. m. latirostris, the Florida subspecies, has been the focus of conservation efforts and extensive research since its listing under the Endangered Species Act of 1973. To determine the status of, and severity of threats to, the Florida manatee, a comprehensive revision and update of the manatee Core Biological Model was completed and used to pe
Authors
Michael C. Runge, Carol A. Sanders-Reed, Catherine A. Langtimm, Jeffrey A. Hostetler, Julien Martin, Charles J. Deutsch, Leslie I. Ward-Geiger, Gary L. Mahon

2010-2015 Juvenile fish ecology in the Nisqually River Delta and Nisqually Reach Aquatic Reserve

The return of tidal inundation to over 750 acres of the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge (NNWR) in fall of 2009 was the crowning moment in the effort to protect and restore the Nisqually Delta. The Nisqually NWR project complemented three earlier restoration projects completed by the Nisqually Indian Tribe (Tribe) on tribal property to restore over
Authors
Sayre Hodgson, Christopher S. Ellings, Steve P. Rubin, Michael C. Hayes, Walker Duval, Eric E. Grossman

Distribution, nesting activities, and age-class of territorial pairs of golden eagles at the Altamont Pass Wind Resource Area, California, 2014–16

The substantial numbers of golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) killed by collisions with oldgeneration wind turbines each year at the Altamont Pass Wind Resource Area (APWRA) in California has been well documented from previous studies. Few eagle nests have been documented in the APWRA, however, and adults and subadults 3+ years of age killed by turbines were generally not associated with nearby ter
Authors
Patrick S. Kolar, J. David Wiens

Common Raven (Corvus corax) kleptoparasitism at a Golden Eagle (Aquila chyrsaetos) nest in southern Nevada

The Common Raven (Corvus corax) is a ubiquitous species in the Mojave Desert of southern Nevada and California. From 5 to 24 May 2014, using remote trail cameras, we observed ravens repeatedly kleptoparasitizing food resources from the nest of a pair of Golden Eagles (Aquila chyrsaetos) in the Spring Mountains of southern Nevada. The ravens fed on nine (30%) of the 30 prey items delivered to the n
Authors
Matthew Simes, Diego R. Johnson, Justin Streit, Kathleen M. Longshore, Kenneth E. Nussear, Todd C. Esque