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
Missouri River Scaphirhynchus albus (pallid sturgeon) effects analysis—Integrative report 2016
The Missouri River Pallid Sturgeon Effects Analysis was designed to carry out three components of an assessment of how Missouri River management has affected, and will affect, population dynamics of endangered Scaphirhynchus albus (pallid sturgeon): (1) collection of reliable scientific information, (2) critical assessment and synthesis of available data and analyses, and (3) analysis of the effec
Authors
Robert B. Jacobson, Mandy L. Annis, Michael E. Colvin, Daniel A. James, Timothy L. Welker, Michael J. Parsley
Lesser prairie-chicken fence collision risk across its northern distribution
Livestock fences have been hypothesized to significantly contribute to mortality of lesser prairie-chickens (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus); however, quantification of mortality due to fence collisions is lacking across their current distribution. Variation in fence density, landscape composition and configuration, and land use could influence collision risk of lesser prairie-chickens. We monitored f
Authors
Samantha G. Robinson, David A. Haukos, Reid T. Plumb, Christian A. Hagen, James C. Pitman, Joseph M. Lautenbach, Daniel S. Sullins, John D. Kraft, Jonathan D. Lautenbach
Ichthyophonus parasite phylogeny based on ITS rDNA structure prediction and alignment identifies six clades, with a single dominant marine type
Despite their widespread, global impact in both wild and cultured fishes, little is known of the diversity, transmission patterns, and phylogeography of parasites generally identified as Ichthyophonus. This study constructed a phylogeny based on the structural alignment of internal transcribed spacer (ITS) rDNA sequences to compare Ichthyophonus isolates from fish hosts in the Atlantic and Pacific
Authors
Jacob Gregg, Rachel L. Thompson, Maureen K. Purcell, Carolyn S. Friedman, Paul Hershberger
Disease surveillance of Atlantic herring: molecular characterization of hepatic coccidiosis and a morphological report of a novel intestinal coccidian
Surveillance for pathogens of Atlantic herring, including viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSV),Ichthyophonus hoferi, and hepatic and intestinal coccidians, was conducted from 2012 to 2016 in the NW Atlantic Ocean, New Jersey, USA. Neither VHSV nor I. hoferi was detected in any sample. Goussia clupearum was found in the livers of 40 to 78% of adult herring in varying parasite loads; however, a
Authors
Sarah E Friend, J Lovey, Paul Hershberger
Forecasting the relative influence of environmental and anthropogenic stressors on polar bears
Effective conservation planning requires understanding and ranking threats to wildlife populations. We developed a Bayesian network model to evaluate the relative influence of environmental and anthropogenic stressors, and their mitigation, on the persistence of polar bears (Ursus maritimus). Overall sea ice conditions, affected by rising global temperatures, were the most influential determinant
Authors
Todd C. Atwood, Bruce G. Marcot, David C. Douglas, Steven C. Amstrup, Karyn D. Rode, George M. Durner, Jeffrey F. Bromaghin
A goodness-of-fit test for occupancy models with correlated within-season revisits
Occupancy modeling is important for exploring species distribution patterns and for conservation monitoring. Within this framework, explicit attention is given to species detection probabilities estimated from replicate surveys to sample units. A central assumption is that replicate surveys are independent Bernoulli trials, but this assumption becomes untenable when ecologists serially deploy remo
Authors
Wilson Wright, Kathryn M. Irvine, Thomas J. Rodhouse
Large herbivores surf waves of green-up during spring
The green wave hypothesis (GWH) states that migrating animals should track or ‘surf’ high-quality forage at the leading edge of spring green-up. To index such high-quality forage, recent work proposed the instantaneous rate of green-up (IRG), i.e. rate of change in the normalized difference vegetation index over time. Despite this important advancement, no study has tested the assumption that herb
Authors
Jerod Merkle, Kevin L. Monteith, Ellen O. Aikens, Matthew M. Hayes, Kent Hersey, Arthur D. Middleton, Brendan Oates, Hall Sawyer, Brandon Scurlock, Matthew J. Kauffman
Validation of a stream and riparian habitat assessment protocol using stream salamanders in the southwest Virginia coalfields
Within the central Appalachia Coalfields, the aquatic impacts of large-scale land uses, such as surface mining, are of particular ecological concern. Identification and quantification of land use impacts to aquatic ecosystems are a necessary first step to aid in mitigation of negative consequences to biota. However, quantifying physical environmental quality such as stream and riparian habitat oft
Authors
Sara E. Sweeten, W. Mark Ford
Age- and season-specific variation in local and long-distance movement behavior of golden eagles
Animal movements can determine the population dynamics of wildlife. We used telemetry data to provide insight into the causes and consequences of local and long-distance movements of multiple age classes of conservation-reliant golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) in the foothills and mountains near Tehachapi, California. We estimated size and habitat-related correlates of 324 monthly 95 % home range
Authors
Sharon Poessel, Peter H. Bloom, Melissa A. Braham, Todd E. Katzner
Growth rates and ages of deep-sea corals impacted by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill
The impact of the April 2010 Deepwater Horizon (DWH) spill on deep-sea coral communities in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) is still under investigation, as is the potential for these communities to recover. Impacts from the spill include observation of corals covered with flocculent material, with bare skeleton, excessive mucous production, sloughing tissue, and subsequent colonization of damaged areas
Authors
Nancy G. Prouty, Charles R. Fisher, Amanda W.J. Demopoulos, Ellen R. M. Druffel
Land cover changes associated with recent energy development in the Williston Basin; Northern Great Plains, USA
The Williston Basin in the Northern Great Plains has experienced rapid energy development since 2000. To evaluate the land cover changes resulting from recent (2000 – 2015) development, the area and previous land cover of all well pads (pads) constructed during this time was determined, the amount of disturbed and reclaimed land adjacent to pads was estimated, land cover changes were analyzed over
Authors
Todd M. Preston, Kevin Kim
Estimating juvenile Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) abundance from beach seine data collected in the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta and San Francisco Bay, California
Resource managers rely on abundance or density metrics derived from beach seine surveys to make vital decisions that affect fish population dynamics and assemblage structure. However, abundance and density metrics may be biased by imperfect capture and lack of geographic closure during sampling. Currently, there is considerable uncertainty about the capture efficiency of juvenile Chinook salmon (O
Authors
Russell W. Perry, Joseph E. Kirsch, A. Noble Hendrix