Publications

Monitoring is usually among the first actions taken to help inform recovery planning for declining species, but these data are rarely used formally to inform conservation decision making. For example, Central Valley Chinook salmon were once abundant, but anthropogenic activities have led to widespread habitat loss and degradation resulting in significant population declines. Monitoring data sugges

We used stable isotope analysis to investigate differences in Guadalupe bass (Micropterus treculii) resource use that might be associated with population-level variation in mainstem river versus tributary stream habitats. Guadalupe bass from mainstem sites had higher δ13C and δ15N values compared to those collected in tributaries, likely reflecting greater importance of algae as a basal resource a

Hybridisation with introduced taxa poses a threat to native fish populations. Mechanisms of reproductive isolation can limit or prevent hybridisation between closely related species. Understanding how these mechanisms interact between the same species across geographically distinct occurrences of secondary contact, and how regional factors influence them, can inform our understanding of hybridisat

Interbasin water transfers are becoming an increasingly common tool to satisfy municipal and agricultural water demand, but their impacts on movement and gene flow of aquatic organisms are poorly understood. The Grand Ditch is an interbasin water transfer that diverts water from tributaries of the upper Colorado River on the west side of the Continental Divide to the upper Cache la Poudre River on

The young of some altricial bird species hatch asynchronously, which can lead to considerable size differences among siblings. Nestling traits such as body mass, moreover, can carry over and influence post-fledging survival. Despite the potential importance of nestling mass for reproductive outcomes, however, variation in nestling mass and relationships with brood size has been described and quant

The Pallid Sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus albus) Conservation Propagation and Stocking Program began stocking in the Missouri River above Fort Peck Reservoir in 1998 with 1997-year-class pallid sturgeon. Within the 1997-year class, all hatchery-origin pallid sturgeon females that reached reproductive maturation by 2016 underwent mass ovarian follicular atresia. Using combined historical and contemporary

Connecting individual datasets from different projects to each other and to decisions can help manager-researcher-administrator teams build on what is known and adapt their environmental decision-making process as new information becomes available. Throughout their careers, environmental professionals often collect data on many individual projects that address similar sets of natural resource cons

No abstract available.

Agent-based methods allow for defining simple rules that generate complex group behaviors. The governing rules of such models are typically set a priori, and parameters are tuned from observed behavior trajectories. Instead of making simplifying assumptions across all anticipated scenarios, inverse reinforcement learning provides inference on the short-term (local) rules governing long-term behavi

Drought has impacted the Colorado River basin for the past 20 years and is predicted to continue. In response, decisions about how much water should be stored in large reservoirs and how much water can be consumptively used will be necessary. These decisions have the potential to limit riverine ecosystem management options through the effect water-supply decisions have on reservoir elevations. We

Populations of amphibians that breed in isolated, ephemeral wetlands may be particularly sensitive to breeding and recruitment rates, which can be influenced by dynamic and difficult-to-predict extrinsic factors. The gopher frog Rana capito is a declining species currently proposed for listing under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, as well as one of many pond-breeding amphibians of conservation co

Invasive species threaten island biodiversity globally. For example, the Shiny Cowbird (Molothrus bonariensis) parasitizes many of Puerto Rico’s endemic species, particularly in the open forests in the island’s southwest. Less is known, however, about cowbird parasitism in the agro-ecological highlands, which contain a patchwork of forests, shaded-coffee plantations, and coffee farms without shade