Publications

The black-capped petrel Pterodroma hasitata is an Endangered seabird endemic to the western North Atlantic. Although estimated at ~1000 breeding pairs, only ~100 nests have been located at 2 sites in Haiti and 3 sites in the Dominican Republic. At sea, the species primarily occupies waters of the western Gulf Stream in the Atlantic and the Caribbean Sea. Due to limited data, there is currently no

Some animals use humanmade objects for building and constructing nests or shelter and even for play. Gray wolves (Canis lupus) gather and use humanmade objects discovered in their natural environment. Gathering humanmade objects is a peculiar behavior particularly when there is no immediately apparent benefit to survival or reproduction. I opportunistically documented 46 different types of humanma

Dispersal is one of the key elements of species’ metapopulation dynamics and, hence, influences global conservation status. Furthermore, determining the geographic variation in magnitude and direction of dispersal throughout a species’ distribution may expand our understanding of the causes of population declines in species of conservation concern. For instance, western burrowing owl (Athene cunic

Species responses to disturbance influence their extinction risks. Greater sage- grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) are bioindicators of sagebrush ecosystem health and the loss of sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) due to wildfire, can cause long-term declines in sage- grouse populations and other sagebrush obligate species. We examined the de-mographic response of a greater sage- grouse population follow

Ultrasonic bat detectors are useful for research and monitoring purposes to assess occupancy and relative activity of bat communities. Environmental “clutter” such as tree boles and foliage can affect the recording quality and identification of bat echolocation calls collected using ultrasonic detectors. It can also affect the transmission of calls and recognition by bats when using acoustic lure

Considering reservoirs as linear fragments in a basin's river network could improve understanding, predictability, and management efficiency. We looked for general cascading spatial patterns across five categories of reservoir attributes: land cover, morphology and hydrology, fish habitat, fish assemblages, and fisheries. Attributes were pulled from various databases for large reservoirs (>100 ha)

A reliable chlorophyll–nutrient relationship (CNR) is essential for lake eutrophication management. Although the spatial variability of CNRs has been extensively explored, temporal variations of CNRs at the individual lake scale has rarely been discussed. The paucity of information about temporal dependence in CNRs may in part be due to the lack of a suitable statistical framework that helps guide

Despite ongoing Lake Sturgeon recovery efforts, little is known about the role of stocking location on survival and dispersal to nursery habitats. We stocked age-0 Lake Sturgeon at four sites in two adjacent Missouri River tributaries and used telemetry to examine whether survival and dispersal differed among stocking sites and rivers. Survival estimates from Barker Cormack-Jolly-Seber models that

Research on fishes sometimes requires that individual fish be captured and subjected to invasive procedures multiple times over a relatively short time span. Electrofishing is one of the most common techniques used to capture fish, and it is known to cause injury to fish under certain circumstances. We evaluated the relationship of growth rates in Columbia River Redband Trout Oncorhynchus mykiss g

When provisioning chicks, parents trade-off their time, energy, and other resources to maximize reproductive success. As parents adjust investment to maximize their fitness, impacts on offspring growth can occur. We investigated provisioning and chick growth of Adélie Penguins (Pygoscelis adeliae) at one of the largest colonies (∼175,000 pairs), during one year of normal chick growth and survival

Documenting the spatial distribution of high-quality habitat patches, the distributions of threats and protected areas, and the vulnerability of habitat patches to changes in environmental conditions is vital for conservation of rare species. Range-wide species distribution models were developed for Black Rails (Laterallus jamaicensis) to predict the distribution of high-quality habitat patches fo

The rapid technological development of small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (sUAS) has led to an increase in capabilities of aerial image collection and analysis for monitoring a variety of wildlife species including waterfowl. Biologists mainly rely on conducting ocular surveys from fixed-wing aircraft or helicopters to estimate waterfowl abundance. sUAS provide an alternative that is safer, less expe