Publications

Smallmouth bass Micropterus dolomieu were rare in the upper Colorado River basin until the early 1990’s when their abundance dramatically increased in the Yampa River sub-basin. Increased abundance was due primarily to colonization from Elkhead Reservoir, which was rapidly drawn down twice, first to make improvements to the dam (1992) and a second time for reservoir expansion (2005), and allowed e

Efforts to restore Lake Trout Salvelinus namaycush in the Laurentian Great Lakes have been hampered for decades by several factors, including overfishing and invasive species (e.g., parasitism by Sea Lampreys Petromyzon marinus and reproductive deficiencies associated with consumption of Alewives Alosa pseudoharengus). Restoration efforts are complicated by the presence of multiple body forms (i.e

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) is responsible for the protection and management of Key deer (Odocoileus virginianus clavium) because the species is listed as Endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The purpose of the ESA is to protect and recover imperiled species and the ecosystems upon which they depend. There are a host of actions that could possibly be undertaken to recove

The Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks utilize data from turkey hunter observations and brood surveys from across the state to manage wild turkey Meleagris gallopavo populations. Since 1995, hunters have collected gobbling and jake observation data, while the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks' personnel and cooperating wildlife managers of several natur

Landscapes in agricultural systems continue to undergo significant change, and the loss of biodiversity is an ever-increasing threat. Although habitat restoration is beneficial, management actions do not always result in the desired outcome. Managers must understand why management actions fail; yet, past studies have focused on assessing habitat attributes at a single spatial scale, and often fail

We evaluated freshwater growth and survival from juvenile (ages 0–3) to smolt (ages 1–5) and adult stages in wild steelhead Oncorhynchus mykiss sampled in different precipitation zones of the Skagit River basin, Washington. Our objectives were to determine whether significant size-selective mortality (SSM) in steelhead could be detected between early and later freshwater stages and between each of

Predation can play an important role in the recruitment dynamics of fishes with intensity regulated by behavioral (i.e., prey selectivity) and/or environmental conditions that may be especially important for rare or endangered fishes. We conducted laboratory experiments to quantify prey selection and capture efficiency by three predators employing distinct foraging strategies: pelagic piscivore (w

Organisms can be affected by processes in the surrounding landscape outside the boundary of habitat areas and by local vegetation characteristics. There is substantial interest in understanding how these processes affect populations of grassland birds, which have experienced substantial population declines. Much of our knowledge regarding patterns of occupancy and density stem from prairie systems

Grassland bird species have experienced substantial declines in North America. These declines have been largely attributed to habitat loss and degradation, especially from agricultural practices and intensification (the habitat-availability hypothesis). A recent analysis of North American Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) “grassland breeding” bird trends reported the surprising conclusion that insecticid

Mitigation activities designed to supplement nutrient and organic matter inputs to streams experiencing decline or loss of Pacific salmon typically presuppose that an important pathway by which salmon nutrients are moved to fish (anadromous and/or resident) is via nutrient incorporation by biofilms and subsequent bottom-up stimulation of biofilm production, which is nutrient-limited in many ecosys

Because human impacts and climate change threaten aquatic ecosystems, a need exists to quantify catchment-scale biodiversity patterns and identify conservation actions that can mitigate adverse human impacts on aquatic biota. Whereas many traditional aquatic resource questions can be answered by repeatedly sampling a few target species with limited types of gear in the same habitats, sampling fis

The introduced mollusciphagic black carp Mylopharyngodon piceus poses a significant threat to native mollusks in temperate waters throughout the northern hemisphere, but consumption rates necessary to estimate the magnitude of impact on mollusks have not been established. We measured food consumption and growth rates for small (77–245 g) and large (466–1,071 g) triploid black carp held individuall