James E Lyons, Ph.D.
Jim is a Research Ecologist at the Eastern Ecological Science Center at the Patuxent Research Refuge in Laurel, MD.
Jim joined USGS as a Research Ecologist at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in 2016. Prior to joining USGS, he was a Wildlife Biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Division of Migratory Bird Management, also located at the Patuxent Research Refuge, from 2006–2016. He received a BS from University of Vermont and MS from Clemson University, both in Wildlife Biology, and a Ph.D. from Virginia Tech in Biology. His research interests include ecology and conservation of migratory birds and applications of decision analysis for natural resource management.
Professional Experience
2020-present, Research Ecologist, USGS Eastern Ecological Science Center at the Patuxent Research Refuge
2016-2020, Research Ecologist, USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center
2006-2016, Wildlife Biologist, USFWS Division of Migratory Bird Management at the Patuxent Research Refuge
2004-2006, Postdoctoral Research Associate, USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center
2002-2004, Lecturer, Department of Wildlife, Humboldt State University
2001-2002, Postdoctoral Research Associate, North Carolina State University
Education and Certifications
Ph.D. Biology, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (2001)
M.S. Aquaculture, Fisheries, and Wildlife Biology, Clemson University (1994)
B.S. Wildlife and Fisheries Biology, University of Vermont (1986)
Affiliations and Memberships*
American Ornithological Society
Association of Field Ornithologists
Ecological Society of America
International Wader Study Group
Waterbird Society
The Wildlife Society
Wilson Ornithological Society
Honors and Awards
STAR Award, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. For work on the Adaptive Management Consultancy for Prescribed Fire at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge (2008)
Rachel Carson Award for Scientific Excellence, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Group Category, Awarded to the Branch of Population and Habitat Assessment (2009)
STAR Award, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. For work to develop a Strategic Plan to Monitor the Eastern Migratory Population of Whooping Cranes for the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership (2009)
STAR Award, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. For work on Adaptive Monitoring of Salt Marsh Surface Elevation Dynamics and Prescribed Fire at Blackwater NWR(2014)
Elective Member, American Ornithologists’ Union (2014)
2018-2019 Top Downloaded Paper, Restoration Ecology
Honor Award for Conservation Partners, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Southeast Regional Director. “Gulf of Mexico Avian Monitoring Network” (2021)
Decision Analysis Society, Practice Award Finalist, Adaptive Management of Horseshoe Crab Harvest and Red Knot Conservation in the Delaware Bay
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 60
A generalizable energetics-based model of avian migration to facilitate continental-scale waterbird conservation
Conserving migratory birds is made especially difficult because of movement among spatially disparate locations across the annual cycle. In light of challenges presented by the scale and ecology of migratory birds, successful conservation requires integrating objectives, management, and monitoring across scales, from local management units to ecoregional and flyway administrative boundaries. We pr
Authors
Eric V. Lonsdorf, Wayne E. Thogmartin, Sarah Jacobi, Jorge Coppen, Amélie Y. Davis, Timothy J. Fox, Patricia J. Heglund, Rex Johnson, Tim Jones, Kevin P. Kenow, James E. Lyons, Kirsten E. Luke, Shannon Still, Brian G. Tavernia
Use of structured decision making to identify monitoring variables and management priorities for salt marsh ecosystems
Most salt marshes in the USA have been degraded by human activities, and coastal managers are faced with complex choices among possible actions to restore or enhance ecosystem integrity. We applied structured decision making (SDM) to guide selection of monitoring variables and management priorities for salt marshes within the National Wildlife Refuge System in the northeastern USA. In general, SDM
Authors
Hilary A. Neckles, James E. Lyons, Glenn R. Guntenspergen, W. Gregory Shriver, Susan C. Adamowicz
Developing objectives with multiple stakeholders: adaptive management of horseshoe crabs and Red Knots in the Delaware Bay
Structured decision making (SDM) is an increasingly utilized approach and set of tools for addressing complex decisions in environmental management. SDM is a value-focused thinking approach that places paramount importance on first establishing clear management objectives that reflect core values of stakeholders. To be useful for management, objectives must be transparently stated in unambiguous a
Authors
Conor P. McGowan, James E. Lyons, David Smith
Implementation of a framework for multi-species, multi-objective adaptive management in Delaware Bay
Decision analytic approaches have been widely recommended as well suited to solving disputed and ecologically complex natural resource management problems with multiple objectives and high uncertainty. However, the difference between theory and practice is substantial, as there are very few actual resource management programs that represent formal applications of decision analysis. We applied the
Authors
Conor P. McGowan, David R. Smith, James D. Nichols, James E. Lyons, John A. Sweka, Kevin Kalasz, Lawrence J. Niles, Richard Wong, Jeffrey Brust, Michelle C. Davis, Braddock Spear
Evaluating a multispecies adaptive management framework: Must uncertainty impede effective decision-making?
Application of adaptive management to complex natural resource systems requires careful evaluation to ensure that the process leads to improved decision-making. As part of that evaluation, adaptive policies can be compared with alternative nonadaptive management scenarios. Also, the value of reducing structural (ecological) uncertainty to achieving management objectives can be quantified.A multisp
Authors
David R. Smith, Conor P. McGowan, Jonathan P. Daily, James D. Nichols, John A. Sweka, James E. Lyons
Large-scale monitoring of shorebird populations using count data and N-mixture models: Black Oystercatcher (Haematopus bachmani) surveys by land and sea
Large-scale monitoring of bird populations is often based on count data collected across spatial scales that may include multiple physiographic regions and habitat types. Monitoring at large spatial scales may require multiple survey platforms (e.g., from boats and land when monitoring coastal species) and multiple survey methods. It becomes especially important to explicitly account for detection
Authors
James E. Lyons, Royle J. Andrew, Susan M. Thomas, Elise Elliott-Smith, Joseph R. Evenson, Elizabeth G. Kelly, Ruth L. Milner, David R. Nysewander, Brad A. Andres
Population size of snowy plovers breeding in North America
Snowy Plovers (Charadrius nivosus) may be one of the rarest shorebirds in North America yet a comprehensive assessment of their abundance and distribution has not been completed. During 2007 and 2008, 557 discrete wetlands were surveyed and nine additional large wetland complexes sampled in México and the USA. From these surveys, a population of 23,555 (95% CI = 17,299 – 29,859) breeding Snowy Plo
Authors
Susan M. Thomas, James E. Lyons, Brad A. Andres, Elise Elliot T-Smith, Eduardo Palacios, John F. Cavitt, J. Andrew Royle, Suzanne D. Fellows, Kendra Maty, William H. Howe, Eric Mellink, Stefani Melvin, Tara Zimmerman
Which uncertainty? Using expert elicitation and expected value of information to design an adaptive program
Natural resource management is plagued with uncertainty of many kinds, but not all uncertainties are equally important to resolve. The promise of adaptive management is that learning in the short-term will improve management in the long-term; that promise is best kept if the focus of learning is on those uncertainties that most impede achievement of management objectives. In this context, an exist
Authors
Michael C. Runge, Sarah J. Converse, James E. Lyons
Demographic consequences of migratory stopover: Linking red knot survival to horseshoe crab spawning abundance
Understanding how events during one period of the annual cycle carry over to affect survival and other fitness components in other periods is essential to understanding migratory bird demography and conservation needs. Previous research has suggested that western Atlantic red knot (Calidris canutus rufa) populations are greatly affected by horseshoe crab (Limulus polyphemus) egg availability at De
Authors
Conor P. McGowan, James E. Hines, James D. Nichols, James E. Lyons, David Smith, Kevin S. Kalasz, Lawrence J. Niles, Amanda D. Dey, Nigel A. Clark, Philip W. Atkinson, Clive D.T. Minton, William Kendall
Climate change, uncertainty, and natural resource management
Climate change and its associated uncertainties are of concern to natural resource managers. Although aspects of climate change may be novel (e.g., system change and nonstationarity), natural resource managers have long dealt with uncertainties and have developed corresponding approaches to decision-making. Adaptive resource management is an application of structured decision-making for recurrent
Authors
J.D. Nichols, M.D. Koneff, P.J. Heglund, M. G. Knutson, M.E. Seamans, J. E. Lyons, J.M. Morton, M.T. Jones, G.S. Boomer, B. Kenneth Williams
Monitoring in the context of structured decision-making and adaptive management
In a natural resource management setting, monitoring is a crucial component of an informed process for making decisions, and monitoring design should be driven by the decision context and associated uncertainties. Monitoring itself can play >3 roles. First, it is important for state-dependent decision-making, as when managers need to know the system state before deciding on the appropriate cours
Authors
J. E. Lyons, M.C. Runge, H. P. Laskowski, W. L. Kendall
Habitat-specific foraging of prothonotary warblers: Deducing habitat quality
Foraging behavior often reflects food availability in predictable ways. For example, in habitats where food availability is high, predators should attack prey more often and move more slowly than in habitats where food availability is low. To assess relative food availability and habitat quality, I studied the foraging behavior of breeding Prothonotary Warblers (Protonotaria citrea) in two forest
Authors
James E. Lyons
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 60
A generalizable energetics-based model of avian migration to facilitate continental-scale waterbird conservation
Conserving migratory birds is made especially difficult because of movement among spatially disparate locations across the annual cycle. In light of challenges presented by the scale and ecology of migratory birds, successful conservation requires integrating objectives, management, and monitoring across scales, from local management units to ecoregional and flyway administrative boundaries. We pr
Authors
Eric V. Lonsdorf, Wayne E. Thogmartin, Sarah Jacobi, Jorge Coppen, Amélie Y. Davis, Timothy J. Fox, Patricia J. Heglund, Rex Johnson, Tim Jones, Kevin P. Kenow, James E. Lyons, Kirsten E. Luke, Shannon Still, Brian G. Tavernia
Use of structured decision making to identify monitoring variables and management priorities for salt marsh ecosystems
Most salt marshes in the USA have been degraded by human activities, and coastal managers are faced with complex choices among possible actions to restore or enhance ecosystem integrity. We applied structured decision making (SDM) to guide selection of monitoring variables and management priorities for salt marshes within the National Wildlife Refuge System in the northeastern USA. In general, SDM
Authors
Hilary A. Neckles, James E. Lyons, Glenn R. Guntenspergen, W. Gregory Shriver, Susan C. Adamowicz
Developing objectives with multiple stakeholders: adaptive management of horseshoe crabs and Red Knots in the Delaware Bay
Structured decision making (SDM) is an increasingly utilized approach and set of tools for addressing complex decisions in environmental management. SDM is a value-focused thinking approach that places paramount importance on first establishing clear management objectives that reflect core values of stakeholders. To be useful for management, objectives must be transparently stated in unambiguous a
Authors
Conor P. McGowan, James E. Lyons, David Smith
Implementation of a framework for multi-species, multi-objective adaptive management in Delaware Bay
Decision analytic approaches have been widely recommended as well suited to solving disputed and ecologically complex natural resource management problems with multiple objectives and high uncertainty. However, the difference between theory and practice is substantial, as there are very few actual resource management programs that represent formal applications of decision analysis. We applied the
Authors
Conor P. McGowan, David R. Smith, James D. Nichols, James E. Lyons, John A. Sweka, Kevin Kalasz, Lawrence J. Niles, Richard Wong, Jeffrey Brust, Michelle C. Davis, Braddock Spear
Evaluating a multispecies adaptive management framework: Must uncertainty impede effective decision-making?
Application of adaptive management to complex natural resource systems requires careful evaluation to ensure that the process leads to improved decision-making. As part of that evaluation, adaptive policies can be compared with alternative nonadaptive management scenarios. Also, the value of reducing structural (ecological) uncertainty to achieving management objectives can be quantified.A multisp
Authors
David R. Smith, Conor P. McGowan, Jonathan P. Daily, James D. Nichols, John A. Sweka, James E. Lyons
Large-scale monitoring of shorebird populations using count data and N-mixture models: Black Oystercatcher (Haematopus bachmani) surveys by land and sea
Large-scale monitoring of bird populations is often based on count data collected across spatial scales that may include multiple physiographic regions and habitat types. Monitoring at large spatial scales may require multiple survey platforms (e.g., from boats and land when monitoring coastal species) and multiple survey methods. It becomes especially important to explicitly account for detection
Authors
James E. Lyons, Royle J. Andrew, Susan M. Thomas, Elise Elliott-Smith, Joseph R. Evenson, Elizabeth G. Kelly, Ruth L. Milner, David R. Nysewander, Brad A. Andres
Population size of snowy plovers breeding in North America
Snowy Plovers (Charadrius nivosus) may be one of the rarest shorebirds in North America yet a comprehensive assessment of their abundance and distribution has not been completed. During 2007 and 2008, 557 discrete wetlands were surveyed and nine additional large wetland complexes sampled in México and the USA. From these surveys, a population of 23,555 (95% CI = 17,299 – 29,859) breeding Snowy Plo
Authors
Susan M. Thomas, James E. Lyons, Brad A. Andres, Elise Elliot T-Smith, Eduardo Palacios, John F. Cavitt, J. Andrew Royle, Suzanne D. Fellows, Kendra Maty, William H. Howe, Eric Mellink, Stefani Melvin, Tara Zimmerman
Which uncertainty? Using expert elicitation and expected value of information to design an adaptive program
Natural resource management is plagued with uncertainty of many kinds, but not all uncertainties are equally important to resolve. The promise of adaptive management is that learning in the short-term will improve management in the long-term; that promise is best kept if the focus of learning is on those uncertainties that most impede achievement of management objectives. In this context, an exist
Authors
Michael C. Runge, Sarah J. Converse, James E. Lyons
Demographic consequences of migratory stopover: Linking red knot survival to horseshoe crab spawning abundance
Understanding how events during one period of the annual cycle carry over to affect survival and other fitness components in other periods is essential to understanding migratory bird demography and conservation needs. Previous research has suggested that western Atlantic red knot (Calidris canutus rufa) populations are greatly affected by horseshoe crab (Limulus polyphemus) egg availability at De
Authors
Conor P. McGowan, James E. Hines, James D. Nichols, James E. Lyons, David Smith, Kevin S. Kalasz, Lawrence J. Niles, Amanda D. Dey, Nigel A. Clark, Philip W. Atkinson, Clive D.T. Minton, William Kendall
Climate change, uncertainty, and natural resource management
Climate change and its associated uncertainties are of concern to natural resource managers. Although aspects of climate change may be novel (e.g., system change and nonstationarity), natural resource managers have long dealt with uncertainties and have developed corresponding approaches to decision-making. Adaptive resource management is an application of structured decision-making for recurrent
Authors
J.D. Nichols, M.D. Koneff, P.J. Heglund, M. G. Knutson, M.E. Seamans, J. E. Lyons, J.M. Morton, M.T. Jones, G.S. Boomer, B. Kenneth Williams
Monitoring in the context of structured decision-making and adaptive management
In a natural resource management setting, monitoring is a crucial component of an informed process for making decisions, and monitoring design should be driven by the decision context and associated uncertainties. Monitoring itself can play >3 roles. First, it is important for state-dependent decision-making, as when managers need to know the system state before deciding on the appropriate cours
Authors
J. E. Lyons, M.C. Runge, H. P. Laskowski, W. L. Kendall
Habitat-specific foraging of prothonotary warblers: Deducing habitat quality
Foraging behavior often reflects food availability in predictable ways. For example, in habitats where food availability is high, predators should attack prey more often and move more slowly than in habitats where food availability is low. To assess relative food availability and habitat quality, I studied the foraging behavior of breeding Prothonotary Warblers (Protonotaria citrea) in two forest
Authors
James E. Lyons
*Disclaimer: Listing outside positions with professional scientific organizations on this Staff Profile are for informational purposes only and do not constitute an endorsement of those professional scientific organizations or their activities by the USGS, Department of the Interior, or U.S. Government