James Nichols, Ph.D.
Dr. Jim Nichols conducts research on animal population dynamics and management
Recent Accomplishments
Education
- B.S. Wake Forest University, Biology, 1971
- M.S. Louisiana State University, Wildlife Management, 1973
- Ph.D. Michigan State University, Wildlife Ecology, 1976
Professional Studies/Experience
- Adaptive management and assessment of habitat changes on migratory birds
- Development of models of mallard population dynamics for adaptive harvest management
- Development of methods to estimate parameters associated with animal population dynamics
- Statistical methods for species richness estimation
- Technical Assistance -Tiger Monitoring and Population Research
- Development of methods for estimating patch occupancy and patch-dynamic parameters from detection-nondetection survey data
- Development of methods to estimate species richness and community-dynamic parameters from species list data
Mentorship/Outreach
Professional societies/affiliations/committees/editorial boardsScientific/Oral Presentations, Abstracts
Honors, awards, recognition, elected offices
- 2005 - U.S. Presidential Rank Award (Meritorious Senior Professional)
- 2004 - U.S. Geological Survey Meritorious Service Award
- 2004 - IFAS Scholar Award, University of Florida
- 1998 - Promoted to Senior Scientist, U.S. Geological Survey
- 1991 - The George W. Snedecor Award of the American Statistical Association
- 1991 - The Wildlife Society's Wildlife Publication Award for Monograph
- 1984 - Southeastern Section of the Wildlife Society, Outstanding Publication Award
Scientific/Oral Presentations, Abstracts
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 401
Ecological status and conservation of tigers in India. Final Technical Report (February 1995 to January 2000)
No abstract available.
Authors
K. U. Karanth, J. D. Nichols
Monitoring is not enough: on the need for a model-based approach to migratory bird management
Informed management requires information about system state and about effects of potential management actions on system state. Population monitoring can provide the needed information about system state, as well as information that can be used to investigate effects of management actions. Three methods for investigating effects of management on bird populations are (1) retrospective analysis, (2
Authors
J. D. Nichols
The role of population monitoring in the management of North American waterfowl
Despite the effort and expense devoted to large-scale monitoring programs, few existing programs have been designed with specific objectives in mind and few permit strong inferences about the dynamics of monitored systems. The waterfowl population monitoring programs of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Canadian Wildlife Service and state and provincial agencies provide a nice example with respe
Authors
J. D. Nichols, B.K. Williams, F.A. Johnson
A removal model for estimating detection probabilities from point-count surveys
We adapted a removal model to estimate detection probability during point count surveys. The model assumes one factor influencing detection during point counts is the singing frequency of birds. This may be true for surveys recording forest songbirds when most detections are by sound. The model requires counts to be divided into several time intervals. We used time intervals of 2, 5, and 10 min
Authors
G.L. Farnsworth, K. H. Pollock, J. D. Nichols, T.R. Simons, J. E. Hines, J.R. Sauer
Estimates of population change in selected species of tropical birds using mark-recapture data
The population biology of tropical birds is known for a only small sample of species; especially in the Neotropics. Robust estimates of parameters such as survival rate and finite rate of population change (A) are crucial for conservation purposes and useful for studies of avian life histories. We used methods developed by Pradel (1996, Biometrics 52:703-709) to estimate A for 10 species of tropi
Authors
J. Brawn, J. D. Nichols, J. E. Hines, J. Nesbitt
A double-observer approach for estimating detection probability and abundance from point counts
Although point counts are frequently used in ornithological studies, basic assumptions about detection probabilities often are untested. We apply a double-observer approach developed to estimate detection probabilities for aerial surveys (Cook and Jacobson 1979) to avian point counts. At each point count, a designated 'primary' observer indicates to another ('secondary') observer all birds detec
Authors
J. D. Nichols, J. E. Hines, J.R. Sauer, F.W. Fallon, J.E. Fallon, P.J. Heglund
Relative species richness and community completeness: avian communities and urbanization in the mid-Atlantic states
The idea that local factors govern local richness has been dominant for years, but recent theoretical and empirical studies have stressed the influence of regional factors on local richness. Fewer species at a site could reflect not only the influence of local factors, but also a smaller regional pool. The possible dependency of local richness on the regional pool should be taken into account wh
Authors
E. Cam, J. D. Nichols, J.R. Sauer, J. E. Hines, C.H. Flather
Geographic analysis of species richness and community attributes of forest birds from survey data in the mid-Atlantic integrated assessment region
Species richness of local communities is a state variable commonly used in community ecology and conservation biology. Investigation of spatial and temporal variations in richness and identification of factors associated with these variations form a basis for specifying management plans, evaluating these plans, and for testing hypotheses of theoretical interest. However, estimation of species ri
Authors
Emmanuelle Cam, John R. Sauer, James D. Nichols, James E. Hines, Curtis H. Flather
The AOU Conservation Committee Review of the biology, status, and management of Cape Sable Seaside Sparrows: Final report
The Cape Sable Seaside Sparrow (Ammodramus maritimus mirabilis) was listed as an original member of the federal list of endangered species in 1968. It is restricted to seasonally flooded prairies of extreme southern Florida and is disjunct from all other conspecific breeding populations (Kushlan et al 1982, McDonald 1988). Since the subspecies was described in 1919, its populations have been disco
Authors
J. R. Walters, S.R. Beissenger, J.W. Fitzpatrick, R. Greenberg, J. D. Nichols, H.R. Pulliam, D.W. Winkler
Evolution of harvest management for North American waterfowl: Selective pressures and preadaptations for adaptive harvest management
No abstract available.
Authors
James D. Nichols
Estimation of contributions to population growth: A reverse-time capture-recapture approach
We consider methods for estimating the relative contributions of different demographic components, and their associated vital rates, to population growth. We identify components of the population at time i (including a component for animals not in the population at i). For each such component we ask the following question: “What is the probability that an individual randomly selected from the popu
Authors
J. D. Nichols, J. E. Hines, J.D. Lebreton, R. Pradel
Inferences about nested subsets structure when not all species are detected
Comparisons of species composition among ecological communities of different size have often provided evidence that the species in communities with lower species richness form nested subsets of the species in larger communities. In the vast majority of studies, the question of nested subsets has been addressed using information on presence-absence, where a '0' is interpreted as the absence of a g
Authors
E. Cam, J. D. Nichols, J. E. Hines, J.R. Sauer
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 401
Ecological status and conservation of tigers in India. Final Technical Report (February 1995 to January 2000)
No abstract available.
Authors
K. U. Karanth, J. D. Nichols
Monitoring is not enough: on the need for a model-based approach to migratory bird management
Informed management requires information about system state and about effects of potential management actions on system state. Population monitoring can provide the needed information about system state, as well as information that can be used to investigate effects of management actions. Three methods for investigating effects of management on bird populations are (1) retrospective analysis, (2
Authors
J. D. Nichols
The role of population monitoring in the management of North American waterfowl
Despite the effort and expense devoted to large-scale monitoring programs, few existing programs have been designed with specific objectives in mind and few permit strong inferences about the dynamics of monitored systems. The waterfowl population monitoring programs of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Canadian Wildlife Service and state and provincial agencies provide a nice example with respe
Authors
J. D. Nichols, B.K. Williams, F.A. Johnson
A removal model for estimating detection probabilities from point-count surveys
We adapted a removal model to estimate detection probability during point count surveys. The model assumes one factor influencing detection during point counts is the singing frequency of birds. This may be true for surveys recording forest songbirds when most detections are by sound. The model requires counts to be divided into several time intervals. We used time intervals of 2, 5, and 10 min
Authors
G.L. Farnsworth, K. H. Pollock, J. D. Nichols, T.R. Simons, J. E. Hines, J.R. Sauer
Estimates of population change in selected species of tropical birds using mark-recapture data
The population biology of tropical birds is known for a only small sample of species; especially in the Neotropics. Robust estimates of parameters such as survival rate and finite rate of population change (A) are crucial for conservation purposes and useful for studies of avian life histories. We used methods developed by Pradel (1996, Biometrics 52:703-709) to estimate A for 10 species of tropi
Authors
J. Brawn, J. D. Nichols, J. E. Hines, J. Nesbitt
A double-observer approach for estimating detection probability and abundance from point counts
Although point counts are frequently used in ornithological studies, basic assumptions about detection probabilities often are untested. We apply a double-observer approach developed to estimate detection probabilities for aerial surveys (Cook and Jacobson 1979) to avian point counts. At each point count, a designated 'primary' observer indicates to another ('secondary') observer all birds detec
Authors
J. D. Nichols, J. E. Hines, J.R. Sauer, F.W. Fallon, J.E. Fallon, P.J. Heglund
Relative species richness and community completeness: avian communities and urbanization in the mid-Atlantic states
The idea that local factors govern local richness has been dominant for years, but recent theoretical and empirical studies have stressed the influence of regional factors on local richness. Fewer species at a site could reflect not only the influence of local factors, but also a smaller regional pool. The possible dependency of local richness on the regional pool should be taken into account wh
Authors
E. Cam, J. D. Nichols, J.R. Sauer, J. E. Hines, C.H. Flather
Geographic analysis of species richness and community attributes of forest birds from survey data in the mid-Atlantic integrated assessment region
Species richness of local communities is a state variable commonly used in community ecology and conservation biology. Investigation of spatial and temporal variations in richness and identification of factors associated with these variations form a basis for specifying management plans, evaluating these plans, and for testing hypotheses of theoretical interest. However, estimation of species ri
Authors
Emmanuelle Cam, John R. Sauer, James D. Nichols, James E. Hines, Curtis H. Flather
The AOU Conservation Committee Review of the biology, status, and management of Cape Sable Seaside Sparrows: Final report
The Cape Sable Seaside Sparrow (Ammodramus maritimus mirabilis) was listed as an original member of the federal list of endangered species in 1968. It is restricted to seasonally flooded prairies of extreme southern Florida and is disjunct from all other conspecific breeding populations (Kushlan et al 1982, McDonald 1988). Since the subspecies was described in 1919, its populations have been disco
Authors
J. R. Walters, S.R. Beissenger, J.W. Fitzpatrick, R. Greenberg, J. D. Nichols, H.R. Pulliam, D.W. Winkler
Evolution of harvest management for North American waterfowl: Selective pressures and preadaptations for adaptive harvest management
No abstract available.
Authors
James D. Nichols
Estimation of contributions to population growth: A reverse-time capture-recapture approach
We consider methods for estimating the relative contributions of different demographic components, and their associated vital rates, to population growth. We identify components of the population at time i (including a component for animals not in the population at i). For each such component we ask the following question: “What is the probability that an individual randomly selected from the popu
Authors
J. D. Nichols, J. E. Hines, J.D. Lebreton, R. Pradel
Inferences about nested subsets structure when not all species are detected
Comparisons of species composition among ecological communities of different size have often provided evidence that the species in communities with lower species richness form nested subsets of the species in larger communities. In the vast majority of studies, the question of nested subsets has been addressed using information on presence-absence, where a '0' is interpreted as the absence of a g
Authors
E. Cam, J. D. Nichols, J. E. Hines, J.R. Sauer