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
Camera traps in animal ecology and conservation: What's next?
No abstract available.
Authors
James D. Nichols, Allan F. O'Connell, K. Ullas Karanth
Exploring sensitivity of a multistate occupancy model to inform management decisions
1. Dynamic occupancy models are often used to investigate questions regarding the processes that influence patch occupancy and are prominent in the fields of population and community ecology and conservation biology. Recently, multistate occupancy models have been developed to investigate dynamic systems involving more than one occupied state, including reproductive states, relative abundance stat
Authors
A.W. Green, L.L. Bailey, J. D. Nichols
A Markov decision process for managing habitat for Florida scrub-jays
Florida scrub-jays Aphelocoma coerulescens are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act due to loss and degradation of scrub habitat. This study concerned the development of an optimal strategy for the restoration and management of scrub habitat at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, which contains one of the few remaining large populations of scrub-jays in Florida. There are doc
Authors
Fred A. Johnson, David R. Breininger, Brean W. Duncan, James D. Nichols, Michael C. Runge, B. Ken Williams
Targeted surveillance for highly pathogenic avian influenza in migratory waterfowl across the conterminous United States: chapter 12
Introduction of Asian strain H5N1 Highly Pathogenic avian influenca via waterfowl migration is one potential route of entry into the United States. In conjunction with state, tribe, and laboratory partners, the United States Department of Agriculture collected and tested 124,603 wild bird samples in 2006 as part of a national surveillance effort. A sampling plan was devised to increase the probabi
Authors
Matthew L. Farnsworth, William L. Kendall, Paul F. Doherty, Ryan S. Miller, Gary C. White, James D. Nichols, Kenneth P. Burnham, Alan B. Franklin
Improving occupancy estimation when two types of observational error occur: Non-detection and species misidentification
Efforts to draw inferences about species occurrence frequently account for false negatives, the common situation when individuals of a species are not detected even when a site is occupied. However, recent studies suggest the need to also deal with false positives, which occur when species are misidentified so that a species is recorded as detected when a site is unoccupied. Bias in estimators of
Authors
David Miller, James D. Nichols, B.T. McClintock, Evan H. Campbell Grant, L.L. Bailey, L.A. Weir
Science, conservation, and camera traps
Biologists commonly perceive camera traps as a new tool that enables them to enter the hitherto secret world of wild animals. Camera traps are being used in a wide range of studies dealing with animal ecology, behavior, and conservation. Our intention in this volume is not to simply present the various uses of camera traps, but to focus on their use in the conduct of science and conservation. In t
Authors
James D. Nichols, K. Ullas Karanth, Allan F. O'Connel
Monitoring carnivore populations at the landscape scale: occupancy modelling of tigers from sign surveys
1. Assessing spatial distributions of threatened large carnivores at landscape scales poses formidable challenges because of their rarity and elusiveness. As a consequence of logistical constraints, investigators typically rely on sign surveys. Most survey methods, however, do not explicitly address the central problem of imperfect detections of animal signs in the field, leading to underestimates
Authors
Kota Ullas Karanth, Arjun M. Gopalaswamy, Narayanarao Samba Kumar, Srinivas Vaidyanathan, James D. Nichols, Darryl I. MacKenzie
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
Use of the superpopulation approach to estimate breeding population size: An example in asynchronously breeding birds
Many populations of animals are fluid in both space and time, making estimation of numbers difficult. Much attention has been devoted to estimation of bias in detection of animals that are present at the time of survey. However, an equally important problem is estimation of population size when all animals are not present on all survey occasions. Here, we showcase use of the superpopulation approa
Authors
K.A. Williams, P. C. Frederick, James D. Nichols
Conservation in the face of climate change: The roles of alternative models, monitoring, and adaptation in confronting and reducing uncertainty
The broad physical and biological principles behind climate change and its potential large scale ecological impacts on biota are fairly well understood, although likely responses of biotic communities at fine spatio-temporal scales are not, limiting the ability of conservation programs to respond effectively to climate change outside the range of human experience. Much of the climate debate has fo
Authors
M.J. Conroy, Michael C. Runge, James D. Nichols, K.W. Stodola, R.J. Cooper
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.K. Williams
Estimating tiger abundance from camera trap data: Field surveys and analytical issues
Automated photography of tigers Panthera tigris for purely illustrative purposes was pioneered by British forester Fred Champion (1927, 1933) in India in the early part of the Twentieth Century. However, it was McDougal (1977) in Nepal who first used camera traps, equipped with single-lens reflex cameras activated by pressure pads, to identify individual tigers and study their social and predatory
Authors
K. Ullas Karanth, James D. Nichols
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 401
Camera traps in animal ecology and conservation: What's next?
No abstract available.
Authors
James D. Nichols, Allan F. O'Connell, K. Ullas Karanth
Exploring sensitivity of a multistate occupancy model to inform management decisions
1. Dynamic occupancy models are often used to investigate questions regarding the processes that influence patch occupancy and are prominent in the fields of population and community ecology and conservation biology. Recently, multistate occupancy models have been developed to investigate dynamic systems involving more than one occupied state, including reproductive states, relative abundance stat
Authors
A.W. Green, L.L. Bailey, J. D. Nichols
A Markov decision process for managing habitat for Florida scrub-jays
Florida scrub-jays Aphelocoma coerulescens are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act due to loss and degradation of scrub habitat. This study concerned the development of an optimal strategy for the restoration and management of scrub habitat at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, which contains one of the few remaining large populations of scrub-jays in Florida. There are doc
Authors
Fred A. Johnson, David R. Breininger, Brean W. Duncan, James D. Nichols, Michael C. Runge, B. Ken Williams
Targeted surveillance for highly pathogenic avian influenza in migratory waterfowl across the conterminous United States: chapter 12
Introduction of Asian strain H5N1 Highly Pathogenic avian influenca via waterfowl migration is one potential route of entry into the United States. In conjunction with state, tribe, and laboratory partners, the United States Department of Agriculture collected and tested 124,603 wild bird samples in 2006 as part of a national surveillance effort. A sampling plan was devised to increase the probabi
Authors
Matthew L. Farnsworth, William L. Kendall, Paul F. Doherty, Ryan S. Miller, Gary C. White, James D. Nichols, Kenneth P. Burnham, Alan B. Franklin
Improving occupancy estimation when two types of observational error occur: Non-detection and species misidentification
Efforts to draw inferences about species occurrence frequently account for false negatives, the common situation when individuals of a species are not detected even when a site is occupied. However, recent studies suggest the need to also deal with false positives, which occur when species are misidentified so that a species is recorded as detected when a site is unoccupied. Bias in estimators of
Authors
David Miller, James D. Nichols, B.T. McClintock, Evan H. Campbell Grant, L.L. Bailey, L.A. Weir
Science, conservation, and camera traps
Biologists commonly perceive camera traps as a new tool that enables them to enter the hitherto secret world of wild animals. Camera traps are being used in a wide range of studies dealing with animal ecology, behavior, and conservation. Our intention in this volume is not to simply present the various uses of camera traps, but to focus on their use in the conduct of science and conservation. In t
Authors
James D. Nichols, K. Ullas Karanth, Allan F. O'Connel
Monitoring carnivore populations at the landscape scale: occupancy modelling of tigers from sign surveys
1. Assessing spatial distributions of threatened large carnivores at landscape scales poses formidable challenges because of their rarity and elusiveness. As a consequence of logistical constraints, investigators typically rely on sign surveys. Most survey methods, however, do not explicitly address the central problem of imperfect detections of animal signs in the field, leading to underestimates
Authors
Kota Ullas Karanth, Arjun M. Gopalaswamy, Narayanarao Samba Kumar, Srinivas Vaidyanathan, James D. Nichols, Darryl I. MacKenzie
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
Use of the superpopulation approach to estimate breeding population size: An example in asynchronously breeding birds
Many populations of animals are fluid in both space and time, making estimation of numbers difficult. Much attention has been devoted to estimation of bias in detection of animals that are present at the time of survey. However, an equally important problem is estimation of population size when all animals are not present on all survey occasions. Here, we showcase use of the superpopulation approa
Authors
K.A. Williams, P. C. Frederick, James D. Nichols
Conservation in the face of climate change: The roles of alternative models, monitoring, and adaptation in confronting and reducing uncertainty
The broad physical and biological principles behind climate change and its potential large scale ecological impacts on biota are fairly well understood, although likely responses of biotic communities at fine spatio-temporal scales are not, limiting the ability of conservation programs to respond effectively to climate change outside the range of human experience. Much of the climate debate has fo
Authors
M.J. Conroy, Michael C. Runge, James D. Nichols, K.W. Stodola, R.J. Cooper
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.K. Williams
Estimating tiger abundance from camera trap data: Field surveys and analytical issues
Automated photography of tigers Panthera tigris for purely illustrative purposes was pioneered by British forester Fred Champion (1927, 1933) in India in the early part of the Twentieth Century. However, it was McDougal (1977) in Nepal who first used camera traps, equipped with single-lens reflex cameras activated by pressure pads, to identify individual tigers and study their social and predatory
Authors
K. Ullas Karanth, James D. Nichols