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
Structured decision making as a conceptual framework to identify thresholds for conservation and management
Thresholds and their relevance to conservation have become a major topic of discussion in the ecological literature. Unfortunately, in many cases the lack of a clear conceptual framework for thinking about thresholds may have led to confusion in attempts to apply the concept of thresholds to conservation decisions. Here, we advocate a framework for thinking about thresholds in terms of a structure
Authors
J. Martin, M.C. Runge, J. D. Nichols, B. C. Lubow, W. L. Kendall
An evaluation of density-dependent and density-independent influences on population growth rates in Weddell seals
Much of the existing literature that evaluates the roles of density-dependent and density-independent factors on population dynamics has been called into question in recent years because measurement errors were not properly dealt with in analyses. Using state-space models to account for measurement errors, we evaluated a set of competing models for a 22-year time series of mark-resight estimates
Authors
J.J. Rotella, W. A. Link, J. D. Nichols, G.L. Hadley, R.A. Garrott, K.M. Proffitt
Modeling individual animal histories with multistate capture–recapture models
Many fields of science begin with a phase of exploration and description, followed by investigations of the processes that account for observed patterns. The science of ecology is no exception, and recent decades have seen a focus on understanding key processes underlying the dynamics of ecological systems. In population ecology, emphasis has shifted from the state variable of population size to t
Authors
Jean-Dominique Lebreton, James D. Nichols, Richard J. Barker, Roger Pradel, Jeffrey A. Spendelow
Habitat-specific breeder survival of Florida Scrub-Jays: Inferences from multistate models
Quantifying habitat-specific survival and changes in habitat quality within disturbance-prone habitats is critical for understanding population dynamics and variation in fitness, and for managing degraded ecosystems. We used 18 years of color-banding data and multistate capture-recapture models to test whether habitat quality within territories influences survival and detection probability of bree
Authors
D.R. Breininger, J. D. Nichols, G.M. Carter, D.M. Oddy
Dynamic models for problems of species occurrence with multiple states
Recent extensions of occupancy modeling have focused not only on the distribution of species over space, but also on additional state variables (e.g., reproducing or not, with or without disease organisms, relative abundance categories) that provide extra information about occupied sites. These biologist-driven extensions are characterized by ambiguity in both species presence and correct state cl
Authors
Darryl I. MacKenzie, James D. Nichols, Mark E Seamans, R. J. Gutierrez
Dynamic multistate site occupancy models to evaluate hypotheses relevant to conservation of Golden Eagles in Denali National Park, Alaska
The recent development of multistate site occupancy models offers great opportunities to frame and solve decision problems for conservation that can be viewed in terms of site occupancy. These models have several characteristics (e.g., they account for detectability) that make them particularly well suited for addressing management and conservation problems. We applied multistate site occupancy mo
Authors
Julien Martin, Carol L. McIntyre, James E. Hines, James D. Nichols, Joel A. Schmutz, Margaret C. MacCluskie
Modeling co-occurrence of northern spotted and barred owls: accounting for detection probability differences
Barred owls (Strix varia) have recently expanded their range and now encompass the entire range of the northern spotted owl (Strix occidentalis caurina). This expansion has led to two important issues of concern for management of northern spotted owls: (1) possible competitive interactions between the two species that could contribute to population declines of northern spotted owls, and (2) possib
Authors
Larissa L. Bailey, Janice A. Reid, Eric D. Forsman, James D. Nichols
An inventory of terrestrial mammals at national parks in the Northeast Temperate Network and Sagamore Hill National Historic Site
An inventory of mammals was conducted during 2004 at nine national park sites in the Northeast Temperate Network (NETN): Acadia National Park (NP), Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park (NHP), Minute Man NHP, Morristown NHP, Roosevelt-Vanderbilt National Historic Site (NHS), Saint-Gaudens NHS, Saugus Iron Works NHS, Saratoga NHP, and Weir Farm NHS. Sagamore Hill NHS, part of the Nort
Authors
Andrew T. Gilbert, Allan F. O'Connell, Elizabeth M. Annand, Neil W. Talancy, John R. Sauer, James D. Nichols
North American Bird Banding and quantitative population ecology
Early bird-banding programs in North America were developed to provide descriptions of bird migration and movement patterns. This initial interest in description quickly evolved into more quantitative interests in two ways. There was (1) interest in quantifying migration and movement patterns, and (2) rapid recognition that re-observations of marked birds provided information about other paramete
Authors
J. D. Nichols, J. Tautin
Population dynamics of the Concho water snake in rivers and reservoirs
The Concho Water Snake (Nerodia harteri paucimaculata) is confined to the Concho–Colorado River valley of central Texas, thereby occupying one of the smallest geographic ranges of any North American snake. In 1986, N. h. paucimaculata was designated as a federally threatened species, in large part because of reservoir projects that were perceived to adversely affect the amount of habitat available
Authors
M.J. Whiting, J.R. Dixon, B.D. Greene, J.M. Mueller, O.W. Thornton, J. S. Hatfield, J. D. Nichols, J. E. Hines
Temporal variation in adult survival rates of Roseate Terns during periods of increasing and declining populations
We used 19 years of mark-recapture/resighting data collected on 11, 020 birds from 1988-2006 at five colony sites in Massachusetts, New York, and Connecticut, USA, to examine temporal variation in the survival rates of adult Roseate Terns (Sterna dougallii) during periods of overall population increase (1988-2000) and decline (2000-2006). Roseate Terns nested at only one colony site in Buzzards B
Authors
J. A. Spendelow, J. E. Hines, J. D. Nichols, I.C.T. Nisbet, G. Cormons, H. Hays, J.J. Hatch, C.S. Mostello
Adaptive harvest management of North American waterfowl populations: a brief history and future prospects
Since 1995, the US Fish and Wildlife Service has used an adaptive approach to the management of sport harvest of mid-continent Mallard ducks (Anas platyrhynchos) in North America. This approach differs from many current approaches to conservation and management in requiring close collaboration between managers and scientists. Key elements of this process are objectives, alternative management acti
Authors
J. D. Nichols, M.C. Runge, F.A. Johnson, B.K. Williams
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 401
Structured decision making as a conceptual framework to identify thresholds for conservation and management
Thresholds and their relevance to conservation have become a major topic of discussion in the ecological literature. Unfortunately, in many cases the lack of a clear conceptual framework for thinking about thresholds may have led to confusion in attempts to apply the concept of thresholds to conservation decisions. Here, we advocate a framework for thinking about thresholds in terms of a structure
Authors
J. Martin, M.C. Runge, J. D. Nichols, B. C. Lubow, W. L. Kendall
An evaluation of density-dependent and density-independent influences on population growth rates in Weddell seals
Much of the existing literature that evaluates the roles of density-dependent and density-independent factors on population dynamics has been called into question in recent years because measurement errors were not properly dealt with in analyses. Using state-space models to account for measurement errors, we evaluated a set of competing models for a 22-year time series of mark-resight estimates
Authors
J.J. Rotella, W. A. Link, J. D. Nichols, G.L. Hadley, R.A. Garrott, K.M. Proffitt
Modeling individual animal histories with multistate capture–recapture models
Many fields of science begin with a phase of exploration and description, followed by investigations of the processes that account for observed patterns. The science of ecology is no exception, and recent decades have seen a focus on understanding key processes underlying the dynamics of ecological systems. In population ecology, emphasis has shifted from the state variable of population size to t
Authors
Jean-Dominique Lebreton, James D. Nichols, Richard J. Barker, Roger Pradel, Jeffrey A. Spendelow
Habitat-specific breeder survival of Florida Scrub-Jays: Inferences from multistate models
Quantifying habitat-specific survival and changes in habitat quality within disturbance-prone habitats is critical for understanding population dynamics and variation in fitness, and for managing degraded ecosystems. We used 18 years of color-banding data and multistate capture-recapture models to test whether habitat quality within territories influences survival and detection probability of bree
Authors
D.R. Breininger, J. D. Nichols, G.M. Carter, D.M. Oddy
Dynamic models for problems of species occurrence with multiple states
Recent extensions of occupancy modeling have focused not only on the distribution of species over space, but also on additional state variables (e.g., reproducing or not, with or without disease organisms, relative abundance categories) that provide extra information about occupied sites. These biologist-driven extensions are characterized by ambiguity in both species presence and correct state cl
Authors
Darryl I. MacKenzie, James D. Nichols, Mark E Seamans, R. J. Gutierrez
Dynamic multistate site occupancy models to evaluate hypotheses relevant to conservation of Golden Eagles in Denali National Park, Alaska
The recent development of multistate site occupancy models offers great opportunities to frame and solve decision problems for conservation that can be viewed in terms of site occupancy. These models have several characteristics (e.g., they account for detectability) that make them particularly well suited for addressing management and conservation problems. We applied multistate site occupancy mo
Authors
Julien Martin, Carol L. McIntyre, James E. Hines, James D. Nichols, Joel A. Schmutz, Margaret C. MacCluskie
Modeling co-occurrence of northern spotted and barred owls: accounting for detection probability differences
Barred owls (Strix varia) have recently expanded their range and now encompass the entire range of the northern spotted owl (Strix occidentalis caurina). This expansion has led to two important issues of concern for management of northern spotted owls: (1) possible competitive interactions between the two species that could contribute to population declines of northern spotted owls, and (2) possib
Authors
Larissa L. Bailey, Janice A. Reid, Eric D. Forsman, James D. Nichols
An inventory of terrestrial mammals at national parks in the Northeast Temperate Network and Sagamore Hill National Historic Site
An inventory of mammals was conducted during 2004 at nine national park sites in the Northeast Temperate Network (NETN): Acadia National Park (NP), Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park (NHP), Minute Man NHP, Morristown NHP, Roosevelt-Vanderbilt National Historic Site (NHS), Saint-Gaudens NHS, Saugus Iron Works NHS, Saratoga NHP, and Weir Farm NHS. Sagamore Hill NHS, part of the Nort
Authors
Andrew T. Gilbert, Allan F. O'Connell, Elizabeth M. Annand, Neil W. Talancy, John R. Sauer, James D. Nichols
North American Bird Banding and quantitative population ecology
Early bird-banding programs in North America were developed to provide descriptions of bird migration and movement patterns. This initial interest in description quickly evolved into more quantitative interests in two ways. There was (1) interest in quantifying migration and movement patterns, and (2) rapid recognition that re-observations of marked birds provided information about other paramete
Authors
J. D. Nichols, J. Tautin
Population dynamics of the Concho water snake in rivers and reservoirs
The Concho Water Snake (Nerodia harteri paucimaculata) is confined to the Concho–Colorado River valley of central Texas, thereby occupying one of the smallest geographic ranges of any North American snake. In 1986, N. h. paucimaculata was designated as a federally threatened species, in large part because of reservoir projects that were perceived to adversely affect the amount of habitat available
Authors
M.J. Whiting, J.R. Dixon, B.D. Greene, J.M. Mueller, O.W. Thornton, J. S. Hatfield, J. D. Nichols, J. E. Hines
Temporal variation in adult survival rates of Roseate Terns during periods of increasing and declining populations
We used 19 years of mark-recapture/resighting data collected on 11, 020 birds from 1988-2006 at five colony sites in Massachusetts, New York, and Connecticut, USA, to examine temporal variation in the survival rates of adult Roseate Terns (Sterna dougallii) during periods of overall population increase (1988-2000) and decline (2000-2006). Roseate Terns nested at only one colony site in Buzzards B
Authors
J. A. Spendelow, J. E. Hines, J. D. Nichols, I.C.T. Nisbet, G. Cormons, H. Hays, J.J. Hatch, C.S. Mostello
Adaptive harvest management of North American waterfowl populations: a brief history and future prospects
Since 1995, the US Fish and Wildlife Service has used an adaptive approach to the management of sport harvest of mid-continent Mallard ducks (Anas platyrhynchos) in North America. This approach differs from many current approaches to conservation and management in requiring close collaboration between managers and scientists. Key elements of this process are objectives, alternative management acti
Authors
J. D. Nichols, M.C. Runge, F.A. Johnson, B.K. Williams