Publications

We undertook a demographic analysis of the Yellowstone grizzly bears (Ursus arctos) to identify critical environmental factors controlling grizzly bear vital rates, and thereby to help evaluate the effectiveness of past management and to identify future conservation issues. We concluded that, within the limits of uncertainty implied by the available data and our methods of data analysis...

Silvicultural alternatives to clear-cutting have been suggested to promote development, retention, or creation of late-successional features such as large trees, multilayered canopies, snags, and logs. We assessed bird response to three silvicultural alternatives to clear-cutting that retained structural features found in old Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) forests and that imitated...

We quantified distribution and behavior of adult spring chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) related to patterns of stream temperature and physical habitat at channel-unit, reach-, and section-level spatial scales in a wilderness stream and a disturbed stream in the John Day River basin in northeastern Oregon. We investigated the effectiveness of thermal remote sensing for analyzing...

We have developed an approach for using “presence” data to construct habitat models. Presence data are those that indicate locations where the target organism is observed to occur, but that cannot be used to define locations where the organism does not occur. Surveys of highly mobile vertebrates often yield these kinds of data. Models developed through our approach yield predictions of...

Whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis) habitats are important to Yellowstone grizzly bears (Ursus arctos) as refugia and sources of food. Ecological relationships between whitebark pine, red squirrels (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus), and grizzly bear use of pine seeds on Mt. Washburn in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, were examined during 1984-86. Following large-scale fires in 1988, we...

Many applied and theoretical investigations require information on how productivity varies in time and space (Temple and Wiens 1989. DeSante 1995). Examples include studies of habitat quality, population trends, life-history tactics, and metapopulation dynamics. From a demographic perspective, productivity is the number of young counted at a given time of year, produced per adult (e.g...

Anthropogenic activity is causing dramatic changes in the nitrogen (N) cycle in many ecosystems. Most research has focused on the increase in N input caused by atmospheric deposition and invasion of N-fixing species, and on their effects on resource availability and species composition. However, in contrast to many ecosystems experiencing large increases in N input, many arid ecosystems...

We reviewed cases of raptor mortality resulting from cholinesterase-inhibiting pesticides. We compiled records from the U.S., U.K. and Canada for the period 1985-95 (520 incidents) and surveyed the relevant literature to identify the main routes of exposure and those products that led to the greatest number of poisoning cases. A high proportion of cases in the U.K. resulted from abusive...

We examined effects of fire on golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) territory occupancy and reproductive success in southwestern Idaho because wildfires since 1980 have resulted in large-scale losses of shrub habitat in the Snake River Plain. Success (percentage of pairs that raised young) at burned territories declined after major fires (P = 0.004). Pairs in burned areas that could expand...

Lack of information concerning predatory interactions between Ambystoma gracile and Ambystoma macrodactylum (long-toed salamander) larvae, as well as potential cannibalism within A. gracile populations, prompted us to conduct a field experiment to investigate the potential for this inter- and intraspecific predation. This field experiment was conducted at a lake in Mount Rainier National...

The American Kestrel(Falco sparverius) is a sexually dichromatic falcon that exhibits considerable individual plumage variability. For example, the anterior extent of the black dorsal barring in juvenile males has been used throughout North America as one of several aging criteria, but recent data demonstrate that the variability among individual Southeastern American Kestrels(E S...

A synoptic inventory of physical and chemical properties and plankton assemblages of 27 mountain lakes was conducted at Mount Rainier National Park in 1988. From 1990–1993, die opportunity was presented to resurvey six of these lakes to determine inter-annual change within die set of characteristics surveyed in 1988. If changes were evident, a second objective was to provide guidance to...