Publications

We used a paired-watershed approach to investigate the effects of contemporary logging practices on headwater populations of coastal cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii clarkii) and juvenile coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) in a second-growth Douglas-fir forested catchment in Oregon. Stream habitat and fish population characteristics, including biomass, abundance, growth, size, and...

Understanding long-term implications of energy development on ecosystem functionrequires establishing regional datasets to quantify past development and determine relationships to predict future development. The Piceance Basin in western Colorado has a history of energy production and development is expected to continue into the foreseeable future due to abundant natural gas resources...

The snow energy balance is difficult to measure during the snowmelt period, yet critical for predictions of water yield in regions characterized by snow cover. Robust simplifications of the snowmelt energy balance can aid our understanding of water resources in a changing climate. Research to date has demonstrated that the net turbulent flux (FT) between a melting snowpack and the...

The greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus; hereafter GRSG) has been a focus of scientific investigation and management action for the past two decades. The 2015 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listing determination of “not warranted” was in part due to a large-scale collaborative effort to develop strategies to conserve GRSG populations and their habitat and to reduce threats to...

Quiescence is a period of inactivity that occurs before the onset of migratory activity in nocturnally migrating birds. This behavior has been observed in captive birds in migratory disposition, but its occurrence in free-ranging migratory birds has been documented only anecdotally, and causal factors and function(s), if any, are unknown. In this study, we documented and characterized...

Time series of vegetative indices derived from satellite imagery constitute tools to measure ecological effects of natural and management-induced disturbances to ecosystems. Over the past century, sagebrush-reduction treatments have been applied widely throughout western North America to increase herbaceous vegetation for livestock and wildlife. We used indices from satellite imagery to...

Aim Climate warming is causing extensive loss of glaciers in mountainous regions, yet our understanding of how glacial recession influences evolutionary processes and genetic diversity is limited. Linking genetic structure with the influences shaping it can improve understanding of how species respond to environmental change. Here, we used genome-scale data and demographic modelling to...

Despite the importance of the Missouri River for navigation, recreation, habitat, hydroelectric power, and agriculture, relatively little is known about the basic hydroclimatology of the Missouri River basin (MRB). This is of particular concern given the droughts and floods that have occurred over the past several decades and the potential future exacerbation of these extremes by climate...

With increasing concerns about the impact of warming temperatures on water resources, more attention is being paid to the relationship between runoff and precipitation, or runoff efficiency. Temperature is a key influence on Colorado River runoff efficiency, and warming temperatures are projected to reduce runoff efficiency. Here, we investigate the nature of runoff efficiency in the...

Much of our understanding of en route landbird habitat use comes from research performed at local scales, ignoring effects at larger spatial scales. We used a multiscale approach to investigate stopover habitat use by landbirds using transect surveys in 68 forested sites in southwestern Michigan, USA, during the springs of 2002 and 2003. We modeled relationships of bird density and...

As the chapters in this book describe, the northern pike Esox lucius Linneaus, 1758 is a fascinating fish that plays an important ecological role in structuring aquatic communities (chapter 8), has the capacity to aid lake restoration efforts (chapter 11), and contributes substantially to local economies, both as a highlysought after sport fish (chapter 12) and as a commercial fishing...

Monitoring vulnerable species is critical for their conservation. Thresholds or tipping points are commonly used to indicate when populations become vulnerable to extinction and to trigger changes in conservation actions. However, quantitative methods to determine such thresholds have not been well explored. The Louisiana black bear (Ursus americanus luteolus) was removed from the list...