Western Ecological Research Center (WERC)
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The Western Ecological Research Center (WERC) is a USGS Ecosystems Mission Area operation serving primarily California and Nevada. WERC scientists work closely with Federal, State, academic, and other collaborators to address a diverse array of high-profile topics. Topics include research on effects of wildfire, sea level rise, drought, energy development and more on federal Trust species.
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News
WERC scientists find that threatened snakes depend on agriculture (TWS Wildlife News)
SACRAMENTO – A new study shows how giant gartersnakes use Central Valley rice fields
Salamander surveys by WERC scientists help monitor fungal threat (US Fish and Wildlife Pacific Southwest Highlights)
SAN DIEGO – WERC scientists find salamanders, test for deadly chytrid disease
WERC Scientists Combine Bird Calls and Artificial Intelligence to Keep Tabs on the Elusive Ashy-Storm Petrel (Audubon magazine)
CALIFORNIA COAST – Artificial intelligence and acoustic sensors help scientists monitor seabirds
Publications
Monitoring protocol development and assessment for narrowly endemic toads in Nevada, 2018
Several species and subspecies of toads are endemic to small spring systems in the Great Basin, and their restricted ranges and habitat extent make them vulnerable to environmental perturbations. Very little is known about several of these toad populations, so a group of stakeholders including the U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Fish and Wildlife...
Halstead, Brian J.; Kleeman, Patrick M.; Duarte, Adam; Rose, Jonathan P.; Urquhart, Kris; Mellison, Chad; Guadalupe, Kevin; Cota, Melanie; Van Horne, Rachel; Killion, Alexa; Ruehling, Kelsey
Operationalizing resilience and resistance concepts to address invasive grass-fire cycles
Plant invasions can affect fuel characteristics, fire behavior, and fire regimes resulting in invasive plant-fire cycles and alternative, self-perpetuating states that can be difficult, if not impossible, to reverse. Concepts related to general resilience to disturbance and resistance to invasive plants provide the basis for managing landscapes to...
Chambers, Jeanne C.; Brooks, Matthew L.; Germino, Matthew J.; Maestas, Jeremy D; Board, David I; Jones, Matthew O.; Allred, Brady W Effect of amphibian chytrid fungus (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis) on apparent survival of frogs and toads in the western USA
Despite increasing interest in determining the population-level effects of emerging infectious diseases on wildlife, estimating effects of disease on survival rates remains difficult. Even for a well-studied disease such as amphibian chytridiomycosis (caused by the fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis [Bd]), there are few estimates of...
Russell, Robin E.; Halstead, Brian J.; Mosher, Brittany; Muths, Erin L.; Adams, Michael J.; Campbell Grant, Evan H.; Fisher, Robert N.; Kleeman, Patrick M.; Backlin, Adam R.; Pearl, Christopher; Honeycutt, R. Ken; Hossack, Blake R.