Data

Managers require quantitative yet tractable tools that can identify areas for restoration yielding effective benefits for targeted wildlife species and the ecosystems they inhabit. A spatially explicit conservation planning tool that guides effective sagebrush restoration for sage-grouse can be made more effective by integrating baseline maps describing existing (pre-restoration) habitat

This dataset represents an archived record of annual California sea otter surveys from 1985-2014. Survey procedures involve counting animals during the "spring survey" -- generally beginning in late April or early May and usually ending in late May early June but may extend into early July, depending on weather conditions. Annual surveys are organized by survey year and within each year...

These data consist of microsatellite genotype scores for all samples of Santa Ana sucker (Catostomus santaanae) used in the study. Scores represent the allele calls for each microsatellite locus (i.e. DNA fragment length containing the microsatellite repeats), with each locus containing two scores representing the two allele copies detected. Included are five tables: Full dataset...

In February 2017, a population of California red-legged frog Rana draytonii was discovered in the southern foothills of the San Bernardino Mountains of Riverside County, California, near the edge of the species historic distribution. A few days after the first sightings of R. draytonii at the Whitewater Preserve, we conducted a visual daytime search for frogs, tadpoles and egg masses...

These products were developed to provide scientific and correspondingly spatially explicit information regarding the distribution and abundance of conifers (namely, singleleaf pinyon (Pinus monophylla), Utah juniper (Juniperus osteosperma), and western juniper (Juniperus occidentalis)) in Nevada and portions of northeastern California. Encroachment of these trees into sagebrush...

Arid ecosystems are often vulnerable to transformation to invasive-dominated states following fire, but data on persistence of these states are sparse. The grass/fire cycle is a feedback process between invasive annual grasses and fire frequency that often leads to the formation of alternative vegetation states dominated by the invasive grasses. However, other components of fire regimes...

The spring 2017 mainland sea otter count began on April 30, and although the shore-based counts were completed by May 12, 2017, the aerial counts were not completed until July 12, 2017. Overall viewing conditions this year were good, although not as good as conditions experienced during the 2016 spring census (View Score 2.4 versus 3.1, where 0=poor, 1=fair, 2=good, 3=very good, and 4...

Sea otters are well-known tool users, employing objects such as rocks or shells to break open invertebrate prey. We used a series of generalized linear mixed effect models (GLMEs) to examine observational data on prey capture and tool use from 211 tagged individuals from five geographically defined study areas throughout the sea otters range in California. Our best supported model was...

Expansion of renewable energy development is rapidly transforming the Mojave Desert landscape and has the potential to impact Golden Eagles through loss of foraging habitat and reduced prey base. Regional information on Golden Eagle food habits is limited and little is known of how dietary variability influences eagle productivity. We examined diet using motion activated trail cameras...

Marine mussels are a ubiquitous and crucial component of the nearshore environment, and new genomic technologies exist to quantify molecular responses of individual mussels to stimuli, including exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). We used gene-based assays of exposure and physiological function to assess lingering oil damage from the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill using the...

Many coastal dune ecosystems have been degraded by non-native dune vegetation, but these systems might still provide valuable habitat for some taxa, including amphibians. Because restoration of degraded dune systems is occurring and likely to continue, we examined the occurrence of amphibians in drainages associated with a coastal dune ecosystem degraded by invasive plants (European...

This dataset provides summary statistics of multiple sage-grouse microhabitat characteristics of the Great Basin. These data support the following publication: Coates, P.S., Brussee, B.E., Ricca, M.A., Dudko, J.E., Prochazka, B.G., Espinosa, S.P., Casazza, M.L., and Delehanty, D.J., 2017, Greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) nesting and brood-rearing microhabitat in Nevada and