Publications

We surveyed an area of ∼260 km2 in the western Mojave Desert to evaluate relationships between condition of Agassiz's Desert Tortoise populations (Gopherus agassizii) and habitat on lands that have experienced three different levels of management and protection. We established 240 1-ha plots using random sampling, with 80 plots on each of the three types of managed lands. We conducted...

When conservation biologists think about infectious diseases, their thoughts are mostly negative. Infectious diseases have been associated with the extinction and endangerment of some species, though this is rare, and other factors like habitat loss and poorly regulated harvest still are the overwhelming drivers of endangerment. Parasites are pervasive and play important roles as natural...

Marine ecologists recognize that infectious diseases play and important role in ocean ecosystems. This role may have increased in some host taxa over time (Ward and Lafferty 2004). We begin this chapter by introducing infectious agents and their relationships with their hosts in marine systems. We then put infectious disease agents with their hosts in marine systems. We then put...

With the potential for worsening fire conditions, discussion is escalating over how to best reduce effects on urban communities. A widely supported strategy is the creation of defensible space immediately surrounding homes and other structures. Although state and local governments publish specific guidelines and requirements, there is little empirical evidence to suggest how much...

Between September 1990 and November 1991, 19 Sphenomorphus spp. skinks, including nine S. jobiense, three S. simus, and seven Solomon ground skinks, S. solomonis (Boulenger), were collected from Madang and Morobe Provinces, Papua New Guinea (PNG), and examined for coccidia. A single S. solomonis was found to be infected with a new species of Eimeria Schneider, 1875. Oöcysts of Eimeria...

Relationship between species' home range and their other biological traits remains poorly understood, especially in migratory birds due to the difficulty associated with tracking them. Advances in satellite telemetry and remote sensing techniques have proved instrumental in overcoming such challenges. We studied the space use of migratory ducks through satellite telemetry with an...

We evaluated whether restoring tidal flow to previously diked estuarine wetlands also restores foraging and growth opportunities for juvenile Chinook Salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha. Several studies have assessed the value of restored tidal wetlands for juvenile Pacific salmon Oncorhynchus spp., but few have used integrative measures of salmon performance, such as habitat-specific growth...

No abstract available.

No abstract available

We describe an efficient implementation of a 3D movement-based kernel density estimator for determining animal space use from discrete GPS measurements. This new method provides more accurate results, particularly for species that make large excursions in the vertical dimension. The downside of this approach is that it is much more computationally expensive than simpler, lower...

Although prescribed burns are used in many locations where reptiles are present, the effects of fire on reptiles are poorly understood. our objective was to determine the effects of prescribed fire on the Western yellow-bellied racer, Coluber constrictor mormon, at a study site in coastal san Mateo county, california. We sampled an unburned site and an adjacent prescribed burn site two...

Conservation efforts to restore historic waterbird distribution and abundance in the Central Valley of California require information on current and historic areas of waterbird habitat. To provide this information, we mapped the area of agricultural fields in the vicinity of the historic Tulare Lake Bed in the Tulare Basin, California, that were treated postharvest with two different...