Publications

Wildland fires burn millions of forested hectares annually around the world, affecting biodiversity, carbon storage, hydrologic processes, and ecosystem services largely through fire-induced tree mortality (Bond-Lamberty et al. 2007; Dantas et al. 2016). In spite of this widespread importance, the underlying mechanisms of fire-caused tree mortality remain poorly understood, (Hood et al...

Despite its biological importance in shaping both individual fitness and population structure, much remains to be learned about the hatchling emergence ecology of most freshwater turtles. Here, we provide some of the first details on these early life stages for the Ouachita map turtle (Graptemys ouachitensis) obtained during 2015–2017 along the lower Wisconsin River, Iowa County...

Stream-obligate amphibians are important indicators of ecosystem health in the Pacific Northwest, but distributional information to improve forest management is lacking in many regions. We analyzed archived DNA extracted from water samples in 60 pools in streams on private timberlands in Mendocino County, California, for 3 California Species of Special Concern—Coastal Tailed Frogs...

Despite its importance to individual fitness and population dynamics, the dispersal behaviors of most neonate freshwater turtles after nest emergence are poorly known. We studied the initial dispersal tendencies of neonate Ouachita map turtles (Graptemys ouachitensis) exiting natural nests during 2015–2017 along the Wisconsin River, Wisconsin. Overall, dispersal was nonrandom, and...

Large, severe fires are becoming more frequent in many forest types across the western United States and have resulted in tree mortality across tens of thousands of hectares. Conifer regeneration in these areas is limited because seeds must travel long distances to reach the interior of large burned patches and establishment is jeopardized by increasingly hot and dry conditions. To...

Consumer and predator foraging behavior can impart profound trait-mediated constraints on community regulation that scale up to influence the structure and stability of ecosystems. Here, we demonstrate how the behavioral response of an apex predator to changes in prey behavior and condition can dramatically alter the role and relative contribution of top-down forcing, depending on the...

Across the globe, conflicting priorities exist in how land and resources are managed. In the American West, conflicts are common on public lands with historical mandates for multiple uses. We explored the impacts of multiple uses of land in a case study of Agassiz's Desert Tortoises (Gopherus agassizii), a federally threatened species, in the western Sonoran Desert. The tortoise has...

Human exploitation of marine mammals led to precipitous declines in many wild populations within the last three centuries. Legal protections enacted throughout the 20th century have enabled the recovery of many of these species and some recoveries have resulted in conflict with humans for shared resources. With legal protections and reintroduction programs, the southern sea otter...

Kīlauea Point National Wildlife Refuge (KPNWR) is an important seabird breeding site located at the northeastern tip of Kauaʻi in the main Hawaiian Islands. Despite the regional significance of KPNWR as one of the most important breeding sites for red-tailed tropicbirds (Phaethon rubricauda), red-footed boobies (Sula sula), and wedge-tailed shearwaters (Ardenna pacifica) in the main...

Niche breadth and position can influence diversification among closely related species or populations, yet limited empirical data exist concerning the predictability of the outcomes. We explored the effects of these factors on the evolution of the Emoia atrocostata species group, an insular radiation of lizards in the western Pacific Ocean and Indo-Australasia composed of both endemic...

No abstract available.

Populations of the western spadefoot (Spea hammondii) in southern California occur in one of the most urbanized and fragmented landscapes on the planet and have lost up to 80% of their native habitat. Orange County is one of the last strongholds for this pond-breeding amphibian in the region, and ongoing restoration efforts targeting S. hammondii have involved habitat protection and the