Biology of Species of Concern

We will examine evidence of heat stress in Yukon River Chinook salmon ( Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) using heat shock proteins and gene expression.

The Greater Sage-grouse Population Monitoring Framework fills a prominent information gap to help inform current assessments of sage-grouse population trends at nested spatial and temporal scales. It is centered on four objectives: (1) create a standardized database of lek counts; (2) develop spatial population structures by clustering leks; (3) estimate spatial trends at different temporal...

The Greater Sage-grouse Population Monitoring Framework fills a prominent information gap to aid current assessments of sage-grouse population trends across spatial and temporal scales. It centers on four objectives: 1) create a standardized database of lek counts; 2) cluster leks to develop spatial population structures; 3) estimate spatial trends across temporal extents; and 4) develop a system...

The Greater Sage-grouse Population Monitoring Framework fills a prominent information gap to aid current assessments of sage-grouse population trends across spatial and temporal scales. It centers on four objectives: 1) create a standardized database of lek counts; 2) cluster leks to develop spatial population structures; 3) estimate spatial trends across temporal extents; and 4) develop a system...

The Greater Sage-grouse Population Monitoring Framework fills a prominent information gap to aid current assessments of sage-grouse population trends across spatial and temporal scales. It centers on four objectives: 1) create a standardized database of lek counts; 2) cluster leks to develop spatial population structures; 3) estimate spatial trends across temporal extents; and 4) develop a system...

To support management decisions, western state wildlife agencies identified the need for a range-wide database that tracks annual counts of greater sage-grouse ( Centrocercus urophasianus; sage-grouse) at leks (breeding sites), recorded since the early 1950s. Researchers at Colorado State University (CSU) and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) worked with state wildlife agencies to 1) construct this...

Greater sage-grouse ( Centrocercus urophasianus) are at the center of state and national land use policies largely because of their unique life-history traits as an ecological indicator for health of sagebrush ecosystems. Researchers within the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and Colorado State University (CSU) worked with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and state wildlife agencies to develop a...

WERC collaborates with other research scientists to conduct annual population surveys of the southern sea otter -- a federally listed threatened species. In coordination with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and other institutions, ongoing surveys and research continues to inform the southern sea otter recovery plan for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and contributes to our...

Western Ecological Research Center (WERC) scientists provide valuable support to management agencies as they work toward recovery of the threatened Stephens’ kangaroo rat (Dipodomys stephensi). The Stephen’s kangaroo rat (SKR) occupies a limited range of habitat within southern California. WERC’s long-term monitoring of SKR at several sites has revealed local trends in distribution and abundance...

Greater sage-grouse ( Centrocercus urophasianus) management relies on the identification and protection of core habitat for the species. Core areas are often centered on leks where the potential impacts of anthropogenic development and other disturbances can be evaluated based on buffer distances around active leks. While buffer distances have been quantified for some regions, sage-grouse space...

Researchers within the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and Colorado State University (CSU) worked with BLM and State Wildlife Agencies to develop a hierarchical population monitoring framework for managing greater sage-grouse ( Centrocercus urophasianus) populations and the sagebrush ecosystems that they depend upon for survival and reproduction. This hierarchical population monitoring strategy now...

Sagebrush ecosystems and sagebrush-dependent wildlife species are likely to experience more frequent extreme drought and temperature conditions with changing climate. Greater sage-grouse ( Centrocercus urophasianus), an indicator species in sagebrush ecosystems, may experience habitat and population losses that are increasingly exacerbated by current and future climate change. However, the direct...