Publications

Despite being one of the most prevalent forms of consumerism in ecological communities, parasitism has largely been excluded from food-web models. Stable isotope analysis of consumers and their diets has been widely used in the study of food webs for decades. However, the amount of information regarding parasite stable isotope ecology is limited, restricting the ability of ecologists to...

Methods for grouping specific avian influenza virus (AIV) hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA) subtype reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) products into HA:NA subtypes when egg incubation is technically not feasible were evaluated. These approaches were adopted for use as post hoc methods after melt curve analysis. The methods are based on ratios obtained from...

Marbled murrelets (Brachyramphus marmoratus) have been listed as “Endangered” by the State of California and “Threatened” by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service since 1992 in California, Oregon, and Washington. Information regarding marbled murrelet abundance, distribution, population trends, and habitat associations is critical for risk assessment, effective management and evaluation of

A reconnaissance project completed in 2009 identified intersex and elevated plasma vitellogenin in male smallmouth bass inhabiting the Missisquoi River, VT. In an attempt to identify the presence and seasonality of putative endocrine disrupting chemicals or other factors associated with these observations, a comprehensive reevaluation was conducted between September 2012 and June 2014...

Background Characterizing animal space use is critical for understanding ecological relationships. Animal telemetry technology has revolutionized the fields of ecology and conservation biology by providing high quality spatial data on animal movement. Radio-telemetry with very high frequency (VHF) radio signals continues to be a useful technology because of its low cost, miniaturization...

Lactation is the most energetically demanding stage of reproduction in female mammals. Increased energetic allocation toward current reproduction may result in fitness costs, although the mechanisms underlying these trade‐offs are not well understood. Trade‐offs during lactation may include reduced energetic allocation to cellular maintenance, immune response, and survival and may be...

A recent drying trend that is expected to continue in the southwestern US underscores the need for site‐specific and near real‐time understanding of vegetation vulnerability so that land management actions can be implemented at the right time and place. We related the annual integrated normalized difference vegetation index (iNDVI), a proxy for vegetation production, to water balance...

Executive Summary The Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) and the Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology), working with the Yakima River Basin Water Enhancement Project Workgroup (composed of representatives of the Yakama Nation; Federal, State, county, and city governments; environmental organizations; and irrigation districts), developed the Yakima Basin Integrated Plan...

We operated a bird banding station on the Naval Base Coronado, Remote Training Site, Warner Springs (RTSWS), in northeastern San Diego County, California, during the bird breeding season (spring/summer) from 2013 to 2017 and during migration (fall) from 2013 to 2016. The station was established in spring 2013 as part of the Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship (MAPS) program...

Juvenile Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) migrating through California's Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta toward the Pacific Ocean face numerous challenges to their survival. The Yolo Bypass is a broad floodplain of the Sacramento River that floods in about 70 percent of years in response to large, uncontrolled runoff events. As one of the routes juvenile salmon may utilize...

Overview Since its discovery in 2007, the fungal disease known as white-nose syndrome (WNS) has killed more than six million bats. Ten of 47 bat species have been affected by WNS across 32 States and 5 Canadian Provinces. The cold-growing fungus (Pseudogymnoascus destructans) that causes WNS infects skin covering the muzzle, ears, and wings of hibernating bats. The fungus erodes deep...

Deep-sea corals can create a highly complex, three-dimensional structure that facilitates sediment accumulation and influences adjacent sediment environments through altered hydrodynamic regimes. Infaunal communities adjacent to different coral types, including reef-building scleractinian corals and individual colonies of octocorals, are known to exhibit higher macrofaunal densities and...