Publications

This study presents a quantitative PCR (qPCR) assay for the detection of the endangered diamond darter Crystallaria cincotta from environmental DNA (eDNA) in water samples. The assay design is based on an alignment of mitochondrial cytochrome b DNA sequences from 58 individuals representing 25 percid species. Leveraging genetic differences, a species-specific qPCR assay was designed...

The DeepFaune New England model classifies wildlife species in trail camera images, identifying 24 taxa from northeastern North America with high (97%) accuracy. The model was adapted from the DeepFaune model for identifying European wildlife, demonstrating the practicality of transfer learning across continents. The majority of training data is openly licensed, and the model itself is...

Pterodroma hasitata, the Black-capped Petrel (locally known as Diablotin), is the only extant Pterodroma petrel nesting in the Caribbean. The species is listed as globally Endangered by the IUCN and was recently listed as endangered under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. Pterodroma hasitata show a phenotypic gradient, ranging from a darker, smaller form to a paler, heavier form, that is...

Environmental and associated ecosystem change may affect the persistence of fish species based on their ability to adapt to changing conditions, including decreasing flows and rising water temperatures. Exceeding the thermal tolerances of stream fish will likely result in a loss of ability to maintain metabolic processes. We evaluated the critical thermal maximum (CTmax) of bigmouth...

1. Species that are secretive, imperilled and consequently data deficient often re-quire conservation action despite limited available information. In such scenarios, Bayesian networks (BNs) offer a versatile and intuitive approach for utilizing various information sources, including literature reviews, community science data sets and expert knowledge. Although it has been suggested that...

The Mississippi Alluvial Plain (MAP) of Arkansas is a landscape where many wetlands have been altered for use as aquaculture ponds or agricultural ditches. Commercial harvest of freshwater turtles within the MAP is not restricted or limited, with reported harvest numbers for 2019 alone exceeding 4000 for spiny softshell turtles (Apalone spinifera) and 39,000 for red-eared sliders...

Stable isotopes are commonly used to characterize food web structure and resource use by aquatic organisms. White muscle is generally preferred for stable isotope analysis of fishes. However, obtaining white muscle tissue typically requires lethal take or invasive sampling techniques, which are undesirable for small-bodied species or those of conservation concern. We assessed the use of...

Context Interspecific interactions shape ecological communities, influence community dynamics, and drive co-evolution. Despite their ecological significance, predation and competition remain understudied in plains spotted skunks (Spilogale interrupta), a species of conservation concern. Clarifying how predator management influences their occurrence is crucial for effective conservation...

Daytime water quality was determined monthly over two years in an instream series of four urban reservoirs with recurring blooms of Prymnesium parvum—a cool-season toxigenic species. Temperature, pH, and laboratory-measured total alkalinity were used to estimate pCO2. System-wide, pCO2 was negatively associated with dissolved oxygen. Chlorophyll-a, phycocyanin (cyanobacterial pigment)...

Current aquatic ecosystem assessment methods and tools often focus on physical, chemical, and biological indicators of ecosystem health. This approach to ecosystem assessment is not always straightforward to execute in urban environments and ignores potential connectivity between social and environmental outcomes. During a workshop at the Symposium on Urbanization and Stream Ecology in...

Natural history museum records may provide unique information on the distribution of species that can supplement survey data collected by resource managers. However, there can be challenges to using museum data for analyses, such as spurious geographic information, misidentifications, and incorrect labeling. Museum records have been centralized by open-source repositories with flags for...

Secretive marsh birds experienced precipitous declines due to losses in wetland habitat across North America. However, from 1998 to 2004, wetland area increased, and between 2009 and 2019, the extent of emergent wetlands did not significantly decrease. This raises the question: how did secretive marsh birds, which are tied to emergent wetlands, respond to this period of relative...