Publications

The number of beach closings caused by bacterial contamination has continued to rise in recent years, putting beachgoers at risk of exposure to contaminated water. Current approaches predict levels of indicator bacteria using regression models containing a number of explanatory variables. Data-based modeling approaches can supplement routine monitoring data and provide highly accurate...

N‐mixture models provide an appealing alternative to mark–recapture models, in that they allow for estimation of detection probability and population size from count data, without requiring that individual animals be identified. There is, however, a cost to using the N‐mixture models: inference is very sensitive to the model's assumptions. We consider the effects of three violations of...

Western toads (species complex comprised of Anaxyrus boreas, A. canorus, A. exsul, and A. nelsoni) are widely distributed in the western United States but are declining, particularly in the southeastern extent of their range. The subspecies A. b. boreas is listed as a Species of Greatest Conservation Need in New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming. Reliable and sensitive methods for...

Depredation plays an important role in determining duck nest success and predator and female duck behavior during nest depredation can influence nest fate. We examined depredation of mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) and gadwall (A. strepera) nests in Suisun Marsh, California, USA, in 2015–2016 with continuous infrared video monitoring to identify nest predators and characterize predator and...

Freshwater resources in arid and semi-arid regions are in extreme demand, which creates conflicts between needs of humans and aquatic ecosystems. The Rio Grande basin in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico exemplifies this issue, as much of its aquatic biodiversity is in peril as a result of human activities. Unionid mussels have been disproportionately impacted, though...

Chances are, you would not pack up and move to a new home without first researching the neighborhood, reviewing your finances, and maybe investigating schools nearby. Similarly, you would not buy the first car you find on a magazine cover without first reviewing the technical specifications, exploring your options, and perhaps taking a test drive. Even when making simple purchases online...

The brain and underlying cognition may vary adaptively according to an organism’s ecology. As with all raptor species, adult American kestrels (Falco sparverius) are sexually dimorphic with females being larger than males. Related to this sexual dimorphism, kestrels display sex differences in hunting and migration, with females ranging more widely than males, suggesting possible sex...

Coastal re-engineering and freshwater extraction have reduced water flow into the estuaries of the world. Because of these activities, stressed coastal vegetation is especially vulnerable to die-off during droughts, contributing to a loss of human services related to storm protection, fisheries and water quality. The subsequent collapse of vegetation is often as related to the loss of...

Silver chub (Macrhybopsis storeriana, Kirtland, 1844) is a native Cyprinid in Lake Erie, one of the Laurentian Great Lakes of North America. It is listed as endangered by the US state of New York and Canada, which has a recovery plan, and as special concern by the state of Michigan. Silver chub faces a potential threat to recovery from control efforts for invasive Grass carp...

In the face of climate change and increasing human water demands for agriculture, industry, and cities, the fate of wetland ecosystems in tropical wet-dry climates is threatened. To maximize biodiversity and ecological resilience, the value of the ecosystem services provided by tropical wetlands can be incorporated into regional land use and water management decisions. Environmental...

Smolting Atlantic salmon exhibit a seasonal increase in seawater tolerance that is associated with changes in the abundance of major gill ion-transporter transcripts and proteins. In the present study, we investigate how the transcript and protein abundance of specific ion-transporter isoforms relate to each other during smolt development and seawater acclimation, and how each correlates...

The tufted puffin (Fratercula cirrhata) is a generalist seabird that breeds throughout the North Pacific and eats more than 75 different prey species. Using puffins as samplers, we characterized the geographic variability in pelagic food webs across the subarctic North Pacific from the composition of ~10,000 tufted puffin meals (~56,000 prey items) collected at 35 colonies in the Gulf of...