Publications

This chapter presents and applies five constraint/enabler categories that influence integration of the plural values of cultural ecosystem services (CES) in decision-making, highlighting how diverse forms of CES knowledge can intersect with decision making contexts. CES make foundational contributions to human well-being, and yet they are consistently underrepresented in research...

We surveyed for Southwestern Willow Flycatchers (Empidonax traillii extimus; flycatcher) at select locations along the San Luis Rey River, including along the middle San Luis Rey River near Bonsall and the upper San Luis Rey River near Santa Ysabel, California, in 2024. Surveys were completed at six locations: two along the middle San Luis Rey River (Bonsall [BO] and Rincon), which were...

The majority of plants rely on animal-mediated pollination for reproduction. Reductions in pollinator visitations can lead to pollen limitation and declines in seed production. Arctomecon californica, the Las Vegas bearpoppy, is a rare plant native to the northeastern Mojave Desert. It is pollinator dependent for reproduction as it is self-incompatible, but associated pollinator...

The Laurentian Great Lakes are connected via naturally occurring straits and rivers: St. Marys River, Straits of Mackinac, St. Clair-Detroit River System, Niagara River, and the St. Lawrence River. Despite the historical ecological and economic importance of these waters, international agreements (e.g., Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement) only recently explicitly named the Great Lakes...

This paper examines the pathways to desirable nature futures as envisioned by 22 young people from all United Nations regions and diverse cultural backgrounds who participated in the second edition of the IPBES Youth workshop (2022). The workshop employed the Three Horizons framework and the Nature Futures Framework (NFF) to describe the plurality of youth visions for desirable nature...

Robust science is needed to inform national resource management and policy decisions. Predictive species habitat maps are frequently employed in conservation decision-making but are often based on a single metric representing habitat quality. We outlined a framework that combines multiple spatially explicit indices of potential habitat quality that could be used to identify and...

Scenarios, or plausible characterizations of the future, can help natural resource stewards plan and act under uncertainty. Current methods for developing scenarios for climate change adaptation planning are often focused on exploring uncertainties in future climate, but new approaches are needed to better represent uncertainties in ecological responses. Scenarios that characterize how...

Protecting habitat threatened by increasing wildfire size and frequency requires identifying the spatial intersection of wildfire behavior and ecological conditions that favor positive management outcomes. In the perennial sagebrush steppe of Western North America, invasions by fire-prone annual grasses are a key concern, and management of them requires reliable maps of vegetation cover...

At Redwood National and State parks restoration efforts are underway to promote the recovery of forests following a history of intense logging. Unmanaged secondary forests at the parks have high stem density with slow stand development. Restoration thinning treatments of these stands are designed to promote the representation of redwood and improve the growth of residual trees...

Dryland degradation from unsustainable land use and increasing aridity often manifests as bare, interconnected areas that facilitate the loss or redistribution of resources (soil, seeds, and nutrients) through wind and run-off. Physical structures like branches and stick bundles, which disrupt these pathways and retain resources, are crucial for rehabilitation and restoration...

Introduction Established in 1935, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units Program is a unique cooperative partnership among State fish and wildlife agencies, host universities, the Wildlife Management Institute, USGS, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Designed to meet the scientific needs of natural resource management agencies and to produce...

The U.S. Geological Survey is working with Federal land management agencies to develop a series of science syntheses to support National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) analyses. This report synthesizes science information about the potential effects of nonmotorized recreation on ungulates in the western United States. We conducted a structured literature search to find published science...