Publications

Temporary wetlands are characterized by frequent drying resulting in a unique, highly specialized assemblage of often rare or specialized plant and animal species. They are found on all continents and in a variety of landscape settings. Although accurate estimates of the abundance of temporary wetlands are available in only a few countries, global estimations identify a decline in number...

The introduction of Common Carp (Cyprinus carpio) into North American waterways has led to widespread alteration of aquatic ecosystems. Control of this invader has proven extremely difficult due to its capacity for rapid population growth. To help understand how Common Carp can potentially be controlled we developed a population dynamics model (CarpMOD) to explore the efficacy of active...

Functional responses describe how changing resource availability affects consumer resource use, thus providing a mechanistic approach to prediction of the invasibility and potential damage of invasive alien species (IAS). However, functional responses can be context dependent, varying with resource characteristics and availability, consumer attributes, and environmental variables...

Snake fungal disease (ophidiomycosis) is an emerging infection of snakes caused by Ophidiomyces ophiodiicola. Little is known about mechanisms of this pathogen's transmission and its implications for conservation of wild snake populations. We report four cases with evidence of vertical transmission of O. ophiodiicola from dam to offspring.

We describe a wing abnormality present in a wild-hatched Whooping Crane (Grus americana) chick from the reintroduced Louisiana nonmigratory population. Despite its compromised flight ability, the chick fledged, reached independence, and lived until 13 months of age. Necropsy revealed a healed fracture near the left carpus likely resulting from trauma.

Dryland grasslands are vast and globally important and, as in all terrestrial ecosystems, soil microbial communities play fundamental roles in regulating dryland ecosystem function. A typical characteristic of drylands is the spatial mosaic of vascular plant cover surrounded by interspace soils, where biological soil crusts (biocrusts)—a complex community of organisms including bacteria...

The key to Eastern Meadowlark (Sturnella magna) management is providing large areas of contiguous grassland of moderate height with significant grass cover and moderate forb density. Eastern Meadowlarks have been reported to use habitats with 10–187 centimeters (cm) average vegetation height, 6–88 cm visual obstruction reading, 53–86 percent grass cover, 4–50 percent forb cover, less...

Keys to Ferruginous Hawk (Buteo regalis) management are providing suitable nest sites, protecting active nest areas from human disturbance, and providing suitable habitat for prey.

The key to Swainson's Hawk (Buteo swainsoni) management is providing open grasslands that contain patches of trees for nesting and perching, sometimes near cultivated areas.

The key to Northern Harrier (Circus hudsonius) management is providing tall, dense vegetation in extensive mesic or xeric grasslands or in wetlands. Northern Harriers have been reported to use habitats with 15–106 centimeter (cm) average vegetation height, 28–75 cm visual obstruction reading, 24–53 percent grass cover, 18–25 percent forb cover, less than or equal to 2 percent shrub cover...

Keys to Greater Sage-Grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) management are maintenance of expansive stands of sagebrush (Artemisia species [spp.]), especially varieties of big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) with abundant forbs in the understory, particularly during spring; undisturbed and somewhat open sites for leks; and healthy perennial grass and forb stands intermixed with sagebrush...

Razorback sucker (Xyrauchen texanus) and flannelmouth sucker (Catostomus latipinnis) live in sympatry in the Colorado River basin. Although morphological intermediates have been described since 1889, hybrids were seemingly rare. Rarity of hybrids was likely attributed to razorback suckers' ability to find conspecific mates throughout the basin. Dams have segmented the Colorado River...