Publications

Mountains and mountain societies provide a wide range of goods and services to humanity, but they are particularly sensitive to the effects of global environmental change. Thus, the definition of appropriate management regimes that maintain the multiple functions of mountain regions in a time of greatly changing climatic, economic, and societal drivers constitutes a significant challenge

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Land managers need cost-effective and informative tools for non-native plant species management. Many local, state, and federal agencies adopted mapping systems designed to collect comparable data for the early detection and monitoring of non-native species. We compared mapping information to statistically rigorous, plot-based methods to better understand the benefits and compatibility...

We used spatial data to identify potential areas for elk (Cervus elaphus) restoration in Arkansas. To assess habitat, we used locations of 239 elk groups collected from helicopter surveys in the Buffalo National River area of northwestern Arkansas, USA, from 1992 to 2002. We calculated the Mahalanobis distance (D2) statistic based on the relationship between those elk-group locations and...

Increases in Yellowstone National Park, USA, bison (Bison bison) numbers and shifts in seasonal distribution have resulted in more frequent movements of bison beyond park boundaries and development of an interagency management plan for the Yellowstone bison population. Implementation of the plan under the adaptive management paradigm requires an understanding of the spatial and temporal...

Anaplasma ovis (Rickettsiales: Anaplasmataceae) is a tick-borne pathogen of sheep, goats and wild ruminants. The genetic diversity of A. ovis strains has not been well characterized due to the lack of sequence information. In this study, we evaluated bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) and mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) from Montana for infection with A. ovis by serology and sequence...

To identify population‐scale patterns of movement, coastal cutthroat trout Oncorhynchus clarkii clarkii tagged and marked (35 radio‐tagged, 749 passive integrated transponder [PIT]‐tagged, and 3,025 fin‐clipped) were monitored from June 1999 to August 2000. The study watershed, located in western Oregon, was above a natural barrier to upstream movement. Emigration out of the watershed...

A method was developed to characterize ecological integrity of riparian sites based on the abundance of hydric species. This wetland index can be calculated with species data, or with community type data as performed here. Classified riparian community types were used to describe vegetation at 14 livestock exclosures and adjacent grazed areas. Community type wetland index values were...

Every winter, government agencies feed ∼6000 metric tons (6 × 106 kg) of hay to elk in the southern Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) to limit transmission of Brucella abortus, the causative agent of brucellosis, from elk to cattle. Supplemental feeding, however, is likely to increase the transmission of brucellosis in elk, and may be affected by climatic factors, such as snowpack. We...

We examined species-area curves, species composition and similarity (Jaccard's coefficients), and species richness in 17 vegetation types to develop a composite index of a vegetation type's contribution to regional species richness. We collected data from 1 to 1000 m2 scales in 147 nested plots in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado, USA to compare three species-area curve models'...

Repeat photography is a powerful tool for detection of landscape change over decadal timescales. Here a novel method is presented that applies spatial analysis software to digital photo-pairs, allowing vegetation change to be categorized and quantified. This method is applied to 12 sites within the alpine treeline ecotone of Glacier National Park, Montana, and is used to examine...

The decline of amphibian populations is a world-wide phenomenon that has received increasing attention since about 1990. In 2004, the World Conservation Union’s global amphibian assessment concluded that 48% of the world’s 5,743 described amphibian species were in decline, with 32% considered threatened (Stuart et al. 2004). Amphibian declines are a significant issue in the western...