Publications

Muskellunge Esox masquinongy are large, predatory game fish whose association with shallow, complex habitats is well documented, particularly during early life stages. Despite this association, relatively little guidance exists regarding effective sampling of Muskellunge larvae and previous efforts to sample larval Muskellunge have been met with limited success. Therefore, our objective...

In colonial seabirds, differences in the nesting or fledging success have been associated with differences in nest position within the breeding aggregation (subcolony): less successful nests are located on the periphery, with more successful nests closer to the center. For Pygoscelid penguins, central nests tend to be larger, with nest size being an indicator of individual quality...

Coastal areas are especially vulnerable to habitat loss, sea-level rise, and other climate change effects. Oyster-dominated eco-engineered reefs have been promoted as integral components of engineered habitats enhancing coastal resilience through provision of numerous ecological, morphological, and socio-economic services. However, the assessed ‘success’ of these eco-engineered oyster...

Recently developed methods, including time-to-event and space-to-event models, estimate the abundance of unmarked populations from encounter rates with camera trap arrays, addressing a gap in noninvasive wildlife monitoring. However, estimating abundance from encounter rates relies on assumptions that can be difficult to meet in the field, including random movement, population closure...

Annual winter water level drawdown (WD) is a common lake management strategy to maintain recreational value by controlling nuisance macrophytes and preventing ice damage to shoreline infrastructure in lakes of the northeastern United States. The state of Massachusetts provides general guidelines for lake managers to implement and practice WDs. However, WD management reporting is not...

Subterranean habitats support a diverse array of organisms and represent imperative habitats in many conservation strategies; however, subterranean habitats are one of the most difficult environments to study. Accounting for variable sampling detection is necessary to properly evaluate conservation options for rare species such as karst and other groundwater organisms. New sampling...

Overabundant populations of feral equids are negatively impacting rangelands in the western United States. To effectively manage these populations, robust estimates of abundance and demography are necessary, as well as cost-effective methods of reducing abundance. We used a double-observer-sightability aerial survey method to estimate the number of feral burros (Equus asinus) occupying...

Density-dependent (DD) and density-independent (DI) effects play an important role in shaping fish growth rates, an attribute that correlates with many life history traits in fishes. Consequently, understanding the extent to which DD and DI effects influence growth rates is valuable for fisheries assessments because it can inform managers about how populations may respond as...

Climate change is impacting both the distribution and abundance of vegetation, especially in far northern latitudes. The effects of climate change are different for every plant assemblage and vary heterogeneously in both space and time. Small changes in climate could result in large vegetation responses in sensitive assemblages but weak responses in robust assemblages. But, patterns and...

Across our Nation, multiple Federal, State, Tribal, and local governments are working with stakeholders and landowners to restore, conserve, and manage lands and resources to benefit fish, wildlife, and people. One of the largest Federal efforts is led by the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI), with multiple DOI agencies working to conserve and manage public lands, resources, and...

Controlling range expansion of invasive carp (specifically Hypophthalmichthys spp.) on the Tennessee River is important to conserve the ecological and economic benefits provided by the river. We collaborated with State and Federal agencies (the stakeholder group) to develop a decision framework and decision support model to evaluate strategies to control carp expansion in the Tennessee...

Little is known about the life-history traits exhibited by burbot (Lota lota) throughout their circumpolar range. Monitoring PIT-tagged burbot between lentic and lotic habits and collection of demographic data (length, age, sex, and maturity) were used to answer the following questions in the Torrey Creek drainage of west-central Wyoming, USA: 1) is there plasticity in the life-history...