Publications

Effective conservation of endangered North Atlantic right whales (Eubalaena glacialis) requires information about their spatio-temporal distribution. Understanding temporal distribution is particularly important, because a portion of the population migrates between high latitude summer feeding grounds off the northeastern U.S. and Canadian Maritimes coasts and lower latitude calving and...

In forested landscapes, creation of habitat for early-successional shrubland birds is controversial because of perceived conflicts with the conservation of mature-forest birds. Nonetheless, many mature-forest birds, especially fledglings, readily use early-successional stands during the post-breeding period. This suggests that for mature-forest birds, creating habitat for early...

The ratio of juvenile to adult birds in mist-net samples is used to monitor avian productivity, but whether it is a “true” estimate of per capita productivity or an index proportional to productivity depends on whether capture probability is not age-dependent (true estimate) or age difference in capture probability is consistent among years (index). Better understanding of the processes...

Expanding populations of North American midcontinent lesser snow geese (Anser caerulescens caerulescens) have potential to alter ecosystems throughout the Arctic and subarctic where they breed. Efforts to understand origins of harvested lesser snow geese to better inform management decisions have traditionally required mark-recapture approaches, while aerial photographic surveys have...

In their recently published report, State of the Mountain Lion: A Call to End Trophy Hunting of America’s Lion, the Humane Society of the United States suggested that mountain lion (Puma concolor) hunting should be abolished in the United States. The report claims this recommendation is based on scientific arguments that demonstrate the overharvest of mountain lions throughout much of...

Climate change will affect stream systems in numerous ways over the coming century. Globally, streams are expected to experience changes in temperature and flow regime. Previous work has indicated that these changes will likely affect fish distributions, but little work has been conducted examining population level effects of climate change on warmwater fish at the warmest portion of...

Data sets with increased spatial and temporal resolution can help researchers and resource managers quantify representative distributional patterns of mobile sportfish. In this research, first, we illustrate patterns of sportfish distribution using individual (percent of population, residence time, number of movements) and combined distributional metrics. Second, we apply these metrics...

Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) is an infectious, zoonotic disease caused by Mycobacterium bovis that can spread between domestic and wild animals, as well as to humans. The disease is characterized by the progressive development of lesions that compromise the victim's lungs and lymph system. The disease was first identified in northwest Minnesota in both cattle and white-tailed deer...

A myxozoan parasite, Myxobolus inornatus, is one disease agent identified in young of the year (YOY) smallmouth bass in the Susquehanna River Basin, Pennsylvania. We investigated spatial and temporal variability in M. Inornatus prevalence across the Susquehanna River Basin and at several out-of-basin sites. We examined potential land use drivers of M. Inornatus prevalence including...

Mixtures of DNA from multiple contributors present a novel opportunity to count individuals to inform fish and wildlife ecology.We apply a likelihood-based framework to estimate the number of contributors to a DNA mixture for ecological applications. We then assess the performance of DNA mixture estimation through a combination of simulation analyses, laboratory testing, and a field...

The incidental take of golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) as a result of wind energy development requires some form of compensatory mitigation. Although several options have been proposed, only one has been formerly accepted and implemented, and the lack of options can limit the permit process for wind facilities. We developed a model to estimate numbers of golden eagles that die when...

Oil and natural gas (ONG) development can affect aquatic ecosystems through water contamination, water withdrawals and disturbance of soil and vegetation (surface disturbance) from infrastructure development. Research on how these potential sources of watershed and aquatic ecosystem impairment can affect fish assemblages is limited. Fish–habitat relationships were evaluated across stream...