Publications

The stygobitic Caney Mountain cave crayfish, Orconectes stygocaneyi, is among the rarest crayfish species in North America. It is known only from Mud Cave, a small linear cave on the 3,200 ha Caney Mountain Conservation Area in Ozark County, Missouri. The species is listed as “Endangered” by the state of Missouri, and “Threatened” by the American Fisheries Society. Previous studies...

The ubiquitous occurrence and persistence of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in all environmental matrices and biota poses significant health risks to humans. Fish consumption is one of the main pathways humans are exposed to PFAS, yet general patterns in factors influencing PFAS content in fish fillets remain unknown. We assembled information on PFAS content (total quantified...

Prevention and early detection of invasive species are championed as the most cost-effective and efficient strategies for reducing or preventing negative impacts on ecosystems. Spotted lanternfly (SLF), Lycorma delicatula, is a recently introduced invasive insect whose range in the United States has been expanding rapidly since it was first discovered in Pennsylvania in 2014. Feeding by...

Genetic monitoring is important in small, fragmented populations that rely on gene flow to maintain genetic diversity. The Selkirk, Yaak, and Cabinet grizzly bear (Ursus arctos) populations are among the smallest in North America and are near the southernmost extent of the species’ range. These populations received little to no effective migration for generations but have recently...

Background The number of telemetry studies focused on lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) in the Laurentian Great Lakes has steadily increased over the last decade, but field tests of immobilization methods used for tag implantation, which have the potential to affect survival and behavior of fish after release, are lacking. We compared post-tagging survival and behavior of lake...

A culturally important food fish in Hawai'i, Achilles tang (Acanthurus achilles Shaw), recently experienced sharp declines in biomass, density, and average length in west Hawai'i Island. In December 2022, State resource managers placed a 2-year moratorium on the Achilles tang fishery in west Hawai'i Island so that the cause of the collapse could be explored. The lack of life-history...

Damaging aquatic invasive species, such as the zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha), pose an ongoing concern for potential introduction and establishment in the western United States. Our study applied habitat suitability indices and network analysis to identify lakes critical to the continued westward spread and establishment of zebra mussels from a key invasion front in Texas. We...

Map-based decision support tools (DSTs) that use species distributions are an important means of identifying priority areas for conservation. The 2020 Wisconsin Waterfowl Habitat Conservation Strategy (WWHCS) uses a DST to identify priority ecological landscapes and watersheds to guide waterfowl habitat projects. The WWHCS DST relies on waterfowl habitat suitability layers derived...

Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae is a primary causative agent responsible for initiating polymicrobial pneumonia in bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis). Infections of bighorn sheep populations are typically characterized by initial all-age epizootics followed by long-term periods of repressed juvenile (lamb) survival. Populations of bighorn sheep in New Mexico, USA, were thought to be free of this...

Objective Walleye Sander vitreus is an important species that has been widely introduced outside of its native distribution. The goal of this study was to assess the effects of an established Walleye population in the Lake Pend Oreille (LPO) system, Idaho.Methods Food habits of Walleyes were described using stomach contents and stable isotopes (δ15N, δ13C). Trophic structure of the LPO...

Objective: Understanding angler responses to fisheries management actions such as regulation changes have important implications for the effectiveness and efficacy of such management strategies. We examined the ability of remote vehicle counters to provide a relative index of angler effort and present a case study demonstrating use of vehicle counters to assess potential changes in...

Objective Growth is one of the primary drivers of fish population dynamics and understanding factors influencing growth is vital to effective management of fish populations. This study investigated potential factors influencing growth of a recently established, non-native population of Walleye Sander vitreus in the Lake Pend Oreille system in northern Idaho. Methods We used relative...