Publications

Colonization of urban areas by synanthropic wildlife introduces novel and complex alterations to established ecological processes, including the emergence and spread of infectious diseases. Aggregation at urban resources can increase disease transfer, with wide-ranging species potentially infecting outlying populations. The garrison at the National Training Center, Fort Irwin, California...

Stoneflies are a globally threatened aquatic insect order. In Arkansas, a diverse group of winter stonefly (Capniidae: Allocapnia) have not been surveyed since the 1980s, likely because species-level identification requires the rarely-collected adult form. Allocapnia mohri, a regional endemic, was previously commonly found in mountainous, intermittent streams from the Ouachita Mountains...

Wildlife and natural resource institutions play key roles in invasive species monitoring and management. Paradoxically, the extensive fieldwork undertaken by these institutions and their partners may result in the inadvertent movement and spread of invasive species within and between sensitive ecosystems. In this work, we consider the potential effects of internal guidelines and policies...

Moose (Alces alces) populations are declining across much of their southern geographic range in North America. In Vermont and other northeastern states, measurable declines are attributed to low calf survival and reduced productivity associated with persistent winter tick (Dermacentor albipictus) parasitism. In 2017–2020, we studied 75 radio-collared female moose (38 calves and 37 adults...

The potential introduction of SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic, into North American bat populations is of interest to wildlife managers due to recent disease-mediated declines of several species. Populations of little brown bats (Myotis lucifugus) have collapsed due to white-nose syndrome (WNS), a disease caused by the introduction and spread of the fungal...

Using samples spanning 10-degrees of latitude in Alaska, we provide the first comparative assessment of avian haemosporidia distribution of Arctic Alaska with subarctic host populations for four species of grouse and three species of ptarmigan (Galliformes). We found a high overall prevalence for at least one haemospordian genus (88%; N = 351/400), with spruce grouse (Canachites...

No abstract available.

Hearths used for 19th and 20th century charcoal manufacturing have been found to have unique plant communities or to produce unique growth characteristics for some species but not others. Given known differences in hearth morphology, within hearth physical and chemical differences may exist and result in unique ecologic niches. We examined soil stratigraphy across 8 relict charcoal...

The Penobscot River Restoration Project in Maine was a large river rehabilitation project that culminated in the removal of the two lowermost dams and improvements to fish passage on several remaining dams. Fish assemblages were surveyed for 3 years prior to rehabilitation, 3 years after rehabilitation, and 8 years after rehabilitation. Approximately 475 km of shoreline were sampled via...

Earlier spring warming and anadromous fish migrations prompted by climate change are linked to shorter freshwater residency. Impacts of phenological change on anadromous fish populations are poorly understood with limited studies focused on iteroparous non-salmonids. We assessed freshwater residence time and reproductive success in an iteroparous clupeid, alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus)...

1. Integrating ecological theory with empirical methods is ubiquitous in ecology using hierarchical Bayesian models. However, there has been little development focused on integration of ecological theory into models for survival analysis. Survival is a fundamental process, linking individual fitness with population dynamics, but incorporating life history strategies to inform survival...

A novel interaction between a long-tailed weasel (Mustela frenata) and a plains spotted skunk (Spilogale interrupta) carcass is detailed. In November 2020, a farmer in Edmunds County in north-central South Dakota sent in a video recording of a long-tailed weasel with a spotted skunk carcass. Location of the event, carcass condition, and recorded behavior of the long-tailed weasel offer...