Publications

The abundance of Culex restuans and Culex pipiens in relation to ecological predictors is poorly understood in regions of the United States where their ranges overlap. It is suspected that these species play different roles in spreading West Nile virus (WNV) in these regions, but few studies have modeled these species separately or accounted for spatial correlation using Bayesian methods...

In heterogeneous landscapes, resource selection constitutes a crucial link between landscape and population-level processes such as density. We conducted a non-invasive genetic study of white-tailed deer in southern Finland in 2016 and 2017 using fecal DNA samples to understand factors influencing white-tailed deer density and space use in late summer prior to the hunting season. We...

The probability of obtaining images of target species may vary across camera models or relative position of cameras at survey locations. Alignment of cameras within paired camera stations (hereafter, stations) could affect species detection due to issues with image exposure. We quantified effects of 3 camera models and alignment (staggered, offset by a perpendicular distance of 4.6 m...

High-throughput DNA sequencing can generate large genetic datasets in a cost-effective manner. Although the diet of Eptesicus fuscus (Big Brown Bat) has been studied widely in natural and rural systems using visual identification of prey items in feces, our aim was to more completely assess diet using a metabarcoding approach across a wide urban–natural landscape gradient in the mid...

Body mass in overwintering waterfowl is an important fitness attribute as it affects winter survival, timing of spring migration, and subsequent reproductive success. Recent research in Europe and the western United States indicates body mass of mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) has increased from the late 1960s to early 2000s. The underlying mechanism is currently unknown; however...

Migration is a critical behavioral strategy necessary for population persistence and ecosystem functioning, but migration routes have been increasingly disrupted by anthropogenic activities, including energy development. Wind energy is the world's fastest growing source of electricity and represents an important alternative to hydrocarbon extraction, but its effects on migratory species...

Salmonid populations are often regulated by territorial competition among juveniles for food and space. In the canonical view, salmonid territories are spaced horizontally across the river bottom in a 2-D mosaic. However, some juveniles instead feed in tight, three-dimensional (3-D) social groups. To investigate whether territoriality is possible within such groups, we applied a new...

A major challenge in ecology is disentangling interactions of non-native, potentially invasive species on native species. Conditional two-species occupancy models examine the effects of dominant species (e.g., non-native) on subordinate species (e.g., native) while considering the possibility that occupancy of one species may affect occupancy and/ or detection of the other. Although...

Columbian sharp-tailed grouse (Tympanuchus phasianellus columbianus) are endemic to grassland and shrub-steppe ecosystems of western North America, yet their distribution has contracted to

Invasive Lake Trout Salvelinus namaycush in the Yellowstone Lake ecosystem have been gillnetted since 1995 to suppress the population and allow for recovery of native Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout Oncorhynchus clarkii bouvieri. Although gillnetting is effective (Lake Trout population growth rate λ ≤ 0.6 during 2012–2022), the effort only targets free-swimming, age-2 and older Lake Trout...

Many migratory bird species have begun shifting their wintering grounds closer to their breeding grounds, shortening their yearly migration distance through a behavior called shortstopping. While multiple studies have investigated possible drivers, it remains unclear why only some populations adopt this behavior. We studied the differential occurrence of shortstopping in two populations...

Models that assess the vulnerability of freshwater species to shifting environmental conditions do not always account for short-duration extremes, which are increasingly common. Life cycle models for Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) generally focus on average conditions that fish experience during each life stage, yet many floods, low flows, and elevated water temperatures only last...