Publications

The complete mitogenome of the northern long-eared bat (Myotis septentrionalis) was determined to be 17,362 bp and contained 22 tRNA genes, 2 rRNA genes and one control region. The whole genome base composition was 33.8% GC. Phylogenetic analysis suggests that M. septentrionalis be positioned next to M. auriculus in the Nearctic subclade of the Myotis genus. This complete mitochondrial...

Aim Species distribution models (SDMs) are valuable for rare species conservation and are commonly used to extrapolate predictions of habitat suitability geographically to regions where species occurrence is unknown (i.e., transferability). Spatially structured cross-validation can be used to infer transferability, yet, few studies have evaluated how delineation of cross-validation folds...

Recent success in the conservation of many marine mammals has resulted in new management challenges due to increasing conflict with fisheries. Increasing predation by pinnipeds on threatened salmon is of particular concern. Seemingly, pinniped conservation is now in conflict with the recovery of threatened salmon, creating a dilemma for managers.We use the Lower Columbia River as a case...

Bayesian hierarchical models allow ecologists to account for uncertainty and make inference at multiple scales. However, hierarchical models are often computationally intensive to fit, especially with large datasets, and researchers face trade-offs between capturing ecological complexity in statistical models and implementing these models.We present a recursive Bayesian computing (RB)...

Hunting is a popular activity but continued use of lead ammunition poses risks to wildlife and human health. To inform adoption of the voluntary use of nonlead ammunition, natural resource professionals were surveyed to understand their attitudes about threats to bald eagles, lead poisoning in bald eagles, human health risks from lead bullet fragments in venison, use of nonlead hunting...

Despite low species diversity and primary production, trophic structure (e.g., top predator species, predator size) is surprisingly variable among Arctic lakes. We investigated trophic structure in lakes of arctic Alaska containing arctic char Salvelinus alpinus using stomach contents and stable isotope ratios in two geographically-close but hydrologically-distinct lake clusters to...

Personal conservation behavior and compliance with natural resource regulations are important to wildlife conservation. We examined how waterfowl hunting involvement, motivations, satisfaction, and experience, along with institutional trust and demographics, correlated with support for waterfowl regulations and personal conservation actions. Regulations included zones, splits, and...

Evaluation of alternative management strategies enables informed decisions to accelerate species recovery. For reintroductions, post-release survival to reproductive age is a key parameter influencing population growth. Here we trial a ‘stepping-stone’ method to maximize the success of captive-bred animals when the availability of more suitable wild-born release candidates is limited...

Close-kin mark–recapture (CKMR) is a powerful new method for the assessment of fish and wildlife population dynamics. Unlike traditional mark–recapture techniques, the use of kinship as an identifying mark is robust to many forms of capture heterogeneity including variation in gear efficiency and tagging-based effects such as loss and differential mortality. In addition, close-kin...

Groundwater discharge zones in streams are important habitats for aquatic organisms. The use of discharge zones for thermal refuge and spawning by fish and other biota renders them susceptible to potential focused discharge of groundwater contamination. Currently, there is a paucity of information about discharge zones as a potential exposure pathway of chemicals to stream ecosystems...

Biologists use a variety of methods to estimate productivity and resource selection of birds. The effectiveness and suitability of each method depends on the study's objectives, but is also influenced by many important traits, including detection probability, disturbance of focal birds and sampling frequency. We reviewed 504 greater sage-grouse Centrocercus urophasianus papers published...

Various abiotic and biotic factors affect fish and their habitats at macroscales. For example, changes in global temperatures will likely alter demographic rates, including growth. However, to date, there is no statistical framework for assessing the ability to detect macroscale effects on fish growth under different sampling scenarios. We provide a generalized framework for calculating...