Publications

The Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) is the primary breeding ground for many species of North American waterfowl. The PPR was historically dominated by mixed and tallgrass prairies interspersed with wetlands, but >70% of the native grassland area has been lost due to widespread conversion to croplands. Cover cropping is a reemerging farming technique that may provide suitable nesting cover...

Songbirds that occur across the diverse types of North American rangelands constitute many families within the Order Passeriformes, and hundreds of species. Most are declining, and many are considered potential indicator species for rangeland ecosystems. We synthesized information on the natural and life history, habitat requirements, conservation status, and responses to management of...

There are 22 species of mesocarnivores (carnivores weighing 15 kg) belonging to five families that live in rangelands of the western United States. Mesocarnivores are understudied relative to large carnivores but can have significant impacts on ecosystems and human dimensions. In this chapter, we review the current state of knowledge about the biology, ecology, and human interactions of...

The future of wetland bird habitat and populations is intrinsically connected with the conservation of rangelands in North America. Many rangeland watersheds are source drainage for some of the highest functioning extant wetlands. The Central and Pacific Flyways have significant overlap with available rangelands in western North America. Within these flyways, the importance of rangeland...

Accelerating the design and implementation of environmental flows (e-flows) is essential to curb the rapid, ongoing loss of freshwater biodiversity and the benefits it provides to people. However, the effectiveness of e-flow programs may be limited by a singular focus on ensuring adequate flow conditions at local sites, which overlooks the role of other ecological processes. Recent...

Remote cameras are used to study demographics, ecological processes, and behavior of wildlife populations. Cameras have also been used to measure snow depth with physical snow stakes. However, concerns that physical instruments at camera sites may influence animal behavior limit installation of instruments to facilitate collecting such data. Given that snow depth data are inherently...

Nest survival has been identified as one of the most influential vital rates causing population change in game birds, and depredation, often influenced by habitat loss and fragmentation, is the primary cause of nest failure of upland game birds. We were interested in quantifying and comparing the perspectives of landowners and biologists in South Dakota regarding complex predator-prey...

Shelters are critical for many species as protection from predators and extreme temperatures. Successful conservation of reptiles requires understanding both shelter site requirements and availability. The Eastern Indigo Snake (EIS; Drymarchon couperi) is endemic to the southeastern U.S. and is federally listed. Recovery has focused on maximizing unfragmented landscapes, with less...

As human development continues to expand, wildlife must relocate or adapt to survive. Many mammalian mesopredators, such as the Virginia opossum (Didelphis virginiana), have adapted to living alongside human development. Furthermore, top-down predation pressure may be altered in nuanced ways within the human environment. Species such as opossums may be shielded from predation by human...

Scenario planning is a powerful approach for assessing restoration outcomes under alternative futures. However, developing plausible scenarios remains daunting in complex systems like ecological communities. Here, we used Bayesian multispecies occupancy modeling to develop scenarios to assess woodland restoration outcomes in afforested communities in seven wildlife management areas in...

Objective Sea Lamprey Petromyzon marinus provide important ecological services within their native range, such as nutrient cycling, and can also act as a prey source for other species. Adult Sea Lamprey must access freshwater rivers to spawn, and because of this they are susceptible to changes in river connectivity. Human-made structures, such as dams, can exclude them from usable...

Objective The Tennessee River basin and its cascade of reservoirs are home to some of the most diverse freshwater fish assemblages in the world. This unique system is threatened by the ongoing invasion of Silver Carp Hypophthalmichthys molitrix and Bighead Carp H. nobilis, hereafter referred to together as “bigheaded carps.” Bigheaded carps may directly compete for food resources with...