Aaron Pearse, PhD
Dr. Aaron Pearse is a Research Wildlife Biologist at the USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center in Jamestown, North Dakota.
I have worked primarily with migratory birds and have addressed needs of natural resource managers by providing answers that lead to science-based management of wildlife species and ecosystems in which they depend. I am responsible for identifying and conducting research relevant to agencies within the Department of the Interior and other partners including the federal government, state governments, and non-governmental organizations. I function as a team leader and primary investigator on projects primarily in three general areas: ecology and management of North American waterfowl and cranes, natural resource survey design and application, and landscape scale studies of upland and wetland habitats in the Prairie Pothole Region.
Science and Products
Post-fledging movement and habitat selection by mallards in the fall and their effect on spring recruitment
Considerable scientific research has been conducted in North America on nearly all aspects of the annual cycle of mallards, primarily focused on the breeding season. However, the period between when juveniles are capable of flight to their first southward migration remains a vastly understudied time for all waterfowl species. Beginning in 2018, a graduate student from South Dakota State University...
Migration and winter ecology of the Aransas-Wood Buffalo Population of whooping cranes
The only self-sustaining population of endangered whooping cranes nests within and near Wood Buffalo National Park, Canada, migrates through the Great Plains, and winters primarily along the Texas Gulf Coast. Our objectives of this collaborative project are to address the entire annual life cycle of this species by advancing knowledge of breeding, wintering, and migration ecology, including...
Ecology and management of midcontinent sandhill cranes
Midcontinent sandhill cranes occupy a large geographic area of central and western North America and northeastern Asia during breeding, winter, and migration. They are a species representing a unique convergence of multiple user groups with an interest in the continued health of this population. Tens of thousands of people view cranes during spring staging at the Platte River Valley in Nebraska...
Development of survey methods for spring-migrating waterfowl in the Rainwater Basin
The Rainwater Basin Wetland Complex is a mid-latitude focal point of spring migration for numerous species of birds in the Great Plains. The Rainwater Basin Joint Venture (RWBJV) and partners desire geospatial models to identify characteristics of wetland complexes and understand local and landscape level factors that influence habitat selection of migrating waterfowl. To support this effort, we...
An evaluation of waterfowl breeding ecology in the context of their predator community in eastern South Dakota
Population growth in upland-nesting ducks is highly influenced by spatial and temporal variation in nest survival, and mammalian predators are the major cause of nest failure. Beginning in spring 2018, a graduate student from South Dakota State University and co-advised by a NPWRC scientist will study predator communities and their movements in landscapes with varying grassland patch composition...
Science and Products
Post-fledging movement and habitat selection by mallards in the fall and their effect on spring recruitment
Considerable scientific research has been conducted in North America on nearly all aspects of the annual cycle of mallards, primarily focused on the breeding season. However, the period between when juveniles are capable of flight to their first southward migration remains a vastly understudied time for all waterfowl species. Beginning in 2018, a graduate student from South Dakota State University...
Migration and winter ecology of the Aransas-Wood Buffalo Population of whooping cranes
The only self-sustaining population of endangered whooping cranes nests within and near Wood Buffalo National Park, Canada, migrates through the Great Plains, and winters primarily along the Texas Gulf Coast. Our objectives of this collaborative project are to address the entire annual life cycle of this species by advancing knowledge of breeding, wintering, and migration ecology, including...
Ecology and management of midcontinent sandhill cranes
Midcontinent sandhill cranes occupy a large geographic area of central and western North America and northeastern Asia during breeding, winter, and migration. They are a species representing a unique convergence of multiple user groups with an interest in the continued health of this population. Tens of thousands of people view cranes during spring staging at the Platte River Valley in Nebraska...
Development of survey methods for spring-migrating waterfowl in the Rainwater Basin
The Rainwater Basin Wetland Complex is a mid-latitude focal point of spring migration for numerous species of birds in the Great Plains. The Rainwater Basin Joint Venture (RWBJV) and partners desire geospatial models to identify characteristics of wetland complexes and understand local and landscape level factors that influence habitat selection of migrating waterfowl. To support this effort, we...
An evaluation of waterfowl breeding ecology in the context of their predator community in eastern South Dakota
Population growth in upland-nesting ducks is highly influenced by spatial and temporal variation in nest survival, and mammalian predators are the major cause of nest failure. Beginning in spring 2018, a graduate student from South Dakota State University and co-advised by a NPWRC scientist will study predator communities and their movements in landscapes with varying grassland patch composition...
*Disclaimer: Listing outside positions with professional scientific organizations on this Staff Profile are for informational purposes only and do not constitute an endorsement of those professional scientific organizations or their activities by the USGS, Department of the Interior, or U.S. Government