Adrian Monroe is an ecologist at the Fort Collins Science Center, whose research focuses on wildlife and ecosystems in working landscapes.
I am an ecologist focused on wildlife and ecosystems in working landscapes. I work to meet science needs of natural resource managers and agencies by studying effects of management on avian population trends, demographics, and distribution, as well as restoration and ecosystem recovery. I also am interested in using simulation and hierarchical models to understand observation processes.
Professional Experience
Ecologist, U.S. Geological Survey, 2020-Present
Research Scientist, Colorado State University, 2016-2020
Postdoctoral Fellow, Colorado State University, 2014-2016
Research Associate, Mississippi State University, 2014
Graduate Research Assistant, Mississippi State University, 2010-2014
Graduate Research Assistant, Oklahoma State University, 2008-2010
Education and Certifications
Ph.D., Forest Resources, Mississippi State University 2014
M.S., Natural Resource Ecology and Management, Oklahoma State University 2010
B.S., Biology, College of William and Mary 2008
Science and Products
Prioritizing Restoration of Sagebrush Ecosystems Tool (PReSET): A USGS-facilitated Decision-support Tool for Sagebrush Ecosystem Conservation and Restoration Actions
Optimization of Management Actions for Restoration Success and Wildlife Populations
Contributions to the development of the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies Sagebrush Conservation Strategy
Economic Implications of Sagebrush Treatment and Restoration Practices Across the Great Basin and Wyoming
Building the Sage-Grouse Umbrella with Songbird Habitat Models
Using Long-Term Remote Sensing and an Automated Reference Toolset To Estimate and Predict Post-Development Recovery Potential
Energy Development and Changing Land Uses
Hierarchical Sage-Grouse Population Assessment Tool: Building a Foundation for True Adaptive Management
Conservation of Sagebrush Ecosystems and Wildlife
Multi-scale Statewide Wyoming Greater Sage-grouse Trends Determined by Population Viability Analysis
Sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) scale of effect for Greater Sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) population trends in southwest Wyoming, USA 2003-2019
Trends and a Targeted Annual Warning System for Greater Sage-Grouse in the Western United States (1960-2021)
U.S. range-wide spatial prediction layers of lek persistence probabilities for greater sage-grouse
Hierarchically nested and biologically relevant range-wide monitoring frameworks for greater sage-grouse, western United States
Greater sage-grouse population structure and connectivity data to inform the development of hierarchical population units (western United States)
Sagebrush recovery analyzed with a dynamic reference approach in southwestern Wyoming, USA 1985-2018
A snapshot of stakeholder science needs related to drought in the Colorado River Basin
Spatial layers generated by the Prioritizing Restoration of Sagebrush Ecosystems Tool (PReSET) applied in Southern Wyoming
Predicted (1989-2015) and forecasted (2015-2114) estimates for rate of change and recovery of sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) following energy development in southwestern Wyoming, USA (ver. 2.0, January 2021)
Predicted (1989-2015) and forecasted (2015-2114) estimates for rate of change and recovery of sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) following energy development in southwestern Wyoming, USA
Simulation to evaluate response of population models to annual trends in detectability
Colorado River Basin Actionable and Strategic Integrated Science and Technology Project—Science strategy
Range-wide population trend analysis for greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus)—Updated 1960–2021
Spatial scale selection for informing species conservation in a changing landscape
Defining biologically relevant and hierarchically nested population units to inform wildlife management
U.S. Geological Survey Colorado River Basin Actionable and Strategic Integrated Science and Technology (ASIST)—Information Management Technology Plan
Defining fine-scaled population structure among continuously distributed populations
Assessing vegetation recovery from energy development using a dynamic reference approach
U.S. Geological Survey science for the Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative—2018 annual report
Prioritizing restoration areas to conserve multiple sagebrush-associated wildlife species
Synthesizing and analyzing long-term monitoring data: A greater sage-grouse case study
Range-wide greater sage-grouse hierarchical monitoring framework—Implications for defining population boundaries, trend estimation, and a targeted annual warning system
Prioritizing landscapes for grassland bird conservation with hierarchical community models
popcluster: hierarchical population monitoring frameworks, Version 2.0.0
Spatial scale selection for greater sage-grouse population trends, Version 1.0.0
grsg_lekdb: Compiling and standardizing greater sage-grouse lek databases, version 1.1.0
lcp_centrality: Defining least-cost paths and graph theory centrality measures
grsg_lekdb: Compiling and standardizing greater sage-grouse lek databases
Science and Products
- Science
Prioritizing Restoration of Sagebrush Ecosystems Tool (PReSET): A USGS-facilitated Decision-support Tool for Sagebrush Ecosystem Conservation and Restoration Actions
Sagebrush ecosystems, one of the most imperiled in North America, face continued and widespread degradation due to multiple factors, including climate change, invasive species, and increased human development. Effective sagebrush management must consider how to best conserve and restore habitats to stem the decline of species that rely on them, especially given limited conservation resources. To...Optimization of Management Actions for Restoration Success and Wildlife Populations
USGS researchers, in collaboration with the Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative and other partners, are developing a statistically based prioritization tool that will aid agencies in their management decisions.Contributions to the development of the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies Sagebrush Conservation Strategy
USGS scientists are contributing to the development of the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies Sagebrush Conservation Strategy, a strategy intended to provide guidance so that efforts to conserve the iconic greater sage-grouse can be expanded to the entire sagebrush biome to benefit the people and wildlife that depend on it.Economic Implications of Sagebrush Treatment and Restoration Practices Across the Great Basin and Wyoming
USGS and Colorado State University researchers are conducting analyses and predictions of sagebrush recovery in the Great Basin and Wyoming and assess the role of weather, soils, and reseeding treatments.Building the Sage-Grouse Umbrella with Songbird Habitat Models
USGS and Colorado State University scientists are using data and hierarchical community models to create predictive surfaces of bird use by habitat type and comparing these predictions to habitat prioritization derived from sage-grouse locations.Using Long-Term Remote Sensing and an Automated Reference Toolset To Estimate and Predict Post-Development Recovery Potential
USGS scientists are using a time-varying approach to monitor and predict recovery of sagebrush ecosystems following disturbance.Energy Development and Changing Land Uses
Applied research and integrated regional assessments emphasize spatially explicit analyses of ecosystem components affected by energy development and land-use change in the western United States. Topics include sagebrush-steppe ecology; sagebrush habitat assessments; the effets of human activities (including energy development, transportation, and recreation) on habitats and wildlife behavior...Hierarchical Sage-Grouse Population Assessment Tool: Building a Foundation for True Adaptive Management
USGS scientists and colleagues have designed a hierarchical monitoring framework for greater sage-grouse in Nevada, Wyoming, and northeastern California that will provide land managers with a monitoring and detection system to identify sage-grouse breeding locations (known as leks), clusters of leks, and populations where intervention may be necessary to sustain populations and to evaluate...Conservation of Sagebrush Ecosystems and Wildlife
Sagebrush ecosystems are diverse habitats found throughout western North America that support a variety of flora and fauna. Home to unique wildlife such as Sage-grouse, Sage Thrashers, Brewer's Sparrows, Ferruginous Hawks, and pygmy rabbits, these ecosystems have undergone intense changes since the time when millions of bison roamed the plains. European settlement and intense agricultural...Multi-scale Statewide Wyoming Greater Sage-grouse Trends Determined by Population Viability Analysis
USGS scientists and partners investigated sage-grouse population trends in Wyoming and at multiple spatial scales. - Data
Sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) scale of effect for Greater Sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) population trends in southwest Wyoming, USA 2003-2019
The distance within which populations respond to features in a landscape (scale of effect) can indicate how disturbance and management may affect wildlife. Using annual counts of male Greater Sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) attending 584 leks in southwest Wyoming (2003-2019) and estimates of sagebrush cover from the Rangeland Condition Monitoring Assessment and Projection (RCMAP), we usedTrends and a Targeted Annual Warning System for Greater Sage-Grouse in the Western United States (1960-2021)
Greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) are at the center of state and national land use policies largely because of their unique life-history traits as an ecological indicator for health of sagebrush ecosystems. These data represent an updated population trend analysis and Targeted Annual Warning System (TAWS) for state and federal land and wildlife managers to use best-available scienceU.S. range-wide spatial prediction layers of lek persistence probabilities for greater sage-grouse
This dataset contains two predictive lek (breeding site) persistence raster layers covering the U.S. greater sage-grouse distribution. In the United States, locations where males display and breed with females (i.e., leks) are often monitored annually by state wildlife agencies, providing valuable information on the persistence of birds in the surrounding areas. A U.S. range-wide lek database wasHierarchically nested and biologically relevant range-wide monitoring frameworks for greater sage-grouse, western United States
We produced 13 hierarchically nested cluster levels that reflect the results from developing a hierarchical monitoring framework for greater sage-grouse across the western United States. Polygons (clusters) within each cluster level group a population of sage-grouse leks (sage-grouse breeding grounds) and each level increasingly groups lek clusters from previous levels. We developed the hierarchicGreater sage-grouse population structure and connectivity data to inform the development of hierarchical population units (western United States)
We present five hierarchical demarcations of greater sage-grouse population structure, representing the spatial structure of populations which can exist due to differences in dispersal abilities, landscape configurations, and mating behavior. These demarcations represent Thiessen polygons of graph constructs (least-cost path [LCP] minimum spanning trees [MST; LCP-MST]) representing greater sage-grSagebrush recovery analyzed with a dynamic reference approach in southwestern Wyoming, USA 1985-2018
Identifying ecologically relevant reference sites is important for evaluating ecosystem recovery, but the relevance of references that are temporally static is unclear in the context of vast landscapes with disturbance and environmental contexts varying over space and time. This question is pertinent for landscapes dominated by sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) which face a suite of threats from disturbaA snapshot of stakeholder science needs related to drought in the Colorado River Basin
Stakeholder science needs were determined by reviewing more than 200 recently published literature items and web pages from Colorado River Basin (CRB) stakeholders. These stakeholder communications were used to characterize over 400 stakeholder science needs by reviewing their priorities, strategies, issues, missions, and concerns related to drought in the CRB. Members of the CRB Integrated SciencByArizona Water Science Center, California Water Science Center, Colorado Water Science Center, Fort Collins Science Center, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center, Nevada Water Science Center, New Mexico Water Science Center, Southwest Biological Science Center, Utah Water Science Center, Wyoming-Montana Water Science CenterSpatial layers generated by the Prioritizing Restoration of Sagebrush Ecosystems Tool (PReSET) applied in Southern Wyoming
All data layers included in this data release were created using the Prioritizing Restoration of Sagebrush Ecosystems Tool (PReSET) tool, which relies on spatial inputs on species distributions and likelihood of restoration success to select parcels for sagebrush restoration. The PReSET is a workflow that relies on the prioritizr package in program R to identify parcels for effective and meaningfuPredicted (1989-2015) and forecasted (2015-2114) estimates for rate of change and recovery of sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) following energy development in southwestern Wyoming, USA (ver. 2.0, January 2021)
In 'Predicted (1989-2015) and forecasted (2015-2114) rate of change and recovery of sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) following energy development in southwestern Wyoming, USA (ver. 2.0, January 2021)', we provide spatially- and temporally-explicit maps of predictions for the rate of change and time to recovery and percent recovery of sagebrush cover after 100 years (Monroe et al. 2020). The rasters begiPredicted (1989-2015) and forecasted (2015-2114) estimates for rate of change and recovery of sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) following energy development in southwestern Wyoming, USA
In 'Predicted (1989-2015) and forecasted (2015-2114) estimates for rate of change and recovery of sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) following energy development in southwestern Wyoming, USA', we provide spatially- and temporally-explicit maps of predictions for the rate of change and time to recovery and percent recovery of sagebrush cover after 100 years (Monroe et al. In Review). The rasters beginningSimulation to evaluate response of population models to annual trends in detectability
In 'Simulation to evaluate response of population models to annual trends in detectability', we provide data and R code necessary to create simulation scenarios and estimate trends with different population models (Monroe et al. 2019). Literature cited: Monroe, A. P., G. T. Wann, C. L. Aldridge, and P. S. Coates. 2019. The importance of simulation assumptions when evaluating detectability in p - Publications
Filter Total Items: 22
Colorado River Basin Actionable and Strategic Integrated Science and Technology Project—Science strategy
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) conducts a wide variety of science that improves understanding of droughts and their effects on ecosystems and society. This work includes data collection and monitoring of aquatic and terrestrial systems; assessment and analysis of patterns, trends, drivers, and impacts of drought; development and application of predictive models; and delivery of information andRange-wide population trend analysis for greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus)—Updated 1960–2021
Greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) are at the center of state and national land use policies largely because of their unique life-history traits as an ecological indicator for health of sagebrush ecosystems. This updated population trend analysis provides state and federal land and wildlife managers with best-available science to help guide current management and conservation plans aiSpatial scale selection for informing species conservation in a changing landscape
Identifying the relevant spatial scale at which species respond to features in a landscape (scale of effect) is a pressing research need as managers work to reduce biodiversity loss amid a variety of environmental challenges. Until recently, researchers often evaluated a subset of potential scales of effect inferred from previous studies in other locations, often based on different biological respDefining biologically relevant and hierarchically nested population units to inform wildlife management
Wildlife populations are increasingly affected by natural and anthropogenic changes that negatively alter biotic and abiotic processes at multiple spatiotemporal scales and therefore require increased wildlife management and conservation efforts. However, wildlife management boundaries frequently lack biological context and mechanisms to assess demographic data across the multiple spatiotemporal sU.S. Geological Survey Colorado River Basin Actionable and Strategic Integrated Science and Technology (ASIST)—Information Management Technology Plan
IntroductionMore than 840 publications, 575 data releases, and 330 project web pages from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) pertain to the Colorado River Basin. Limited interconnections between Colorado River Basin publications, data, and web pages restrict the ability to synthesize and interpret scientific resources. Currently, these pieces are spread across multiple isolated locations, internalDefining fine-scaled population structure among continuously distributed populations
Understanding wildlife population structure and connectivity can help managers identify conservation strategies, as structure can facilitate the study of population changes and habitat connectivity can provide information on dispersal and biodiversity. To facilitate the use of wildlife monitoring data for improved adaptive management, we developed a novel approach to define hierarchical tiers (mulAssessing vegetation recovery from energy development using a dynamic reference approach
Ecologically relevant references are useful for evaluating ecosystem recovery, but references that are temporally static may be less useful when environmental conditions and disturbances are spatially and temporally heterogeneous. This challenge is particularly acute for ecosystems dominated by sagebrush (Artemisia spp.), where communities may require decades to recover from disturbance. We demonsU.S. Geological Survey science for the Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative—2018 annual report
The Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative (WLCI) was established in 2007 as a collaborative interagency partnership to develop and implement science-based conservation actions. During the past 11 years, partners from U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), State and Federal land management agencies, universities, and the public have collaborated to implement a long-term (more than 10 years) science-basPrioritizing restoration areas to conserve multiple sagebrush-associated wildlife species
Strategic restoration of altered habitat is one method for addressing worldwide biodiversity declines. Within the sagebrush steppe of western North America, habitat degradation has been linked to declines in many species, making restoration a priority for managers; however, limited funding, spatiotemporal variation in restoration success, and the need to manage for diverse wildlife species make deSynthesizing and analyzing long-term monitoring data: A greater sage-grouse case study
Long-term monitoring of natural resources is imperative for increasing the understanding of ecosystem processes, services, and how to manage those ecosystems to maintain or improve function. Challenges with using these data may occur because methods of monitoring changed over time, multiple organizations collect and manage data differently, and monetary resources fluctuate, affecting many aspectsRange-wide greater sage-grouse hierarchical monitoring framework—Implications for defining population boundaries, trend estimation, and a targeted annual warning system
Incorporating spatial and temporal scales into greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) population monitoring strategies is challenging and rarely implemented. Sage-grouse populations experience fluctuations in abundance that lead to temporal oscillations, making trend estimation difficult. Accounting for stochasticity is critical to reliably estimate population trends and investigate variaPrioritizing landscapes for grassland bird conservation with hierarchical community models
ContextGiven widespread population declines of birds breeding in North American grasslands, management that sustains wildlife while supporting rancher livelihoods is needed. However, management effects vary across landscapes, and identifying areas with the greatest potential bird response to conservation is a pressing research need.ObjectivesWe developed a hierarchical modeling approach to study g - Software
popcluster: hierarchical population monitoring frameworks, Version 2.0.0
We developed a method to construct hierarchically nested and biologically relevant groupings of similar habitats associated with field surveys while considering structure/connectedness (movements between habitats). This approach can support mobile species using high fidelity sites where monitoring during surveys occurs, such as birthing grounds, breeding grounds, or stopovers/seasonal habitats forSpatial scale selection for greater sage-grouse population trends, Version 1.0.0
The distance within which populations respond to features in a landscape (scale of effect) can indicate how disturbance and management may affect wildlife. Using annual counts of male greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) attending 584 leks in southwest Wyoming (2003-2019) and estimates of sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) cover from a remote sensing product (Rigge et al., 2021; Monroe et al.,grsg_lekdb: Compiling and standardizing greater sage-grouse lek databases, version 1.1.0
Greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) are landscape-scale sagebrush obligate species and an important gamebird and iconic species of the western United States. They occupy the sagebrush biome in western North America, extending east of the Sierra Nevada/Cascade Mountain ranges to the western regions of the Great Plains of the United States. Sage-grouse are one of the most closely monitorlcp_centrality: Defining least-cost paths and graph theory centrality measures
We present software that creates least-cost path spanning trees, a least-cost path minimum spanning tree, and graph theory centrality measures. The software was developed to support identification of population structures--specifically, greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus), but also support other species or graph theory applications where least-cost paths are desired. We used habitat pagrsg_lekdb: Compiling and standardizing greater sage-grouse lek databases
Greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) are landscape-scale sagebrush obligate species and an important gamebird and iconic species of the western United States. They occupy the sagebrush biome in western North America, extending east of the Sierra Nevada/Cascade Mountain ranges to the western regions of the Great Plains of the United States. Sage-grouse are one of the most closely monitor - News