Brent Sigafus
Cooperative Research Unit Headquarters
Brent Sigafus grew up in Tucson and began working with the USGS as an undergraduate at the University of Arizona in 2000, creating a specimen inventory database in collaboration with the USGS and National Park Service for the National Park Service Inventory and Monitoring Program. After graduating with a B.S. in natural resources, he became a volunteer for the USGS, focusing on data collection for bullfrogs and other desert amphibians, as well as assisting with mapping bullfrog dispersal. He began working with the USGS full-time in 2001 as a University of Arizona, Research Specialist for herpetologist Cecil Schwalbe. In 2009 Brent switched from a University employee to a USGS employee as a Biologist allowing him to expand into other scientific and support roles.
These days, Brent wears many hats. As a biologist, working on the Amphibian Research and Monitoring Initiative (https://armi.usgs.gov/), he supports amphibian projects across Arizona. Most of his time now is spent as the Collateral Duty Safety Program Director for the Southwest Biological Science Center leading all aspects of safety support from instructing classes like Wilderness First Aid and Animal Behavior to implementation of procedures and policies to keep our workforce safe. On a Bureau level he is the Southwest and Northwest-Pacific Islands Regional Firearms Safety Manager where he instructs others on the safe handling of firearms for Defense Against Wild Animals and Specimen Collection.
Science and Products
Status of the threatened Chiricahua Leopard Frog and conservation challenges in Sonora, Mexico, with notes on other ranid frogs and non-native predators
Informing recovery in a human-transformed landscape: Drought-mediated coexistence alters population trends of an imperiled salamander and invasive predators
Survival estimates for reintroduced populations of the Chiricahua Leopard Frog (Lithobates chiricahuensis)
Distribution of the Sonora Tiger Salamander (Ambystoma mavortium stebbinsi) in Mexico
Spatial occupancy models for predicting metapopulation dynamics and viability following reintroduction
Modeling habitat connectivity to inform reintroductions: a case study with the Chiricahua Leopard Frog
Prevalence of the amphibian chytrid fungus (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis) at Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge, Arizona, USA
Science and Products
- Science
- Publications
Filter Total Items: 19
Status of the threatened Chiricahua Leopard Frog and conservation challenges in Sonora, Mexico, with notes on other ranid frogs and non-native predators
In North America, ranid frogs (Ranidae) have experienced larger declines than any other amphibian family, particularly species native to the southwestern USA and adjacent Mexico; however, our knowledge of their conservation status and threats is limited in Mexico. We assessed the status of the federally listed as threatened (USA) Chiricahua Leopard Frog (Lithobates chiricahuensis) in Sonora, MexicAuthorsJames C. Rorabaugh, Blake R. Hossack, Erin L. Muths, Brent H. Sigafus, Julio A. Lemos-EspinalInforming recovery in a human-transformed landscape: Drought-mediated coexistence alters population trends of an imperiled salamander and invasive predators
Understanding the additive or interactive threats of habitat transformation and invasive species is critical for conservation, especially where climate change is expected to increase the severity or frequency of drought. In the arid southwestern USA, this combination of stressors has caused widespread declines of native aquatic and semi-aquatic species. Achieving resilience to drought and other efAuthorsBlake R. Hossack, R. Ken Honeycutt, Brent H. Sigafus, Erin L. Muths, Catherine L. Crawford, Thomas R. Jones, Jeff A. Sorensen, James C. Rorabaugh, Thierry ChambertSurvival estimates for reintroduced populations of the Chiricahua Leopard Frog (Lithobates chiricahuensis)
Global amphibian declines have been attributed to a number of factors including disease, invasive species, habitat degradation, and climate change. Reintroduction is one management action that is commonly used with the goal of recovering imperiled species. The success of reintroductions varies widely, and evaluating their efficacy requires estimates of population viability metrics, such as underlyAuthorsPaige E. Howell, Blake R. Hossack, Erin L. Muths, Brent H. Sigafus, Richard B. ChandlerDistribution of the Sonora Tiger Salamander (Ambystoma mavortium stebbinsi) in Mexico
The Sonoran Tiger Salamander (Ambystoma mavortium stebbinsi Lowe, 1954) was listed as federally endangered in the USA in 1997 (USFWS 1997). In the USA, the distribution of A. mavortium stebbinsi is limited to the San Rafael Valley (approximately 567 km2), between the Sierra San Antonio (called the Patagonia Mountains in Arizona) and Huachuca Mountains, and south of the Canelo Hills, Arizona (Fig.AuthorsBlake R. Hossack, Erin L. Muths, James C. Rorabaugh, Julio A. Lemos Espinal, Brent H. Sigafus, Thierry A. Chambert, Gerardo Carreon Arroyo, David Hurtado Felix, Daniel Toyos Martinez, Thomas R. JonesSpatial occupancy models for predicting metapopulation dynamics and viability following reintroduction
The reintroduction of a species into its historic range is a critical component of conservation programmes designed to restore extirpated metapopulations. However, many reintroduction efforts fail, and the lack of rigorous monitoring programmes and statistical models have prevented a general understanding of the factors affecting metapopulation viability following reintroduction. Spatially explicAuthorsRichard B. Chandler, Erin L. Muths, Brent H. Sigafus, Cecil R. Schwalbe, Christopher J. Jarchow, Blake R. HossackModeling habitat connectivity to inform reintroductions: a case study with the Chiricahua Leopard Frog
Managing species with intensive tools such as reintroduction may focus on single sites or entire landscapes. For vagile species, long-term persistence will require colonization and establishment in neighboring habitats. Therefore, both suitable colonization sites and suitable dispersal corridors between sites are required. Assessment of landscapes for both requirements can contribute to ranking anAuthorsChristopher J. Jarchow, Blake R. Hossack, Brent H. Sigafus, Cecil R. Schwalbe, Erin L. MuthsPrevalence of the amphibian chytrid fungus (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis) at Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge, Arizona, USA
Information on disease presence can be of use to natural resource managers, especially in areas supporting threatened and endangered species that occur coincidentally with species that are suspected vectors for disease. Ad hoc reports may be of limited utility (Muths et al. 2009), but a general sense of pathogen presence (or absence) can inform management directed at T&E species, especially in regAuthorsBrent H. Sigafus, Blake R. Hossack, Erin L. Muths, Cecil R. Schwalbe - News