Caleb P. Roberts, PhD
Unit Leader - Arkansas Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit
Dr. Roberts’ research centers on how ecological resilience across populations, communities, landscapes, and continents manifests or erodes and how resilience can be maintained through management. Geographically, Dr. Roberts research covers Arkansas, the Great Plains, and the North American continent. Taxonomically, Dr. Roberts primarily uses birds, insects, mammals, and plants in his research. Topically, his research covers invasive species management in terms of early detection and rapid response, landscape ecology, community ecology, fire ecology, examining logic behind natural resources policies, effects of climate change, and quantifying outcomes of management and restoration actions. To conduct his research, Dr. Roberts uses a variety of spatial analyses, data integration approaches, multivariate statistics, nonlinear modeling, and both Bayesian and frequentist statistical approaches. Dr. Roberts teaches two courses—Invasion Ecology and Ecosystem Monitoring and Assessment. Dr. Roberts works closely with cooperators (Arkansas Game & Fish Commission, US Fish & Wildlife Service) as well as other state and national partners (Natural Resources Conservation Service, Sage Grouse Initiative, Quail Forever, Working Lands for Wildlife).
Professional Experience
Unit Leader, Arkansas Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, 2024
Assistant Unit Leader, Arkansas Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, 2020-2024
Education and Certifications
PhD, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2015
MS, Texas Tech University, 2013
BS, Murray State University, 2006
Science and Products
Risk of invasive waterfowl interaction with poultry production: Understanding potential for avian pathogen transmission via species distribution models
Recent outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza have devastated poultry production across the United States, with more than 77 million birds culled in 2022–2024 alone. Wild waterfowl, including various invasive species, host numerous pathogens, including highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAIV), and have been implicated as catalysts of disease outbreaks among native fauna and domestic
Authors
Reilly T. Jackson, Percival M. Marshall, Chris Burkhart, Julia Schneck, Grant Kelly, Caleb Powell Roberts
Declining pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) population productivity caused by woody encroachment and oil and gas development
Conservation is increasingly focused on preventing losses in species’ populations before they occur. Tracking changes in demographic parameters that can impact a population’s resilience in response to drivers of global change can support early conservation efforts. We assessed trends in population productivity (late summer juveniles per 100 females) relative to drivers of global change in 40 prong
Authors
Victoria M. Donovan, Jeffrey L. Beck, Carissa L. Wonkka, Caleb Powell Roberts, Craig R. Allen, Dirac Twidwell
Scenario planning and multispecies occupancy models reveal positive avian responses to restoration of afforested woodlands
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 Arkansas, U.
Authors
Caleb Powell Roberts, Jeffrey W. Doser, Lauren L. Berry, Allison Fowler, Percival M. Marshall, Christopher Middaugh, Karen Rowe, Jessica M. Schmit, Michael Shaw, Kenneth Wilson
Herbaceous production lost to tree encroachment in United States rangelands
Rangelands of the United States provide ecosystem services that benefit society and rural economies. Native tree encroachment is often overlooked as a primary threat to rangelands due to the slow pace of tree cover expansion and the positive public perception of trees. Still, tree encroachment fragments these landscapes and reduces herbaceous production, thereby threatening habitat quality for gra
Authors
S.L. Morford, B.W. Allred, Dirac Twidwell, M.O. Jones, J.D. Maestas, Caleb Powell Roberts, D.E. Naugle
Next-generation technologies unlock new possibilities to track rangeland productivity and quantify multi-scale conservation outcomes
Historically, relying on plot-level inventories impeded our ability to quantify large-scale change in plant biomass, a key indicator of conservation practice outcomes in rangeland systems. Recent technological advances enable assessment at scales appropriate to inform management by providing spatially comprehensive estimates of productivity that are partitioned by plant functional group across all
Authors
Caleb Powell Roberts, David Naugle, Brady W. Allred, Victoria M. Donovan, Dillon T. Fogarty, Matthew O. Jones, Jeremy D. Maestas, Andrew C. Olsen, Dirac Twidwell
Tracking spatial regimes in animal communities: Implications for resilience-based management
Spatial regimes (the spatial extents of ecological states) exhibit strong spatiotemporal order as they expand or contract in response to retreating or encroaching adjacent spatial regimes (e.g., woody plant invasion of grasslands) and human management (e.g., fire treatments). New methods enable tracking spatial regime boundaries via vegetation landcover data, and this approach is being used for st
Authors
Caleb Powell Roberts, Daniel R. Uden, Craig R. Allen, David G. Angeler, Larkin A. Powell, Brady W Allred, Matthew O. Jones, Jeremy D Maestas, Dirac Twidwell
Large-scale fire management restores grassland bird richness for a private lands ecoregion
Of all terrestrial biomes, grasslands are losing the most biodiversity the most rapidly, so there is a critical need to document and learn from large-scale restoration successes.In the Loess Canyons ecoregion of the Great Plains, USA, an association of private ranchers and natural resource agencies has led a multi-decadal, ecoregion-scale initiative to combat the loss of grasslands to woody plant
Authors
Caleb Powell Roberts, R. Scholtz, D.T. Fogarty, D. Twidwell, T.L. Walker
Nine-banded armadillo (Dasyrus novemcinctus) activity patterns are influenced by human activity
As the human footprint upon the landscape expands, wildlife seeking to avoid human contact are losing the option of altering their spatial distribution and instead are shifting their daily activity patterns to be active at different times than humans. In this study, we used game cameras to evaluate how human development and activity were related to the daily activity patterns of the nine-banded ar
Authors
Brett Alexander DeGregorio, C. Gale, E. V. Lassiter, A. Massey, Caleb Powell Roberts, J. Veon
Science and Products
Risk of invasive waterfowl interaction with poultry production: Understanding potential for avian pathogen transmission via species distribution models
Recent outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza have devastated poultry production across the United States, with more than 77 million birds culled in 2022–2024 alone. Wild waterfowl, including various invasive species, host numerous pathogens, including highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAIV), and have been implicated as catalysts of disease outbreaks among native fauna and domestic
Authors
Reilly T. Jackson, Percival M. Marshall, Chris Burkhart, Julia Schneck, Grant Kelly, Caleb Powell Roberts
Declining pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) population productivity caused by woody encroachment and oil and gas development
Conservation is increasingly focused on preventing losses in species’ populations before they occur. Tracking changes in demographic parameters that can impact a population’s resilience in response to drivers of global change can support early conservation efforts. We assessed trends in population productivity (late summer juveniles per 100 females) relative to drivers of global change in 40 prong
Authors
Victoria M. Donovan, Jeffrey L. Beck, Carissa L. Wonkka, Caleb Powell Roberts, Craig R. Allen, Dirac Twidwell
Scenario planning and multispecies occupancy models reveal positive avian responses to restoration of afforested woodlands
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 Arkansas, U.
Authors
Caleb Powell Roberts, Jeffrey W. Doser, Lauren L. Berry, Allison Fowler, Percival M. Marshall, Christopher Middaugh, Karen Rowe, Jessica M. Schmit, Michael Shaw, Kenneth Wilson
Herbaceous production lost to tree encroachment in United States rangelands
Rangelands of the United States provide ecosystem services that benefit society and rural economies. Native tree encroachment is often overlooked as a primary threat to rangelands due to the slow pace of tree cover expansion and the positive public perception of trees. Still, tree encroachment fragments these landscapes and reduces herbaceous production, thereby threatening habitat quality for gra
Authors
S.L. Morford, B.W. Allred, Dirac Twidwell, M.O. Jones, J.D. Maestas, Caleb Powell Roberts, D.E. Naugle
Next-generation technologies unlock new possibilities to track rangeland productivity and quantify multi-scale conservation outcomes
Historically, relying on plot-level inventories impeded our ability to quantify large-scale change in plant biomass, a key indicator of conservation practice outcomes in rangeland systems. Recent technological advances enable assessment at scales appropriate to inform management by providing spatially comprehensive estimates of productivity that are partitioned by plant functional group across all
Authors
Caleb Powell Roberts, David Naugle, Brady W. Allred, Victoria M. Donovan, Dillon T. Fogarty, Matthew O. Jones, Jeremy D. Maestas, Andrew C. Olsen, Dirac Twidwell
Tracking spatial regimes in animal communities: Implications for resilience-based management
Spatial regimes (the spatial extents of ecological states) exhibit strong spatiotemporal order as they expand or contract in response to retreating or encroaching adjacent spatial regimes (e.g., woody plant invasion of grasslands) and human management (e.g., fire treatments). New methods enable tracking spatial regime boundaries via vegetation landcover data, and this approach is being used for st
Authors
Caleb Powell Roberts, Daniel R. Uden, Craig R. Allen, David G. Angeler, Larkin A. Powell, Brady W Allred, Matthew O. Jones, Jeremy D Maestas, Dirac Twidwell
Large-scale fire management restores grassland bird richness for a private lands ecoregion
Of all terrestrial biomes, grasslands are losing the most biodiversity the most rapidly, so there is a critical need to document and learn from large-scale restoration successes.In the Loess Canyons ecoregion of the Great Plains, USA, an association of private ranchers and natural resource agencies has led a multi-decadal, ecoregion-scale initiative to combat the loss of grasslands to woody plant
Authors
Caleb Powell Roberts, R. Scholtz, D.T. Fogarty, D. Twidwell, T.L. Walker
Nine-banded armadillo (Dasyrus novemcinctus) activity patterns are influenced by human activity
As the human footprint upon the landscape expands, wildlife seeking to avoid human contact are losing the option of altering their spatial distribution and instead are shifting their daily activity patterns to be active at different times than humans. In this study, we used game cameras to evaluate how human development and activity were related to the daily activity patterns of the nine-banded ar
Authors
Brett Alexander DeGregorio, C. Gale, E. V. Lassiter, A. Massey, Caleb Powell Roberts, J. Veon