Dr. Cameron Aldridge is a research ecologist at the Fort Collins Science Center. Dr. Aldridge's work focuses on the conservation and management of sage-grouse and their habitats.
Dr. Cameron Aldridge is a Research Ecologist with the US Geological Survey, based at the Fort Collins Science Center, who works in collaboration with the Natural Resource Ecology Lab at Colorado State University. He is also an Affiliate Research Scientist at NREL and an Affiliate Professor with ESS and GDPE.
His research is diverse, but he is best recognized as one of the foremost sage-grouse ecologists in the world. He has a large research program focused on understanding the conservation and management of Greater and Gunnison Sage-grouse and their habitats. His research team includes both undergraduate and graduate students, research associates, post-doctoral fellows, and research scientists, all of which collaborate to understand why sage-grouse populations have declined, what major factors affect resource conditions and quality for sage-grouse, what drives population dynamics. The Aldridge Lab works closely on these issues with state and federal partners, as well as NGOs, conservation groups and industry.
More broadly, research in the Aldridge Lab involves understanding animal-habitat relationships, with an emphasis on conservation ecology and population demography. Researchers in the lab are addressing the effects of energy development, land-use change, and climate change on conserving wildlife populations, their habitats, and the ecosystems they inhabit. Species that we are currently studying include songbirds and small mammals, snakes and lizards, and grouse, such as white-tailed ptarmigan and sage-grouse. We also work with plant communities and exotic invasive plants, understanding how external drivers such as climate, grazing and energy development affect plant communities. We work across spatial scales, and use statistical and empirical modeling to answer these research and conservation questions, most of which have direct applications for conservation and management of the species and their habitats. Most of the research has direct applications for conservation and management of the species, most notably sage-grouse, and their habitats.
Science and Products
Energy Development and Changing Land Uses
Conservation of Sagebrush Ecosystems and Wildlife
Incorporating Genetic Data into Spatially-explicit Population Viability Models for Gunnison Sage-grouse
Landscape Genetics of Sage Grouse
The Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative (WLCI)
Tools for Managing and Monitoring Sage Grouse
Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative: Inventory and Long-Term Monitoring
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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...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...Incorporating Genetic Data into Spatially-explicit Population Viability Models for Gunnison Sage-grouse
This goal of this study is to develop a spatially explicit habitat-population modeling framework to assess the viability of Gunnison Sage-grouse and each of the seven populations (Gunnison Basin and six satellite populations).Landscape Genetics of Sage Grouse
Greater and Gunnison sage-grouse populations are species considered for listing under the Endangered Species Act of 1973. Loss and fragmentation of sagebrush habitats are among the primary causes of decline in these species. A fundamental need for species conservation is to identify and subsequently maintain a set of connected populations. Landscape genetics combines the fields of population...The Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative (WLCI)
The Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative (WLCI) addresses effects of land-use and climate changes on Southwest Wyoming’s natural resources. In partnership with twelve Federal, State, and local natural resource agencies, and non-governmental organizations– FORT and ten other USGS centers are conducting dozens of integrated science projects to assess the status of Southwest Wyoming’s natural...Tools for Managing and Monitoring Sage Grouse
To better understand how land-use changes are affecting greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus), FORT is collaborating with USGS centers FRESC, GECSC, WERC, and EROS; the BLM; Colorado State University; and the WLCI to develop information and tools for managing and monitoring grouse.Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative: Inventory and Long-Term Monitoring
The Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative (WLCI) addresses effects of land-use and climate changes on Southwest Wyoming’s natural resources. In partnership with twelve Federal, State, and local natural resource agencies, and non-governmental organizations– FORT and ten other USGS centers are conducting dozens of integrated science projects to assess the status of Southwest Wyoming’s natural... - Data
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