Catherine Jarnevich, Ph.D.
Biography
Catherine began working for the USGS while obtaining her doctorate in ecology in 2000. She gained skills in integrating disparate datasets of species’ location data and using these to generate spatially explicit models of species occurrence and abundance. Since that time she has developed a research program through the USGS Resource for Advanced Modeling to assist multiple agencies and groups with species distributions, focusing on invasive species. Catherine’s current research involves the application of habitat suitability models to answer different applied research and management questions for various species across a range of taxa and spatial scales. She has also been working with spatially explicit state and transition modeling to inform efficient landscape scale invasive plant management.
Science and Products
Modeling the distributions of tegu lizards in native and potential invasive ranges
Invasive reptilian predators can have substantial impacts on native species and ecosystems. Tegu lizards are widely distributed in South America east of the Andes, and are popular in the international live animal trade. Two species are established in Florida (U.S.A.) - Salvator merianae (Argentine black and white tegu) and Tupinambis teguixin...
Jarnevich, Catherine S.; Hayes, Mark; Fitzgerald, Lee A.; Yackel, Amy; Falk, Bryan; Collier, Michelle; Bonewell, Lea; Klug, Page; Naretto, Sergio; Reed, Robert A tale of two wildfires; testing detection and prediction of invasive species distributions using models fit with topographic and spectral indices
ContextDeveloping species distribution models (SDMs) to detect invasive species cover and evaluate habitat suitability are high priorities for land managers.ObjectivesWe tested SDMs fit with different variable combinations to provide guidelines for future invasive species model development based on transferability between landscapes....
West, Amanda M.; Evangelista, Paul H.; Jarnevich, Catherine S.; Shulte, Darin Forecasting an invasive species’ distribution with global distribution data, local data, and physiological information
Understanding invasive species distributions and potential invasions often requires broad‐scale information on the environmental tolerances of the species. Further, resource managers are often faced with knowing these broad‐scale relationships as well as nuanced environmental factors related to their landscape that influence where an invasive...
Jarnevich, Catherine S.; Young, Nicholas E.; Talbert, Marian; Talbert, Colin Misleading prioritizations from modelling range shifts under climate change
AimConservation planning requires the prioritization of a subset of taxa and geographical locations to focus monitoring and management efforts. Integration of the threats and opportunities posed by climate change often relies on predictions from species distribution models, particularly for assessments of vulnerability or invasion risk for...
Sofaer, Helen; Jarnevich, Catherine S.; Flather, Curtis H. Iterative near-term ecological forecasting: Needs, opportunities, and challenges
Two foundational questions about sustainability are “How are ecosystems and the services they provide going to change in the future?” and “How do human decisions affect these trajectories?” Answering these questions requires an ability to forecast ecological processes. Unfortunately, most ecological forecasts focus on centennial-scale climate...
Dietze, Mike; Fox, Andrew; Beck-Johnson, Lindsay; Betancourt, Julio L.; Hooten, Mevin; Jarnevich, Catherine S.; Keitt, Timothy H.; Kenney, Melissa A.; Laney, Christine M.; Larsen, Laurel G.; Loescher, Henry W.; Lunch, Claire K.; Pijanowski, Bryan; Randerson, James T.; Read, Emily; Tredennick, Andrew T.; Vargas, Rodrigo; Weathers, Kathleen C.; White, Ethan P. Comparison of four modeling tools for the prediction of potential distribution for non-indigenous weeds in the United States
This study compares four models for predicting the potential distribution of non-indigenous weed species in the conterminous U.S. The comparison focused on evaluating modeling tools and protocols as currently used for weed risk assessment or for predicting the potential distribution of invasive weeds. We used six weed species (three highly...
Magarey, Roger; Newton, Leslie; Hong, Seung C.; Takeuchi, Yu; Christie, Dave; Jarnevich, Catherine S.; Kohl, Lisa; Damus, Martin; Higgins, Steven I.; Miller, Leah; Castro, Karen; West, Amanda M.; Hastings, John; Cook, Gericke; Kartesz, John; Koop, Anthony Minimizing effects of methodological decisions on interpretation and prediction in species distribution studies: An example with background selection
Evaluating the conditions where a species can persist is an important question in ecology both to understand tolerances of organisms and to predict distributions across landscapes. Presence data combined with background or pseudo-absence locations are commonly used with species distribution modeling to develop these relationships. However, there...
Jarnevich, Catherine S.; Talbert, Marian; Morisette, Jeffrey T.; Aldridge, Cameron L.; Brown, Cynthia; Kumar, Sunil; Manier, Daniel J.; Talbert, Colin; Holcombe, Tracy R. Response: The geographic distribution of Ixodes scapularis (Acari: Ixodidae) revisited: The importance of assumptions about error balance
No abstract available.
Hahn, Micah; Jarnevich, Catherine S.; Monaghan, Andrew J.; Eisen, Rebecca J. Crossing boundaries in a collaborative modeling workspace
There is substantial literature on the importance of bridging across disciplinary and science–management boundaries. One of the ways commonly suggested to cross boundaries is for participants from both sides of the boundary to jointly produce information (i.e., knowledge co-production). But simply providing tools or bringing people together in the...
Morisette, Jeffrey T.; Cravens, Amanda E.; Miller, Brian W.; Talbert, Marian; Talbert, Colin; Jarnevich, Catherine S.; Fink, Michelle; Decker, Karin; Odell, Eric Using multi-date satellite imagery to monitor invasive grass species distribution in post-wildfire landscapes: An iterative, adaptable approach that employs open-source data and software
Among the most pressing concerns of land managers in post-wildfire landscapes are the establishment and spread of invasive species. Land managers need accurate maps of invasive species cover for targeted management post-disturbance that are easily transferable across space and time. In this study, we sought to develop an iterative, replicable...
West, Amanda M.; Evangelista, Paul H.; Jarnevich, Catherine S.; Kumar, Sunil; Swallow, Aaron; Luizza, Matthew; Chignell, Steve Accounting for sampling patterns reverses the relative importance of trade and climate for the global sharing of exotic plants
AimThe distributions of exotic species reflect patterns of human-mediated dispersal, species climatic tolerances and a suite of other biotic and abiotic factors. The relative importance of each of these factors will shape how the spread of exotic species is affected by ongoing economic globalization and climate change. However, patterns of trade...
Sofaer, Helen; Jarnevich, Catherine S. Designing ecological climate change impact assessments to reflect key climatic drivers
Identifying the climatic drivers of an ecological system is a key step in assessing its vulnerability to climate change. The climatic dimensions to which a species or system is most sensitive – such as means or extremes – can guide methodological decisions for projections of ecological impacts and vulnerabilities. However, scientific workflows for...
Sofaer, Helen; Barsugli, Joseph J.; Jarnevich, Catherine S.; Abatzoglou, John T.; Talbert, Marian; Miller, Brian W.; Morisette, Jeffrey T.