Catherine S. Jarnevich, PhD
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.
Catherine has developed a research program to assist multiple agencies and groups with species distributions, focusing on invasive species. Her 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.
Professional Experience
Research ecologist, Fort Collins Science Center, U. S. Geological Survey, Ft. Collins, CO: 2011 - present
Ecologist, Fort Collins Science Center, U. S. Geological Survey, Ft. Collins, CO: 2000 - 2011
Education and Certifications
Ph.D., Colorado State University (Ecology), 2004
B.S., University of New Mexico, NM (Double major: Biology and Anthropology), 1998
Science and Products
Designing ecological climate change impact assessments to reflect key climatic drivers
Accounting for sampling patterns reverses the relative importance of trade and climate for the global sharing of exotic plants
Ecology and space: A case study in mapping harmful invasive species
Evaluating simplistic methods to understand current distributions and forecast distribution changes under climate change scenarios: An example with coypu (Myocastor coypus)
Integrating remote sensing with species distribution models; Mapping tamarisk invasions using the Software for Assisted Habitat Modeling (SAHM)
Assessing range-wide habitat suitability for the Lesser Prairie-Chicken
Regional modeling of large wildfires under current and potential future climates in Colorado and Wyoming, USA
Integrating local pastoral knowledge, participatory mapping, and species distribution modeling for risk assessment of invasive rubber vine (Cryptostegia grandiflora) in Ethiopia’s Afar region
Modeling suitable habitat of invasive red lionfish Pterois volitans (Linnaeus, 1758) in North and South America’s coastal waters
Integrating subsistence practice and species distribution modeling: assessing invasive elodea’s potential impact on Native Alaskan subsistence of Chinook salmon and whitefish
Iterative ecological forecasting: Needs, opportunities, and challenges
Modeling the geographic distribution of Ixodes scapularis and Ixodes pacificus (Acari: Ixodidae) in the contiguous United States
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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 combining climate projections with ecological modeAuthorsHelen Sofaer, Joseph J. Barsugli, Catherine S. Jarnevich, John T. Abatzoglou, Marian Talbert, Brian W. Miller, Jeffrey T. MorisetteAccounting 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 may be correlated with variation in scientific samplAuthorsHelen Sofaer, Catherine S. JarnevichEcology and space: A case study in mapping harmful invasive species
The establishment and invasion of non-native plant species have the ability to alter the composition of native species and functioning of ecological systems with financial costs resulting from mitigation and loss of ecological services. Spatially documenting invasions has applications for management and theory, but the utility of maps is challenged by availability and uncertainty of data, and theAuthorsDavid T. Barnett, Catherine S. Jarnevich, Geneva W. Chong, Thomas J. Stohlgren, Sunil Kumar, Tracy R. HolcombeEvaluating simplistic methods to understand current distributions and forecast distribution changes under climate change scenarios: An example with coypu (Myocastor coypus)
Invasive species provide a unique opportunity to evaluate factors controlling biogeographic distributions; we can consider introduction success as an experiment testing suitability of environmental conditions. Predicting potential distributions of spreading species is not easy, and forecasting potential distributions with changing climate is even more difficult. Using the globally invasive coypu (AuthorsCatherine S. Jarnevich, Nicholas E. Young, Trevor R. Sheffels, Jacoby Carter, Mark D. Systma, Colin TalbertIntegrating remote sensing with species distribution models; Mapping tamarisk invasions using the Software for Assisted Habitat Modeling (SAHM)
Early detection of invasive plant species is vital for the management of natural resources and protection of ecosystem processes. The use of satellite remote sensing for mapping the distribution of invasive plants is becoming more common, however conventional imaging software and classification methods have been shown to be unreliable. In this study, we test and evaluate the use of five species diAuthorsAmanda M. West, Paul H. Evangelista, Catherine S. Jarnevich, Nicholas E. Young, Thomas J. Stohlgren, Colin Talbert, Marian Talbert, Jeffrey Morisette, Ryan AndersonAssessing range-wide habitat suitability for the Lesser Prairie-Chicken
Population declines of many wildlife species have been linked to habitat loss incurred through land-use change. Incorporation of conservation planning into development planning may mitigate these impacts. The threatened Lesser Prairie-Chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus) is experiencing loss of native habitat and high levels of energy development across its multijurisdictional range. Our goal wasAuthorsCatherine S. Jarnevich, Tracy R. Holcombe, Blake A. Grisham, Jennifer M. Timmer, Clint W. Boal, Matthew Butler, James C. Pitman, Sean Kyle, David Klute, Grant M. Beauprez, Allan Janus, William E. Van PeltRegional modeling of large wildfires under current and potential future climates in Colorado and Wyoming, USA
Regional analysis of large wildfire potential given climate change scenarios is crucial to understanding areas most at risk in the future, yet wildfire models are not often developed and tested at this spatial scale. We fit three historical climate suitability models for large wildfires (i.e. ≥ 400 ha) in Colorado andWyoming using topography and decadal climate averages corresponding to wildfire oAuthorsAmanda M. West, Sunil Kumar, Catherine S. JarnevichIntegrating local pastoral knowledge, participatory mapping, and species distribution modeling for risk assessment of invasive rubber vine (Cryptostegia grandiflora) in Ethiopia’s Afar region
The threats posed by invasive plants span ecosystems and economies worldwide. Local knowledge of biological invasions has proven beneficial for invasive species research, but to date no work has integrated this knowledge with species distribution modeling for invasion risk assessments. In this study, we integrated pastoral knowledge with Maxent modeling to assess the suitable habitat and potentialAuthorsMatthew Luizza, Tewodros Wakie, Paul Evangelista, Catherine S. JarnevichModeling suitable habitat of invasive red lionfish Pterois volitans (Linnaeus, 1758) in North and South America’s coastal waters
We used two common correlative species-distribution models to predict suitable habitat of invasive red lionfish Pterois volitans (Linnaeus, 1758) in the western Atlantic and eastern Pacific Oceans. The Generalized Linear Model (GLM) and the Maximum Entropy (Maxent) model were applied using the Software for Assisted Habitat Modeling. We compared models developed using native occurrences, using nonAuthorsPaul H. Evangelista, Nicholas E. Young, Pamela J. Schofield, Catherine S. JarnevichIntegrating subsistence practice and species distribution modeling: assessing invasive elodea’s potential impact on Native Alaskan subsistence of Chinook salmon and whitefish
Alaska has one of the most rapidly changing climates on earth and is experiencing an accelerated rate of human disturbance, including resource extraction and transportation infrastructure development. Combined, these factors increase the state’s vulnerability to biological invasion, which can have acute negative impacts on ecological integrity and subsistence practices. Of growing concern is the sAuthorsMatthew Luizza, Paul Evangelista, Catherine S. Jarnevich, Amanda M. West, Heather StewartIterative ecological forecasting: Needs, opportunities, and challenges
A fundamental environmental challenge facing humanity in the 21st century and beyond is predicting the impacts of global environmental change. This challenge is complicated by the fact that we live on a non-stationary, unreplicated planet that is rapidly moving outside the envelope of natural variability into an historical non-analog world. In other words, while the past helps inform us about howAuthorsMike Dietze, Andrew Fox, Julio L. Betancourt, Mevin Hooten, Catherine S. Jarnevich, Tim H. Keitt, Melissa Kenney, Christine Laney, Laurel Larsen, Henry W. Loescher, Claire Lunch, Bryan Pijanowski, James T. Randerson, Emily K. Read, Andrew T. Tredennick, Kathleen Weathers, Ethan P. WhiteModeling the geographic distribution of Ixodes scapularis and Ixodes pacificus (Acari: Ixodidae) in the contiguous United States
In addition to serving as vectors of several other human pathogens, the black-legged tick, Ixodes scapularis Say, and western black-legged tick, Ixodes pacificus Cooley and Kohls, are the primary vectors of the spirochete (Borrelia burgdorferi ) that causes Lyme disease, the most common vector-borne disease in the United States. Over the past two decades, the geographic range of I. pacificus has cAuthorsMicah Hahn, Catherine S. Jarnevich, Andrew J. Monaghan, Rebecca J. Eisen - Software
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