Charles B Yackulic, Ph.D.
Charles Yackulic is a research statistician with the Southwest Biological Science Center.
Dr. Yackulic's research primarily focuses on developing and fitting statistical models that integrate multiple data sources, link environmental drivers and management actions to population and ecosystem processes, and can be used to make near and long-term forecasting of system dynamics under different management alternatives. Areas of particular interest include species distribution dynamics, population dynamics, interspecific interactions, animal movement, food web dynamics and river metabolism.
Professional Experience
2011-present: Research Statistician, USGS Southwest Biological Science Center, Flagstaff, AZ
2010-2011: National Science Foundation (NSF) postdoc in Bioinformatics, USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, MD
2009-2010: Postdoctoral Researcher, Columbia University, NY
Education and Certifications
2009 - Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Columbia University, NY
2003 - MSc. in Environmental Change and Management, Oxford University, UK
2001 - B.A. in Biology (major) and Math (minor), Columbia University, NY
Science and Products
Changes in prey, turbidity, and competition reduce somatic growth and cause the collapse of a fish population
Brackish tidal marsh management and the ecology of a declining freshwater turtle
Remarkable response of native fishes to invasive trout suppression varies with trout density, temperature, and annual hydrology
A need for speed in Bayesian population models: A practical guide to marginalizing and recovering discrete latent states
Is your ad hoc model selection strategy affecting your multimodel inference?
Calcite precipitation in Lake Powell reduces alkalinity and total salt loading to the Lower Colorado River Basin
Effects of water temperature, turbidity, and rainbow trout on humpback chub population dynamics
Safety in numbers: Cost-effective endangered species management for viable populations
Migration triggers in a large herbivore: Galapagos giant tortoises navigating resources gradients on volcanoes
Incorporating social-ecological considerations into basin-wide responses to climate change in the Colorado River Basin
Effects of high flow events (and other factors) on Salmonids
The past and future roles of competition and habitat in the range‐wide occupancy dynamics of Northern Spotted Owls
Science and Products
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Changes in prey, turbidity, and competition reduce somatic growth and cause the collapse of a fish population
Somatic growth exerts strong control on patterns in the abundance of animal populations via effects on maturation, fecundity, and survival rates of juveniles and adults. In this paper, we quantify abiotic and biotic drivers of rainbow trout growth in the Colorado River, AZ, and the resulting impact on spatial and temporal variation in abundance. Inferences are based on approximately 10,000 observaAuthorsJosh Korman, Mike Yard, Maria C. Dzul, Charles Yackulic, Michael Dodrill, Bridget Deemer, Theodore KennedyBrackish tidal marsh management and the ecology of a declining freshwater turtle
Water management practices in tidal marshes of the San Francisco Bay Estuary, California are often aimed at increasing suitable habitat for threatened fish species and sport fishes. However, little is known about how best to manage habitat for other sensitive status species like the semiaquatic freshwater Western Pond Turtle (Actinemys marmorata) that is declining throughout much of its range. HerAuthorsMickey Agha, Charles Yackulic, Melissa K. Riley, Blair Peterson, Brian D ToddRemarkable response of native fishes to invasive trout suppression varies with trout density, temperature, and annual hydrology
Recovery of imperiled fishes can be achieved through suppression of invasives, but outcomes may vary with environmental conditions. We studied the response of imperiled desert fishes to an invasive brown (Salmo trutta) and rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) suppression program in a Colorado River tributary, with natural flow and longitudinal variation in thermal characteristics. We investigated tAuthorsBrian D Healy, Robert Schelly, Charles Yackulic, Emily Omana Smith, Phaedra E. BudyA need for speed in Bayesian population models: A practical guide to marginalizing and recovering discrete latent states
Bayesian population models can be exceedingly slow due, in part, to the choice to simulate discrete latent states. Here, we discuss an alternative approach to discrete latent states, marginalization, that forms the basis of maximum likelihood population models and is much faster. Our manuscript has two goals: 1) to introduce readers unfamiliar with marginalization to the concept and provide workedAuthorsCharles B. Yackulic, Michael J. Dodrill, Maria C. Dzul, Jamie S. Sanderlin, Janice A. ReidIs your ad hoc model selection strategy affecting your multimodel inference?
(Yackulic) 1. Ecologists routinely fit complex models with multiple parameters of interest, where hundreds or more competing models are plausible. To limit the number of fitted models, ecologists often define a model selection strategy composed of a series of stages in which certain features of a model are compared while other features are held constant. Defining these multi-stage strategies requAuthorsDana J. Morin, Charles B. Yackulic, James Diffendorfer, Damon B. Lesmeister, Clayton Nielsen, Janice Reid, Eric M. SchauberCalcite precipitation in Lake Powell reduces alkalinity and total salt loading to the Lower Colorado River Basin
Reservoirs can retain and transform carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and silica, but less is known about their effects on other biogeochemically relevant solutes. The salinization of freshwater ecosystems is a growing concern in many regions, and the role of reservoirs in salinity transport is an important research frontier. Here, we examine how a large desert southwest reservoir, Lake Powell, has alAuthorsBridget Deemer, Edward G. Stets, Charles B. YackulicEffects of water temperature, turbidity, and rainbow trout on humpback chub population dynamics
Humpback chub (Gila cypha Miller 1946), found only in the Colorado River Basin, was one of the first species to be given full protection under the Endangered Species Act of 1973. Habitat alterations, such as changes in flow and water temperature caused by dams, and the introduction of nonnative fish have contributed to population declines in humpback chub and other native fish. These habitat alterAuthorsCharles Yackulic, Julia B. HullSafety in numbers: Cost-effective endangered species management for viable populations
We develop a bioeconomic model to identify the cost-effective control of an invasive species (rain-bow trout) to achieve a population viability goal for an endangered species (humpback chub) in the Grand Canyon of the U.S. southwest. The population viability optimization problem is no-toriously difficult to solve due to a probabilistic restriction on joint outcomes (survival) over many periods. WeAuthorsPierce Donovan, Lucas S. Bair, Charles B. Yackulic, Michael R. SpringbornMigration triggers in a large herbivore: Galapagos giant tortoises navigating resources gradients on volcanoes
To understand how migratory behavior evolved and to predict the future of migratory species in the face of global environmental change it is important to quantify intra- and inter-individual variation in migratory behavior. Intra-individual variation includes behavioral response to changing environmental conditions and hence behavioral plasticity in the context of novel conditions. Inter-individuaAuthorsGuillaume Bastille-Rousseau, Charles B. Yackulic, James P. Gibbs, Jacqueline L. Friar, Freddy Cabrera, Stephen BlakeIncorporating social-ecological considerations into basin-wide responses to climate change in the Colorado River Basin
During the last 50 years, construction of dams in the western United States declined. This is partly because of increasing recognition of diverse and unintended social-ecological consequences of dams. Today, resource managers are recognizing the wide array of tradeoffs and are including a more diverse group of stakeholders in decision making for individual dams. Yet decisions at the regional scaleAuthorsLucas S. Bair, Charles B. Yackulic, John C. Schmidt, Denielle M. Perry, Christine J. Kirchhoff, Karletta Chief, Benedict J. ColombiEffects of high flow events (and other factors) on Salmonids
Spring and fall high flow events released by Glen Canyon Dam appear to affect rainbow and brown trout in different ways that also very geographically, however other environmental factors are likely to play as important, or more important. Teasing apart impacts is made difficult by the lack of experimental design and limited replication of spring high flow events.AuthorsCharles B. YackulicThe past and future roles of competition and habitat in the range‐wide occupancy dynamics of Northern Spotted Owls
Slow ecological processes challenge conservation. Short‐term variability can obscure the importance of slower processes that may ultimately determine the state of a system. Furthermore, management actions with slow responses can be hard to justify. One response to slow processes is to explicitly concentrate analysis on state dynamics. Here, we focus on identifying drivers of Northern Spotted Owl (AuthorsCharles B. Yackulic, Larissa L. Bailey, Catherine M. Dugger, Raymond J. Davis, Alan B. Franklin, Eric D. Forsman, Steven H. Ackers, Lawrence S. Andrews, Lowell V. Diller, Scott A. Gremel, Keith A. Hamm, Dale R. Herter, J. Mark Higley, Rob B. Horn, Christopher McCafferty, Janice A. Reid, Jeremy T. Rockweit, Stan G. Sovern - Web Tools
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