Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Christopher "Digger" Anthony

I am a Wildlife Biologist at the USGS Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center. My research broadly focuses on investigating the responses of terrestrial wildlife populations and their habitat to disturbances within the sagebrush biome of the western U.S.

I work with a research team of plant and restoration ecologists to assess the effectiveness of land treatments after wildfire. I primarily evaluate how variation in cattle grazing and exotic annual grasses effects restoration interventions and ecological trajectories post-fire. Additionally, I investigate how restoration treatments influence habitat use and population dynamics of wildlife species such as the Greater Sage-grouse.

 

Professional Experience

  • 2020 - Present: Wildlife Biologist, U.S. Geological Survey, Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center, Boise, ID

  • 2016 - 2020: Graduate Research Assistant, Oregon Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 

  • 2010 - 2016: Wildlife Biologist, Bureau of Land Management, Prineville, OR 

  • 2013 - 2015: Graduate Teaching Assistant, Department of Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 

  • 2007 - 2010: Natural Resource Specialist, Bureau of Land Management, Prineville, OR 

     

Education and Certifications

  • Ph.D., Wildlife Science, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR (2020)

  • M.S., Wildlife Science, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR (2016)

  • B.S., Environmental Studies, The Evergreen State College, Olympia, WA (2007)

     

Science and Products

If you are unable to access or download a product, email fresc_outreach@usgs.gov a request, including the full citation, or call (541) 750-1030.

Does post-fire recovery of native grasses across abiotic-stress and invasive-grass gradients match theoretical predictions, in sagebrush steppe?

Interactions among species can strongly affect how plant communities reassemble after disturbances, and variability among native and invasive species across environmental gradients must be known in order to manage plant-community recovery. The stress-gradient hypothesis (SGH) predicts species interactions will be more positive in abiotically stressful conditions and conversely, more negative in be
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center

Integrated rangeland fire management strategy actionable science plan completion assessment — Sagebrush and sage-grouse topic, 2015–20

Loss and degradation of sagebrush rangelands due to an accelerated invasive annual grass-wildfire cycle and other stressors are significant management, conservation, and economic issues in the western United States. These sagebrush rangelands comprise a unique biome spanning 11 states, support over 350 wildlife species, and provide important ecosystem services that include stabilizing the economie
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center

Integrated rangeland fire management strategy actionable science plan completion assessment—Fire topic, 2015–20

Loss and degradation of sagebrush rangelands due to an accelerated invasive annual grass-wildfire cycle and other stressors are significant management, conservation, and economic issues in the western United States. These sagebrush rangelands comprise a unique biome spanning 11 states, support over 350 wildlife species, and provide important ecosystem services that include stabilizing the economie
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Fort Collins Science Center

Integrated rangeland fire management strategy actionable science plan completion assessment: Restoration topic, 2015–20

Loss and degradation of sagebrush rangelands due to an accelerated invasive annual grass-wildfire cycle and other stressors are substantial management, conservation, and economic issues in the western United States. These sagebrush rangelands comprise a unique biome spanning 11 states, support over 350 wildlife species, and provide important ecosystem services that include stabilizing the economie
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center

Integrated rangeland fire management strategy actionable science plan completion assessment: Invasives topic, 2015–20

Loss and degradation of sagebrush rangelands due to an accelerated invasive annual grass-wildfire cycle and other stressors are significant management, conservation, and economic issues in the western United States. These sagebrush rangelands comprise a unique biome spanning 11 states, support over 350 wildlife species, and provide important ecosystem services that include stabilizing the economie
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center, Fort Collins Science Center, Western Ecological Research Center (WERC)

Plant community trajectories following livestock exclusion for conservation vary and hinge on initial invasion and soil-biocrust conditions in shrub steppe

Adjustments or complete withdrawal of livestock grazing are among the most common conservation actions in semiarid uplands, but outcomes can vary considerably with ecological context. Invasion by exotic annual grasses and the excessive wildfire they promote are increasing threats to semiarid shrub-steppe, and plant-community response to livestock exclusion in these areas may be complicated by the
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Land Management Research Program, Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center

Temporal mismatch in space use by a sagebrush obligate species after large-scale wildfire

The increase in size and frequency of wildfires in sagebrush steppe ecosystems has significant impacts on sagebrush obligate species. We modeled seasonal habitat use by female greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) in the Trout Creek Mountains of Oregon and Nevada, USA, to identify landscape characteristics that influenced sage-grouse habitat selection and to create predictive surfaces of
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Cooperative Research Units, Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center

Predictive models of selective cattle use of large, burned landscapes in semiarid sagebrush-steppe

The fire-exotic annual grass cycle is a severe threat to shrub-steppe rangelands, and a greater understanding of how livestock grazing relates to the problem is needed to guide effective management interventions. Grazing effects vary throughout shrub-steppe rangelands because livestock are selective in their use within pastures. Thus, knowing where cattle are located and concentrate their use in a
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center

Relationship of greater sage-grouse to natural and assisted recovery of key vegetation types following wildfire: Insights from scat

Megafires are creating severe conservation problems worldwide for wildlife that have obligate dependencies on plant species that are foundational but fire-intolerant. Wildfire-induced loss of native perennials and increases in exotic annual grasses threaten greater sage-grouse (GRSG, Centrocercus urophasianus) in its sagebrush steppe habitat in western North America. Post-fire restoration using he
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center

Acute and lagged fitness consequences for a sagebrush obligate in a post mega-wildfire landscape

Species responses to disturbance influence their extinction risks. Greater sage- grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) are bioindicators of sagebrush ecosystem health and the loss of sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) due to wildfire, can cause long-term declines in sage- grouse populations and other sagebrush obligate species. We examined the de-mographic response of a greater sage- grouse population follow
By
Cooperative Research Units, Land Management Research Program

Nest microclimates of Greater Sage-Grouse in a post-megafire landscape: does selection equate to success?

Temperature at fine spatial scales is an important driver of nest site selection for many avian species during the breeding season and can influence nest success. Sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) communities have areas with high levels of vegetation heterogeneity and high thermal variation; however, fire removes vegetation that provides protection from predators and extreme environmental conditions. To
By
Cooperative Research Units

The effects of fire on the thermal environment of sagebrush communities

Thermal heterogeneity provides options for organisms during extreme temperatures that can contribute to their fitness. Sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) communities exhibit vegetation heterogeneity that creates thermal variation at fine spatial scales. However, fire can change vegetation and thereby variation within the thermal environment of sagebrush communities. To describe spatial and temporal therma
By
Cooperative Research Units, Land Management Research Program

Non-USGS Publications**

Anthony, C.R., Hagen, C.A., Dugger, K.M., and Elmore, R.D., 2021, Greater sage-grouse nest bowls buffer microclimate in a post-megafire landscape although effects on nest survival are marginal: Ornithological Applications: The Condor v. 123, no. 1, p. 1–13, https://doi.org/10.1093/ornithapp/duaa068
Anthony, C.R., and Sanchez, D.M., 2019, Habitat selection and space use of Myotis evotis in a western juniper woodland of central Oregon: Journal of Mammalogy v. 100, no. 1, p. 239–248, https://doi.org/10.1093/jmammal/gyy150
Anthony, C.R., and Sanchez, D.M., 2018, Roost site selection of western long-eared myotis in a western juniper woodland: The Journal of Wildlife Management, v. 82, no. 3, p. 618–628, https://doi.org/10.1002/jwmg.21416

**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.

link
Cow in field

Providing a Climate Science Foundation for Updating the Integrated Rangeland Fire Management Strategy Actionable Science Plan

The long-term success of management efforts in sagebrush habitats are increasingly complicated by the impacts of a changing climate throughout the western United States. These complications are most evident in the ongoing challenges of drought and altered rangeland fire regimes resulting from the establishment of nonnative annual grasses. The Integrated Rangeland Fire Management Strategy recognize
By
Climate Adaptation Science Centers
link

Providing a Climate Science Foundation for Updating the Integrated Rangeland Fire Management Strategy Actionable Science Plan

The long-term success of management efforts in sagebrush habitats are increasingly complicated by the impacts of a changing climate throughout the western United States. These complications are most evident in the ongoing challenges of drought and altered rangeland fire regimes resulting from the establishment of nonnative annual grasses. The Integrated Rangeland Fire Management Strategy recognize
Learn More
link

Does Post-Fire Recovery of Native Grasses in Sagebrush Steppe Match Theoretical Predictions?

Understanding the relationships between native bunchgrass species and invasive cheatgrass is critical for managing sagebrush steppe landscapes post...

Read Article

Science and Products