Daniel H Monson, Ph.D.
Retrospective and historical data analysis, nearshore ecology of marine systems; predator/prey dynamics; mammalian reproductive biology/ecology; marine food web dynamics and marine mammal foraging ecology; population biology.
Biography
Education
Ph.D. 2009 University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
M.S. 1995 University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA Marine Science
B.S. 1983 Luther College, Decorah, IA Biology
Professional Experience
1995 - Present Research Wildlife Biologist, USGS, Alaska Science Center, Anchorage, Alaska
1995, 1996, 1998, 1999 Biologist, University of Minnesota, Antarctic Research Program, McMurdo, Antarctica
1992 - 1995 Graduate Research Assistant, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, California
1992 - 1995 Statistical Assistant, NBS, Alaska Science Center, Anchorage, Alaska
1987 - 1992 Biological Technician, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Anchorage, Alaska
1985 - 1987 Research Assistant, University of Minnesota, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center, Jamestown, North Dakota
1983 - 1985 Biological Technician, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Kawishawi Field Station, Ely, Minnesota
Professional Activities and/or Memberships
The Wildlife Society
American Association for the Advancement of Science
Ecological Society of America
Science and Products
Nearshore Marine Ecosystem Research
Nearshore ecosystems include many resources that are of high ecological, recreational, subsistence, and economic value. They also are subject to influences from a wide variety of natural and human-caused perturbations, which can originate in terrestrial or oceanic environments. Our research is designed to evaluate sources of variation in the nearshore and how they influence resources of high...
Timelines and mechanisms of wildlife population recovery following the Exxon Valdez oil spill
Research and monitoring activities over the 28 years since the T/V Exxon Valdez ran aground and spilled oil into Prince William Sound, Alaska have led to an improved understanding of how wildlife populations were damaged, as well as the mechanisms and timelines of recovery. A key finding was that for some species, such as harlequin ducks...
Esler, Daniel N.; Ballachey, Brenda E.; Matkin, Craig O.; Cushing, Daniel; Kaler, Robert; Bodkin, James L.; Monson, Daniel; Esslinger, George G.; Kloecker, Kimberly A. Variation in abundance of Pacific Blue Mussel (Mytilus trossulus) in the Northern Gulf of Alaska, 2006–2015
Mussels are conspicuous and ecologically important components of nearshore marine communities around the globe. Pacific blue mussels (Mytilus trossulus) are common residents of intertidal habitats in protected waters of the North Pacific, serving as a conduit of primary production to a wide range of nearshore consumers including predatory...
Bodkin, James L.; Coletti, Heather A.; Ballachey, Brenda E.; Monson, Daniel; Esler, Daniel N.; Dean, Thomas A. Influence of static habitat attributes on local and regional Rocky intertidal community structure
Rocky intertidal communities are structured by local environmental drivers, which can be dynamic, fluctuating on various temporal scales, or static and not greatly varying across years. We examined the role of six static drivers (distance to freshwater, tidewater glacial presence, wave exposure, fetch, beach slope, and substrate composition) on...
Konar, B.; Iken, K.; Coletti, H.; Monson, Daniel H.; Weitzman, Ben P. Variability within nearshore ecosystems of the Gulf of Alaska
Nearshore marine habitats, which represent the interface among air, land and sea, form a critical component of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA) ecosystem. As an interface, the nearshore facilitates transfer of water, nutrients and biota between terrestrial and oceanic systems, creating zones of high productivity. The nearshore provides a variety of...
Ballachey, Brenda E.; Bodkin, James L.; Coletti, Heather A.; Dean, Thomas A; Esler, Daniel N.; Esslinger, George G.; Iken, Katrin; Kloecker, Kimberly A.; Konar, Brenda; Lindeberg, Mandy; Monson, Daniel; Shepherd, Marnie; Weitzman, Ben P. Pacific blue mussel (Mytilus trossulus) abundance in the Gulf of Alaska: Synthesis of Gulf Watch data (2006-2013) and a consideration of major recruitment events (1989-2013)
Pacific blue mussels (Mytilus trossulus) are abundant and wide-spread primary consumers in the intertidal zone throughout the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). As a component of the Gulf Watch Alaska monitoring program, they represent a key member of intertidal communities and an important prey resource to a number of nearshore vertebrate predators. Our goal...
Monson, Daniel H.; Dean, Thomas; Lindeberg, M.R.; Bodkin, James L.; Coletti, Heather A.; Esler, Daniel N.; Kloecker, Kimberly A.; Weitzman, Ben P.; Ballachey, Brenda E. Evaluating the status of individuals and populations: Advantages of multiple approaches and time scales: Chapter 6
The assessment of population status is a central goal of applied wildlife research and essential to the field of wildlife conservation. “Population status” has a number of definitions, the most widely used having to do with the current trajectory of the population (i.e., growing, stable, or declining), or the probability of persistence...
Monson, Daniel H.; Bowen, Lizabeth Timelines and mechanisms of wildlife population recovery following the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill
In March 1989, the T/V Exxon Valdez ran aground in Prince William Sound (PWS), Alaska and spilled an estimated 42 million liters of crude oil (Wolfe et al. 1994). This oil subsequently spread over more than 26,000 km2 of water surface in PWS and the Gulf of Alaska and landed on more than 1000 km of shoreline (Spies et al. 1996, Short et al. 2004;...
Esler, Daniel N.; Bodkin, James L.; Ballachey, Brenda E.; Monson, Daniel; Kloecker, Kimberly A.; Esslinger, George G. Temporal patterns in the foraging behavior of sea otters in Alaska
Activity time budgets in apex predators have been proposed as indicators of population status relative to resource limitation or carrying capacity. We used archival time-depth recorders implanted in 15 adult female and 4 male sea otters (Enhydra lutris) from the northernmost population of the species, Prince William Sound, Alaska, USA, to examine...
Esslinger, George G.; Bodkin, James L.; Breton, André R.; Burns, Jennifer M.; Monson, Daniel H.
2013 update on sea otter studies to assess recovery from the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill, Prince William Sound, Alaska
On March 24, 1989, the tanker vessel Exxon Valdez ran aground in Prince William Sound, Alaska, spilling an estimated 42 million liters of Prudhoe Bay crude oil. Oil spread in a southwesterly direction and was deposited on shores and waters in western Prince William Sound (WPWS). The sea otter (Enhydra lutris) was one of more than 20 nearshore...
Ballachey, Brenda E.; Monson, Daniel H.; Esslinger, George G.; Kloecker, Kimberly A.; Bodkin, James L.; Bowen, Lizabeth; Miles, A. Keith Synthesis of nearshore recovery following the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill: sea otter liver pathology and survival in Western Prince William Sound, 2001 – 2008
We examined livers and liver biopsies collected from captured sea otters in WPWS, 2001–2008, to determine whether indicators of liver health correlated with history of oil contamination from the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill. Sea otters captured in oiled areas had a significantly higher proportion of livers with gross pathological change,...
Ballachey, Brenda E.; Monson, Daniel H.; Kloecker, Kimberly A.; Esslinger, George G.; Mohr, F.C.; Lipscomb, T.P.; Murray, M.J.; Howlin, S. Quantifying long-term risks to sea otters from the 1989 'Exxon Valdez' oil spill: reply to Harwell & Gentile (2013)
Recovery of sea otter populations in Prince William Sound (PWS), Alaska, has been delayed for more than 2 decades following the 1989 ‘Exxon Valdez’ oil spill. Harwell & Gentile (2013; Mar Ecol Prog Ser 488:291–296) question our conclusions in Bodkin et al. (2012; Mar Ecol Prog Ser 447:273-287) regarding adverse effects that oil lingering in...
Ballachey, Brenda E.; Bodkin, James L.; Monson, Daniel H. Estimating age ratios and size of Pacific walrus herds on coastal haulouts using video imaging
During Arctic summers, sea ice provides resting habitat for Pacific walruses as it drifts over foraging areas in the eastern Chukchi Sea. Climate-driven reductions in sea ice have recently created ice-free conditions in the Chukchi Sea by late summer causing walruses to rest at coastal haulouts along the Chukotka and Alaska coasts, which provides...
Monson, Daniel H.; Udevitz, Mark S.; Jay, Chadwick V.