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Daniel Manier, Ph.D.

Daniel Manier is an ecologist at the Fort Collins Science Center. Daniel has been involved in multiple USGS Sage-grouse and sagebrush habitat-related efforts, including the Wyoming Landscape Conservation Intitative and Great Plains Landscape Conservation Cooperative. 

I am most curious about the patterns and dynamics we observe across a landscape, be it a square meter or 15 million acres. In 2008, I was recruited to join a team of researchers working on the sagebrush ecosystem - as a contractor to USGS. I started working with a team of USGS, Colorado State University and University of Wyoming Scientists on conservation concerns related to Greater Sage-grouse and sagebrush habitat conditions from local scales up to the entire landscape. As part of the Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative I led the long-term monitoring tool development task, led vegetation sampling for multiple field projects, developed spatial models, worked with local partners and the Science Advisory Committee. I also worked with the Great Plains Landscape Conservation Cooperative as part of the Science Team for many years. Additional work at USGS has included restoration monitoring and site evaluation (Ouray NWR), post-fire restoration effectiveness (Wyoming), developing natural resources data to inform transportation planning (with Federal Land Highways).

Research Interests and Expertise

  • Plant community and ecosystem ecology: range, shrub and forest systems; sagebrush ecosystem
  • Plant-Animal Interactions: habitat condition and dynamics, herbivory
  • Disturbance ecology: fire, drought, land-use Landscape Ecology - species distribution modeling, patterns and dynamics in abiotic drivers, habitat patterns and dynamics, GIS, spatial statistics
  • Monitoring: spatial-temporal monitoring and sampling design; replicated methods; protocols and documentation

Education and Certifications

  • PhD 2000, Forest Ecology, Warner College of Natural Resources, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado

  • B.A. 1991, Philosophy and Religion, Colgate University, Hamilton, New York

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