Evan Grant, Ph.D.
Biography
Evan Grant the principle investigator of the US Geological Survey’s Amphibian Research and Monitoring Initiative (ARMI), northeast region. Evan's research focuses on questions relating to amphibian populations, specifically with respect to their landscape-scale ecology. Evan also uses decision science to aid resource managers.
Education:
- PhD, 2009, University of Maryland College Park, Program of Marine, Estuarine and Environmental Sciences and Department of Entomology
- BS, 2001, Cornell University, Natural Resources, with Distinction in Research
ResearcherID: N-5160-2014
Research Gate profile: http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Evan_Grant2
Science and Products
Northeast Amphibian Research and Monitoring Initiative
The USGS Amphibian Research and Monitoring Initiative (ARMI) is designed to determine where populations of amphibians are present, to monitor specific apex populations, and to investigate potential causes of amphibian declines, diseases, and malformations. The Northeast Region of ARMI encompasses thirteen states (Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey...
Mapping Climate Change Resistant Vernal Pools in the Northeastern U.S.
Vernal pools are small, seasonal wetlands that provide critically important seasonal habitat for many amphibian species of conservation concern. Natural resource managers and scientists in the Northeast, as well as the Northeast Refugia Research Coalition, coordinated by the Northeast CSC, recently identified vernal pools as a priority ecosystem to study, and recent revisions to State Wildlife...
Managing the Extinction Risk of the Shenandoah Salamander
The Shenandoah salamander is an endangered salamander that is at risk of extinction due to its small, high-elevation range, competition with the co-occurring red-backed salamander, and the predicted future climate in the Appalachian mountain range. We are working with multiple partners to understand the current status of the species, predict future extinction risk, and engage stakeholders in a...
North American Amphibian Monitoring Program
The North American Amphibian Monitoring Program (NAAMP) was a collaborative citizen science effort between the US Geological Survey (USGS) and 26 partners (state agencies, universities, and nonprofit organizations) for monitoring calling amphibian populations over much of the eastern and central United States. Initiated in 1997, in response to needs set forth by the Declining Amphibian...
Different management strategies are optimal for combating disease in East Texas cave versus culvert hibernating bat populations
Management decisions for species impacted by emerging infectious diseases are challenging when there are uncertainties in the effectiveness of management actions. Wildlife managers must balance trade‐offs between mitigating the effects of the disease and the associated consequences on other aspects of the managed system. An example of this...
Bernard, Riley Fehr; Evans, Jonah; Fuller, Nathan W.; Reichard, Jonathan D.; Coleman, Jeremy T. H.; Kocer, Christina J.; Campbell Grant, Evan H. Overview of emerging amphibian pathogens and modeling advances for conservation-related decisions
One of the leading causes of global amphibian decline is emerging infectious disease. We summarize the disease ecology of four major emerging amphibian infectious agents: chytrids, ranaviruses, trematodes, and Perkinsea. We focus on recently developed quantitative advances that build on well-established ecological theories and aid in studying...
Campbell Grant, Evan H.; Direnzo G Proactive management of amphibians: Challenges and opportunities
Delaying species management reduces the chance of successful recovery, increases the risk of extinction, and can be expensive. Acting before major declines are realized affords access to a greater suite of cost-effective management actions to sustain populations, reducing the likelihood of declines warranting protected status. It is clear that...
Sterrett, SC; Campbell Grant, Evan H.; Katz R; Brand, Adrianne; Fields, William R.; Dietrich A; Hocking D; Foreman T; Wiewel A Effect of amphibian chytrid fungus (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis) on apparent survival of frogs and toads in the western USA
Despite increasing interest in determining the population-level effects of emerging infectious diseases on wildlife, estimating effects of disease on survival rates remains difficult. Even for a well-studied disease such as amphibian chytridiomycosis (caused by the fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis [Bd]), there are few estimates of...
Russell, Robin E.; Halstead, Brian J.; Mosher, Brittany; Muths, Erin L.; Adams, Michael J.; Campbell Grant, Evan H.; Fisher, Robert N.; Kleeman, Patrick M.; Backlin, Adam R.; Pearl, Christopher; Honeycutt, R. Ken; Hossack, Blake R. A three-pipe problem: Dealing with complexity to halt amphibian declines
Natural resource managers are increasingly faced with threats to managed ecosystems that are largely outside of their control. Examples include land development, climate change, invasive species, and emerging infectious diseases. All of these are characterized by large uncertainties in timing, magnitude, and effects on species. In many cases, the...
Converse, Sarah J.; Campbell Grant, Evan H. Knowing your limits: Estimating range boundaries and co-occurrence zones for two competing plethodontid salamanders
Understanding threats to species persistence requires knowledge of where species currently occur. We explore methods for estimating two important facets of species distributions, namely where the range limit occurs and how species interactions structure distributions. Accurate understanding of range limits is crucial for predicting range dynamics...
Amburgey, S. M.; Miller, D. A. W. ; Brand, Adrianne B.; Dietrich, Andrea M.; Campbell Grant, Evan H. Identifying common decision problem elements for the management of emerging fungal diseases of wildlife
Emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) of wildlife have characteristics that make them difficult to manage, leading to reactive and often ineffective management strategies. Currently, two fungal pathogens, Pseudogymnoascus destructans (Pd) and Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal), are causing declines in novel host species. To improve the...
Bernard, R. F.; Campbell Grant, Evan H. North-facing slopes and elevation shape asymmetric genetic structure in the range-restricted salamander Plethodon shenandoah
Species with narrow environmental preferences are often distributed across fragmented patches of suitable habitat, and dispersal among subpopulations can be difficult to directly observe. Genetic data collected at population centers can help quantify gene flow, which is especially important for vulnerable species with a disjunct range. Plethodon...
Mulder, KP; Cortes-Rodriguez, Nandadevi; Brand, Adrianne B.; Campbell Grant, Evan H.; Fleischer, Robert C. Functional variation at an expressed MHC class IIß locus associates with Ranavirus infection intensity in larval anuran populations
Infectious diseases are causing catastrophic losses to biodiversity globally. Iridoviruses in the genus Ranavirus are among the leading causes of amphibian disease-related mortality. Polymorphisms in major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genes are significantly associated with variation in amphibian susceptibility to pathogens. MHC genes encode...
Savage, Anna E.; Muletz-Wolz, Carly R.; Campbell Grant, Evan H.; Fleischer, Robert C.; Mulder , Kevin P. The contribution of road-based citizen science to the conservation of pond-breeding amphibians
Roadside amphibian citizen science (CS) programmes bring together volunteers focused on collecting scientific data while working to mitigate population declines by reducing road mortality of pond‐breeding amphibians. Despite the international popularity of these movement‐based, roadside conservation efforts (i.e. “big nights,” “bucket brigades”...
Sterrett, Sean; Katz, Rachel A.; Fields, William R.; Campbell Grant, Evan H. Principles of translational science education
In a recent special issue in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, Enquist et al. (2017) present a welcome streamlining of modern applied ecology emphasizing a collaborative approach to applied ecological research involving resource-managers and scientists to produce actionable science: translational ecology (TE). The authors, including...
Sutherland, Chris; Padilla, B; Campbell Grant, Evan H. Disease‐structured N‐mixture models: A practical guide to model disease dynamics using count data
Obtaining inferences on disease dynamics (e.g., host population size, pathogen prevalence, transmission rate, host survival probability) typically requires marking and tracking individuals over time. While multistate mark–recapture models can produce high‐quality inference, these techniques are difficult to employ at large spatial and long...
DiRenzo, Graziella V.; Che-Castaldo, Christian; Saunders, Sarah P.; Campbell Grant, Evan H.; Zipkin, Elise F.