Fred Johnson, Ph.D.
Fred Johnson is a Scientist Emeritus at the USGS Wetland and Aquatic Research Center.
EDUCATION
Ph.D., Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, University of Florida, 2010
M.S., Wildlife and Fisheries Science, Texas A&M University, 1981
B.S., Wildlife Resources (Magna Cum Laude), West Virginia University, 1978
RESEARCH
Fred Johnson's principal interest is in the application of decision science to problems in natural resource management. Such applications require a multi-disciplinary approach to engage stakeholders in the decision-making process, to predict the responses of ecological systems to controlled and uncontrolled drivers, to elicit societal values regarding the consequences of management policy, and to develop monitoring programs to compare predicted and realized system behaviors. Johnson is particularly active in migratory bird management, with experience in problems of recreational and subsistence harvest, pest control, and habitat management. His scientific expertise is mostly in the areas of population ecology, statistical inference, dynamic systems modeling, and optimal decision making.
BACKGROUND
1989 – 2007: Wildlife Biologist (Management), Division of Migratory Bird Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Laurel, Maryland - responsible for evaluating, designing, and conducting resource monitoring and assessment programs to improve conservation programs; functioned as an agency representative on technical matters at state, national, and international meetings and conferences where migratory bird management and research were planned, coordinated, and reviewed.
1981-1989: Waterfowl Management Program Coordinator, Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission, Okeechobee, Florida - responsible for planning, implementing, and overseeing waterfowl conservation activities for the State of Florida.
Science and Products
Adaptive harvest management for the Svalbard population of pink-footed geese: 2015 progress summary
Value of information and natural resources decision-making
Adaptive harvest management: Adjustments for SEIS 2013
Training conservation practitioners to be better decision makers
Adaptive harvest management for the Svalbard population of Pink-Footed Geese: 2014 progress summary
On formally integrating science and policy: walking the walk
Value of information in natural resource management: technical developments and application to pink-footed geese
Multilevel learning in the adaptive management of waterfowl harvests: 20 years and counting
Global change and conservation triage on National Wildlife Refuges
A decision-analytic approach to adaptive resource management
Towards sustainable management of huntable migratory waterbirds in Europe
Optimization and resilience in natural resources management
Science and Products
- Science
Filter Total Items: 13
- Data
- Publications
Filter Total Items: 72
Adaptive harvest management for the Svalbard population of pink-footed geese: 2015 progress summary
This document describes progress to date on the development of an adaptive harvest management strategy for maintaining the Svalbard population of pink‐footed geese (Anser brachyrhynchus) near their agreed target level (60,000) by providing for sustainable harvests in Norway and Denmark. This report provides an assessment of the most recent monitoring information (1991-2014) and its implications foAuthorsFred A. Johnson, Jesper MadsenValue of information and natural resources decision-making
Though the potential for information to measurably improve management has been highlighted for several decades, in recent years the “value of information” has surfaced with increasing frequency in natural resources. However, the use of this phrase belies the fact that many in natural resources have only a limited understanding about what it actually means, how to measure it, and what to do with itAuthorsByron K. Williams, Fred A. JohnsonAdaptive harvest management: Adjustments for SEIS 2013
This report provides a summary of revised methods and assessment results based on updated adaptive harvest management (AHM) protocols developed in response to the preferred alternative specified in the Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement on the Issuance of Annual Regulations Permitting the Hunting of Migratory Birds (SEIS; U.S. Department of the Interior 2013). We describe necessaryAuthorsScott Boomer, Fred A. Johnson, Guthrie S. ZimmermanTraining conservation practitioners to be better decision makers
Traditional conservation curricula and training typically emphasizes only one part of systematic decision making (i.e., the science), at the expense of preparing conservation practitioners with critical skills in values-setting, working with decision makers and stakeholders, and effective problem framing. In this article we describe how the application of decision science is relevant to conservatiAuthorsFred A. Johnson, Mitchell J. Eaton, James H. Williams, Gitte H. Jensen, Jesper MadsenAdaptive harvest management for the Svalbard population of Pink-Footed Geese: 2014 progress summary
This document describes progress to date on the development of an adaptive harvest-management strategy for maintaining the Svalbard population of pink-footed geese (Anser brachyrhynchus) near their agreed target level (60 thousand) by providing for sustainable harvests in Norway and Denmark. Specifically, this report provides an assessment of the most recent monitoring information and its implicaAuthorsFred A. Johnson, J. MadsenOn formally integrating science and policy: walking the walk
The contribution of science to the development and implementation of policy is typically neither direct nor transparent. In 1995, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) made a decision that was unprecedented in natural resource management, turning to an unused and unproven decision process to carry out trust responsibilities mandated by an international treaty. The decision process was adoptedAuthorsJames D. Nichols, Fred A. Johnson, Byron K. Williams, G. Scott BoomerValue of information in natural resource management: technical developments and application to pink-footed geese
The “value of information” (VOI) is a generic term for the increase in value resulting from better information to guide management, or alternatively, the value foregone under uncertainty about the impacts of management (Yokota and Thompson, Medical Decision Making 2004;24: 287). The value of information can be characterized in terms of several metrics, including the expected value of perfect inforAuthorsByron K. Williams, Fred A. JohnsonMultilevel learning in the adaptive management of waterfowl harvests: 20 years and counting
In 1995, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service implemented an adaptive harvest management program (AHM) for the sport harvest of midcontinent mallards (Anas platyrhynchos). The program has been successful in reducing long-standing contentiousness in the regulatory process, while integrating science and policy in a coherent, rigorous, and transparent fashion. After 20 years, much has been learned abouAuthorsFred A. Johnson, G. Scott Boomer, Byron K. Williams, James D. Nichols, David J. CaseGlobal change and conservation triage on National Wildlife Refuges
National Wildlife Refuges (NWRs) in the United States play an important role in the adaptation of social-ecological systems to climate change, land-use change, and other global-change processes. Coastal refuges are already experiencing threats from sea-level rise and other change processes that are largely beyond their ability to influence, while at the same time facing tighter budgets and reducedAuthorsFred A. Johnson, Mitchell J. Eaton, Gerard McMahon, Raye Nilius, Mike Bryant, Dave Case, Julien Martin, Nathan J. Wood, Laura TaylorA decision-analytic approach to adaptive resource management
No abstract available.AuthorsFred A. Johnson, Byron K. WilliamsTowards sustainable management of huntable migratory waterbirds in Europe
The EU Birds Directive and the African-Eurasian Waterbird Agreement provide an adequate legal framework for sustainable management of migratory waterbird populations. The main shortcoming of both instruments is that it leaves harvest decisions of a shared resource to individual Member States and Contracting Parties without providing a shared information base and mechanism to assess the impact of hAuthorsJesper Madsen, Matthieu Guillemain, Szabolcs Nagy, Pierre Defos du Rau, Jean-Yves Mondain-Monval, Cy Griffin, James Henty Williams, Nils Bunnefeld, Alexandre Czajkowski, Richard Hearn, Andreas Grauer, Mikko Alhainen, Angus Middleton, Fred A. JohnsonOptimization and resilience in natural resources management
We consider the putative tradeoff between optimization and resilience in the management of natural resources, using a framework that incorporates different sources of uncertainty that are common in natural resources management. We address one-time decisions, and then expand the decision context to the more complex problem of iterative decision making. For both cases we focus on two key sources ofAuthorsByron K. Williams, Fred A. Johnson