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
Structured decision making for management of warm-water habitat for manatees. Final report to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Dynamic reserve design in the face of climate change and urbanization
Maximizing the social and ecological value of Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge, South Carolina as the effects of global change processes increase.
Integrating land cover modeling and adaptive management to conserve endangered species and reduce catastrophic fire risk
Tailoring point counts for inference about avian density: dealing with nondetection and availability
Uncertainty, robustness, and the value of information in managing a population of northern bobwhites
Snow conditions as an estimator of the breeding output in high-Arctic pink-footed geese Anser brachyrhynchus
Uncertainty, robustness, and the value of information in managing an expanding Arctic goose population
Adaptive harvest management for the Svalbard population of pink-footed geese: assessment for the 2013-2015 hunting seasons
Resilience thinking and a decision-analytic approach to conservation: strange bedfellows or essential partners?
Adaptive harvest management for the Svalbard population of pink-footed geese: briefing summary
Adaptive harvest management for the Svalbard population of pink-footed geese: cooperator report
Science and Products
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Structured decision making for management of warm-water habitat for manatees. Final report to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
No abstract available.AuthorsMichael Kosempa, Julien Martin, Fred A. Johnson, Ron Mezich, Brad Stith, Charles J. Deutsch, Michelle Masi, Holly H. EdwardsDynamic reserve design in the face of climate change and urbanization
Reserve design is a process that must address many ecological, social, and political factors to successfully identify parcels of land in need of protection to sustain wildlife populations and other natural resources. Making land acquisition choices for a large, terrestrial protected area is difficult because it occurs over a long timeframe and may involve consideration future conditions such as clAuthorsStephanie S. Romañach, Fred A. Johnson, Bradley Stith, Mathieu BonneauMaximizing the social and ecological value of Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge, South Carolina as the effects of global change processes increase.
Coastal ecosystems in the eastern U.S. have been severely altered by processes associated with human development, including drainage of coastal wetlands, changes in hydrology that alter sediment and freshwater delivery to the coast, land clearing, agricultural and forestry activity, and the construction of seawalls and other structures that “harden” the coast. Sea-level rise and the changing frequAuthorsRaye Nilius, Sarah Dawsey, Mitchell J. Eaton, Julien Martin, Stephanie S. Romañach, Suzanne Baird, Michael Bryant, David J. Case, Fred A. Johnson, Gerard McMahon, Nancy Pau, Elizabeth Pienaar, Mary Ratnaswamy, Steven Seibert, Pamela Wingrove, Nathan J. WoodIntegrating land cover modeling and adaptive management to conserve endangered species and reduce catastrophic fire risk
Land cover modeling is used to inform land management, but most often via a two-step process, where science informs how management alternatives can influence resources, and then, decision makers can use this information to make decisions. A more efficient process is to directly integrate science and decision-making, where science allows us to learn in order to better accomplish management objectivAuthorsDavid Breininger, Brean Duncan, Mitchell J. Eaton, Fred Johnson, James NicholsTailoring point counts for inference about avian density: dealing with nondetection and availability
Point counts are commonly used for bird surveys, but interpretation is ambiguous unless there is an accounting for the imperfect detection of individuals. We show how repeated point counts, supplemented by observation distances, can account for two aspects of the counting process: (1) detection of birds conditional on being available for observation and (2) the availability of birds for detectionAuthorsFred A. Johnson, Robert M. Dorazio, Traci D. Castellón, Julien Martin, Jay O. Garcia, James D. NicholsUncertainty, robustness, and the value of information in managing a population of northern bobwhites
The abundance of northern bobwhites (Colinus virginianus) has decreased throughout their range. Managers often respond by considering improvements in harvest and habitat management practices, but this can be challenging if substantial uncertainty exists concerning the cause(s) of the decline. We were interested in how application of decision science could be used to help managers on a large, publiAuthorsFred A. Johnson, Greg Hagan, William E. Palmer, Michael KemmererSnow conditions as an estimator of the breeding output in high-Arctic pink-footed geese Anser brachyrhynchus
The Svalbard-breeding population of pink-footed geese Anser brachyrhynchus has increased during the last decades and is giving rise to agricultural conflicts along their migration route, as well as causing grazing impacts on tundra vegetation. An adaptive flyway management plan has been implemented, which will be based on predictive population models including environmental variables expected to aAuthorsGitte Høj Jensen, Jesper Madsen, Fred A. Johnson, Mikkel P. TamstorfUncertainty, robustness, and the value of information in managing an expanding Arctic goose population
We explored the application of dynamic-optimization methods to the problem of pink-footed goose (Anser brachyrhynchus) management in western Europe. We were especially concerned with the extent to which uncertainty in population dynamics influenced an optimal management strategy, the gain in management performance that could be expected if uncertainty could be eliminated or reduced, and whether anAuthorsFred A. Johnson, Gitte H. Jensen, Jesper Madsen, Byron K. WilliamsAdaptive harvest management for the Svalbard population of pink-footed geese: assessment for the 2013-2015 hunting seasons
This report describes progress on the development of an adaptive harvestmanagement strategy for maintaining the Svalbard population of pink-footed geese near their agreed target level (60,000) by providing for sustainable harvests in Norway and Denmark. Specifically, this report provides an optimal harvest quota for the 2013-2015 hunting seasons and describes a process for evaluating whether emerAuthorsFred A. Johnson, Jesper MadsenResilience thinking and a decision-analytic approach to conservation: strange bedfellows or essential partners?
There has been some tendency to view decision science and resilience theory as opposing approaches, or at least as contending perspectives, for natural resource management. Resilience proponents have been especially critical of optimization in decision science, at least for those cases where it is focused on the aggressive pursuit of efficiency. In general, optimization of resource systems is heldAuthorsFred A. Johnson, Byron K. Williams, James D. NicholsAdaptive harvest management for the Svalbard population of pink-footed geese: briefing summary
The African-Eurasian Waterbird Agreement (AEWA; http://www.unep-aewa.org/) calls for means to manage populations which cause conflicts with certain human economic activities. The Svalbard population of the pink-footed goose has been selected as the first test case for such an international species management plan to be developed. This document describes progress to date on the development of an adAuthorsFred A. JohnsonAdaptive harvest management for the Svalbard population of pink-footed geese: cooperator report
This document describes progress to date on the development of a harvest‐management strategy for maintaining pink‐footed goose abundance near their target level by providing for sustainable harvests in Norway and Denmark. Many goose populations in western Europe have increased dramatically in recent decades. The Svalbard population of pink‐footed geese (Anser brachyrhynchus) is a good example, incAuthorsFred A. Johnson, Gitte H. Jensen, Jesper Madsen