Joel A Schmutz, Ph.D.
Biography
Education
Ph.D. 2000 University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK Biology
M.S. 1988 Colorado State University Wildlife Biology
B.S. 1985 University of Vermont Wildlife and Fisheries Biology
Science and Products
Fatty acid signature data of potential yellow-billed loon prey in the Arctic coastal plain of Alaska, 2009-2011
This dataset contains fatty acid data expressed as mass percent of total fatty acids for several species potentially preyed upon by yellow-billed loons. These data were utilized in a quantitative fatty acid signature analysis to estimate the diet of yellow-billed loons nesting on the Arctic Coastal Plain of Alaska (Haynes et al. 2015).
Haynes, T B; Schmutz, Joel A.; Bromaghin, Jeffrey; Iverson, S.J.; Padula, V. M.; Rosenberger, Amanda E. Blood selenium concentrations in female Pacific black brant molting in Arctic Alaska: Relationships with age and habitat salinity
Blood samples collected from 81 female Pacific black brant (Branta bernicla nigricans) molting near Teshekpuk Lake, Alaska, were analyzed for selenium concentration. The concentration of selenium in blood of after second year (hatched two or more years ago) females (0.84 μg/g wet weight) was significantly greater than the concentration in...
Franson, J. Christian; Flint, Paul L.; Schmutz, Joel A. Waterfowl populations are resilient to immediate and lagged impacts of wildfires in the boreal forest
Summary 1. Wildfires are the principal disturbance in the boreal forest, and their size and frequency are increasing as the climate warms. Impacts of fires on boreal wildlife are largely unknown, especially for the tens of millions of waterfowl that breed in the region. This knowledge gap creates significant barriers to the integrative management...
Lewis, Tyler; Schmutz, Joel A.; Amundson, Courtney L.; Lindberg, Mark S. Evidence for the exchange of blood parasites between North America and the Neotropics in blue-winged teal (Anas discors)
Blue-winged teal (Anas discors) are abundant, small-bodied dabbling ducks that breed throughout the prairies of the northcentral USA and central Canada and that winter in the southern USA and northern Neotropics. Given the migratory tendencies of this species, it is plausible that blue-winged teal may disperse avian pathogens, such as parasites...
Ramey, Andrew M.; Reed, John A.; Walther, Patrick; Link, Paul; Schmutz, Joel A.; Douglas, David C.; Stallknecht, David E.; Soos, Catherine Trophic dynamics of shrinking Subarctic lakes: naturally eutrophic waters impart resilience to rising nutrient and major ion concentrations
Shrinking lakes were recently observed for several Arctic and Subarctic regions due to increased evaporation and permafrost degradation. Along with lake drawdown, these processes often boost aquatic chemical concentrations, potentially impacting trophic dynamics. In particular, elevated chemical levels may impact primary productivity, which may in...
Lewis, Tyler; Lindberg, Mark S.; Heglund, Patricia J.; Schmutz, Joel A.; Schmidt, Joshua H.; Dubour, Adam J.; Rover, Jennifer R.; Bertram, Mark R. Interacting effects of latitude, mass, age, and sex on winter survival of Surf Scoters (Melanitta perspicillata): Implications for differential migration
We quantified variation in winter survival of Surf Scoters (Melanitta perspicillata (L., 1758)) across nearly 30° of latitude on the Pacific coast of North America to evaluate potential effects on winter distributions, including observed differential distributions of age and sex classes. We monitored fates of 297 radio-marked Surf Scoters at...
Uher-Koch, Brian D.; Esler, Daniel N.; Iverson, Samuel A.; Ward, David H.; Boyd, Sean; Kirk, Molly; Lewis, Tyler L.; VanStratt, Corey S.; Brodhead, Katherine M.; Hupp, Jerry W.; Schmutz, Joel A. Species richness and distributions of boreal waterbirds in relation to nesting and brood-rearing habitats
Identification of ecological factors that drive animal distributions allows us to understand why distributions vary temporally and spatially, and to develop models to predict future changes to populations–vital tools for effective wildlife management and conservation. For waterbird broods in the boreal forest, distributions are likely driven...
Lewis, Tyler L.; Lindberg, Mark S.; Schmutz, Joel A.; Bertram, Mark R.; Dubour, Adam J. Diet of yellow-billed loons (Gavia adamsii) in Arctic lakes during the nesting season inferred from fatty acid analysis
Understanding the dietary habits of yellow-billed loons (Gavia adamsii) can give important insights into their ecology, however, studying the diet of loons is difficult when direct observation or specimen collection is impractical. We investigate the diet of yellow-billed loons nesting on the Arctic Coastal Plain of Alaska using quantitative fatty...
Haynes, T B; Schmutz, Joel A.; Bromaghin, Jeffrey F.; Iverson, S J; Padula, V. M.; Rosenberger, A E A real-time, quantitative PCR protocol for assessing the relative parasitemia of Leucocytozoon in waterfowl
Microscopic examination of blood smears can be effective at diagnosing and quantifying hematozoa infections. However, this method requires highly trained observers, is time consuming, and may be inaccurate for detection of infections at low levels of parasitemia. To develop a molecular methodology for identifying and quantifying Leucocytozoon...
Smith, Matthew M.; Schmutz, Joel A.; Apelgren, Chloe; Ramey, Andrew M. Nest visits and capture events affect breeding success of Yellow-billed and Pacific loons
Accurate estimates of breeding success are essential for understanding population dynamics and for managing populations. Unfortunately, research activities to collect these data can negatively impact the breeding success of the study species and bias estimates of breeding success. Despite the potential for negative impacts, few studies have...
Uher-Koch, Brian D.; Schmutz, Joel A.; Wright, Kenneth G. Fast and efficient: postnatal growth and energy expenditure in an Arctic-breeding waterbird, the Red-throated Loon (Gavia stellata)
Environmental conditions can exert a strong influence on the growth and energy demands of chicks. We hypothesized that postnatal growth in a cold, aquatic environment would require a high level of energy metabolism in semiprecocial Red-throated Loon (Gavia stellata) chicks. We measured body-mass growth and daily energy expenditure (DEE) of free-...
Rizzolo, Daniel; Schmutz, Joel A.; Speakman, John R. A likelihood-based approach for assessment of extra-pair paternity and conspecific brood parasitism in natural populations
Genotypes are frequently used to assess alternative reproductive strategies such as extra-pair paternity and conspecific brood parasitism in wild populations. However, such analyses are vulnerable to genotyping error or molecular artifacts that can bias results. For example, when using multilocus microsatellite data, a mismatch at a single locus,...
Lemons, Patrick R.; Marshall, T.C.; McCloskey, Sarah E.; Sethi, S.A.; Schmutz, Joel A.; Sedinger, James S.