Joseph Clark
Biography
Education
Ph.D. (Zoology), 1991, University of Arkansas
M.S. (Wildlife Biology), 1982, University of Georgia
B.S. (Wildlife Biology), 1980, University of Georgia
Research Interst
Dr. Joseph D. Clark is Branch Chief of the U.S. Geological Survey’s Southern Appalachian Field Branch, located at the University of Tennessee, where he conducts hypothesis-driven environmental research focusing on Department of Interior issues in the southern Appalachians and elsewhere. Dr. Clark holds an Adjunct Professor appointment in the Department of Forestry, Wildlife and Fisheries. Dr. Clark is a wildlife biologist and specializes in carnivore ecology, population dynamics, and habitat modeling. Dr. Clark served for 9 years as a Research Biologist and Assistant Chief with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. As such, Dr. Clark has a unique perspective of wildlife resource management from both the practical as well as academic side. Dr. Clark has studied population dynamics of black bears in the Interior Highlands of Arkansas, at Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge in Georgia, in the Mobile Basin of Alabama, White River National Wildlife Refuge in Arkansas, and throughout Louisiana; has evaluated the effects of public use (i.e., deer hunting) on Florida panthers ecology and management in south Florida; has developed methods for black bear reintroduction in Tennessee, Kentucky, Louisiana, and Arkansas; has performed a demographic analysis of a reintroduced elk herd at Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina; and has studied muskrat and river otter ecology at Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky. Current projects include a population viability assessment for the threatened Louisiana black bear, a nuisance bear study and a feral hog study in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and a statewide mark-recapture bear population estimate for Florida.
Science and Products
NOROCK Large Carnivore Research Program
NOROCK has substantial expertise in large carnivore research, primarily involving species listed as Threatened or Endangered. NOROCK’s Large Carnivore Research Program includes scientists from NOROCK’s Headquarters, West Glacier Field Station, and the Southern Appalachian Field Station. Studies are conducted in a wide variety of landscapes throughout the U.S., as well as international...
Seasonal Movement of Wild Hogs in Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area and Great Smoky Mountains National Park
The wild hog (Sus scrofa) is an exotic invasive species that significantly impacts native resources and their populations are expanding significantly throughout the United States. In addition, wild hogs are likely contributing to the spread of disease such as pseudorabies. National Park Service units in the Southeast that have populations of exotic wild hogs include Big South Fork National...
Joe Clark's Research
This is a summary of the research focus for Dr. Joe Clark.
Early genetic outcomes of American black bear reintroductions in the Central Appalachians, USA
Habitat loss and overexploitation extirpated American black bears (Ursus americanus) from most of the Central Appalachians, USA, by the early twentieth century. To attempt to restore bears to the southwestern portion of this region, 2 reintroductions that used small founder groups (n = 27 and 55 bears), but different release methods (hard versus...
Murphy, Sean M.; Hast, John T.; Augustine, Ben C.; Weisrock, David W.; Clark, Joseph D.; Kocka, David. M; Ryan, Christopher W.; Sajecki, Jaime L.; Cox, John J. Louisiana black bear post-delisting monitoring: 3rd annual report
This report details population and habitat monitoring results as required for post-delisting monitoring under the US Endangered Species Act.
Clark, Joseph D.; Maria Davidson; Greco, Robert; Soileau, D.M. Comparing clustered sampling designs for spatially explicit estimation of population density
Spatially explicit capture–recapture methods do not assume that animals have equal access to sampling devices (e.g., detectors), which allows for gaps in the sampling extent and nonuniform (e.g., clustered) sampling designs. However, the performance (i.e., relative root mean squared error [RRMSE], confidence interval coverage, relative bias and...
Clark, Joseph D. Elk research efforts
Presented the history of the NC elk herd and summarized early research to determine the population dispersal and mortality rates, assess habitat use, and evaluate elk’s impact on the national park to estimate the probability of success in establishing a permanent elk population in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP). Gave an overview...
Clark, Joseph D. No flood effect on recruitment of a small Louisiana black bear population
A flood event in 2011 had minor impacts on apparent survival and movement probabilities of a small, isolated population of Louisiana black bears (Ursus americanus luteolus) in the Upper Atchafalaya River Basin, Louisiana, USA. However, the potential effects of the flood on recruitment of juveniles into the population, then listed as threatened...
Clark, Joseph D.; O'Connell-Goode, Kaitlin C.; Lowe, Carrie L.; Murphy, Sean M.; Maehr, Sutton C.; Davidson, Maria M.; Laufenberg, Jared S. Genetic diversity, effective population size, and structure among black bear populations in the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley, USA
Multiple small populations of American black bears Ursus americanus, including the recently delisted Louisiana black bear subspecies U. a. luteolus, occupy a fragmented landscape in the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley, USA (LMAV). Populations include bears native to the LMAV, bears translocated from Minnesota during the 1960s, and...
Murphy, Sean M.; Laufenberg, Jared S.; Clark, Joseph D.; Davidson, Maria M.; Belant, Jerrold L.; Garshelis, David L. Estimating population extinction thresholds with categorical classification trees for Louisiana black bears
Monitoring vulnerable species is critical for their conservation. Thresholds or tipping points are commonly used to indicate when populations become vulnerable to extinction and to trigger changes in conservation actions. However, quantitative methods to determine such thresholds have not been well explored. The Louisiana black bear (Ursus...
Laufenberg, Jared S.; Clark, Joseph D.; Chandler, Richard B. Spatially explicit population estimates for black bears based on cluster sampling
We estimated abundance and density of the 5 major black bear (Ursus americanus) subpopulations (i.e., Eglin, Apalachicola, Osceola, Ocala-St. Johns, Big Cypress) in Florida, USA with spatially explicit capture-mark-recapture (SCR) by extracting DNA from hair samples collected at barbed-wire hair sampling sites. We employed a clustered sampling...
Humm, J.; McCown, J. Walter; Scheick, B.K.; Clark, Joseph D. Northern bobwhite breeding season ecology on a reclaimed surface mine
Surface coal mining and subsequent reclamation of surface mines have converted large forest areas into early successional vegetative communities in the eastern United States. This reclamation can provide a novel opportunity to conserve northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus). We evaluated the influence of habitat management activities on nest...
Brooke, Jarred M.; Tanner, Evan P.; Peters, David C.; Tanner, Ashley M.; Harper, Craig A.; Keyser, Patrick D.; Clark, Joseph D.; Morgan, John J. A long-term evaluation of biopsy darts and DNA to estimate cougar density
Accurately estimating cougar (Puma concolor) density is usually based on long-term research consisting of intensive capture and Global Positioning System collaring efforts and may cost hundreds of thousands of dollars annually. Because wildlife agency budgets rarely accommodate this approach, most infer cougar density from published literature,...
Beausoleil, Richard A.; Clark, Joseph D.; Maletzke, Benjamin T. From rags to riches? Black bear management in the southeast
No abstract available.
Clark, Joseph D. Demographic rates and population viability of black bears in Louisiana
The Louisiana black bear (Ursus americanus luteolus) was reduced to a few small, fragmented, and isolated subpopulations in the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley by the mid-twentieth century resulting from loss and fragmentation of habitat. In 1992, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) granted the Louisiana black bear threatened...
Laufenberg, Jared S.; Clark, Joseph D.; Hooker, Michael J.; Lowe, Carrie L.; O'Connell-Goode, Kaitlin C.; Troxler, Jesse C.; Davidson, Maria M.; Chamberlain, Michael J.; Chandler, Richard B.