Josh Adams
Biography
Dr. Josh Adams is a research wildlife biologist with the U.S. Geological Survey's Western Ecological Research Center. He is the lead biologist in charge of the Seabird Studies program located at WERC's Santa Cruz Field Station. Dr. Adams' work focuses on understanding the distribution and abundance patterns of seabirds at sea, nesting biology, foraging ecology and conservation science. Dr. Adams' current studies are focused in the California Current and Hawaii.
RESEARCH INTERESTS
- Avian Ecology
- Invasive Plant Ecology
- Migratory bird biology
- Remote sensing
- Telemetry (radio and/or satellite)
- Threatened and endangered species
EDUCATION
- PhD, Zoology, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand 2011
- MSc, Marine Sciences, Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, California State University San Francisco 2004
- BA, Biology (Thesis Honors), University of California Santa Cruz 1992
PROFESSIONAL AND HONORARY SOCIETIES AND SCIENCE ADVISORY COMMITTEES
- Member Pacific Seabird Group (since 1992)
Science and Products
Palmyra Blue Water Research
In collaboration with The Nature Conservancy, the Seabird Studies Team at the USGS Western Ecological Research Center will track the at-sea movements of eight marine animal species at Palmyra Atoll with the goal of understanding the impact of the marine protected areas on species and ecosystems. The project is supported in part by The Nature Conservancy and the team of collaborating...
Marbled Murrelet Surveys off the Central California Coast
Since 2017, the U.S. Geological Survey Western Ecological Research Center has continued long-term at-sea surveys of federally threatened Marbled Murrelets in central California.
Assessing Mammalian Predator Control to Protect Endangered Birds at Haleakalā National Park
USGS researchers assessed trends in non-native mammalian predator trapping methods designed to protect endangered ʻuaʻu and nēnē at Haleakalā National Park, Hawaiʻi.
Seabird Vulnerability Assessment for Renewable Energy Projects
The WERC seabird studies team has developed a new framework for quantifying seabird species vulnerability to wind infrastructure in the California Current region of the Pacific Outer Continental Shelf. This tool supports marine resource-use planning by identifying sites where seabirds are most vulnerable and predicts how different species may be affected by wind-energy infrastructure.
Aerial Seabird and Marine Mammal Surveys
The Seabird Studies Team at the USGS Western Ecological Research Center is conducting aerial photographic surveys of the ocean off central and southern California to create comprehensive maps of seabird and marine mammal distributions. The project is supported by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and will inform planning in advance of potential offshore wind energy development along the...
Breeding Seabirds of the Main Hawaiian Islands
The seabird research team at the USGS Western Ecological Research Center is working with many partners to map the terrestrial and marine distributions of breeding seabirds of the main Hawaiian islands.
Ashy Storm-Petrel Range and Colony Attendance Behavior
Together with Federal and non-profit partners, WERC's Josh Adams and team are using cutting-edge technology to study the range and colony attendance patterns of the Ashy Storm-Petrel, an elusive seabird native to offshore rocks and islands along the California coast. Their research informs management and conservation for this threatened seabird species.
Seabird Health and Adaptive Management
Dr. Josh Adams and his science team at WERC study seabird health and support adaptive management by quantifying abundance patterns and behaviors associated with habitats at sea, where seabirds spend the overwhelming majority of their lives. Adams’s team also employs conservation science to support resource managers on land, where seabirds are obligated to nest. His group provides scientific...
Seabird Ecology and Marine Planning
Seabirds are Department of the Interior (DOI) Trust Species and are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the Endangered Species Act. To support science-based decision capacity and Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) among U.S. Government resource managers, Dr. Josh Adams and the WERC seabird team have partnered with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,...
Santa Cruz Field Station
Scientists at the Santa Cruz Field Station study sea otters and seabirds in their environment. The USGS Western Ecological Research Center has two research missions based in the Santa Cruz region:
Across borders: External factors and prior behaviour influence North Pacific albatross associations with fishing vessels
Understanding encounters between marine predators and fisheries across national borders and outside national jurisdictions offers new perspectives on unwanted interactions to inform ocean management and predator conservation. Although seabird–fisheries overlap has been documented at many scales, remote identification of vessel encounters has...
Orben, Rachael A; Adams, Josh; Hester, Michelle M.; Shaffer, Scott A.; Suryan, Robert M.; Deguchi, Tomohiro; Ozaki, Kiyoaki; Sato, Fumio; Young, Lindsay C.; Clatterbuck, Corey A.; Conners, Melinda G.; Kroodsma, David A; Torres, Leigh G Global political responsibility for the conservation of albatrosses and large petrels
Migratory marine species cross political borders and enter the high seas, where the lack of an effective global management framework for biodiversity leaves them vulnerable to threats. Here, we combine 10,108 tracks from 5775 individual birds at 87 sites with data on breeding population sizes to estimate the relative year-round importance of...
Beal, Martin; Dias, Maria P.; Phillips, Richard A.; Oppel, Steffen; Hazin, Carolina; Pearmin, Elizabeth J.; Adams, Josh; Anderson, David J; Antolos, Michelle; Arata, Javier A; Arcos, José Manuel; Arnould, John P. Y.; Awkerman, Jill; Bell, Elizabeth; Bell, Mike; Carey, Mark; Carle, Ryan; Clay, Thomas A; Cleeland, Jaimie; Colodro, Valentina; Conners, Melinda G.; Cruz-Flores, Marta; Cuthbert, Richard; Delord, Karine; Deppe, Lorna; Dilley, Ben J; Dinis, Herculano A.; Elliot, Graeme; de Felipe, Fernanda; Felis, Jonathan J.; Forero, Manuela G.; Freeman, Amanda; Fukuda, Akira; González-Solís, Jacob; Granadeiro, José Pedro; Hedd, April; Hodum, Peter; Igual, José Manuel; Jaeger, Audrey; Landers, Todd J; Matthieu, Le Corre; Makhado, Azwianewi; Metzger, Benjamin; Militão, Teresa; Montevecchi, William A; Morera-Pujol, Virginia; Navarro-Herrero, Leia; Nel, Deon; Nicholls, David; Oro, Daniel; Ouni, Ridha; Ozaki, Kiyoaki; Quintana, Flavio; Ramos, Raül; Reid, Tim; Reyes-González, José Manuel; Robertson, Christopher; Robertson, Graham; Romdhane, Mohamed Salah; Ryan, Peter G.; Sagar, Paul; Sato, Fumio; Schoombie, Stefan; Scofield, R. Paul; Shaffer, Scott A.; Shah, Nirmal Jivan; Stevens, Kim L; Surman, Christopher; Suryan, Robert M.; Takahashi, Akinori; Tatayah, Vikash; Taylor, Graeme; Thompson, David R.; Torres, Leigh; Walker, Kath; Wanless, Ross M.; Waugh, Susan M.; Weimerskirch, Henri; Yamamoto, Takashi; Zajkova, Zuzana; Zango, Laura; Catry, Paulo Multidecadal comparison of Red-footed Booby Sula sula diet at Ulupa'u Crater, O'ahu, Hawai'i
We describe the diet of Red-footed Boobies Sula sula nesting at Ulupaʻu Crater, Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi based on 106 regurgitations collected during 2014 and 2015. We also compare our results to a diet study at this colony five decades earlier. Both studies indicate that flying squid (Ommastrephidae) and flyingfish (Exocoetidae) are important prey for this...
Donahue, Sarah E.; Adams, Josh; Hyrenbach, K David Genetic analysis of the diet of red‐footed boobies (Sula sula) provisioning chicks at Ulupa'u Crater, O'ahu
The diet of red‐footed boobies (Sula sula) provisioning chicks was quantified using 106 regurgitations collected from 81 adults over two study years with contrasting oceanographic conditions: 2014 and 2015.A total of 1,049 prey items were sorted into three broad categories (fish, squid, and other, consisting of highly‐digested ‘mush’ and parasitic...
Donahue, Sarah E.; Adams, Josh; Renshaw, Mark A; Hyrenbach, K David Genetic diversity, population structure, and historical demography of a highly vagile and human‐impacted seabird in the Pacific Ocean: The red‐tailed tropicbird, Phaethon rubricauda
Many seabird breeding colonies have recovered from heavy anthropogenic disturbance after conservation actions. The widely distributed red‐tailed tropicbird, Phaethon rubricauda, was used as a model species to assess potential anthropogenic impacts on the genetic diversity of breeding colonies in the Pacific Ocean.Cytochrome c ...
Varela, Andrea I; Brokordt, Katherina; Ismar‐Rebitz, Stefanie M.H.; Gaskin, Chris P; Carlile, Nicholas; O'Dwyer, Terence; Adams, Josh; Vanderwerf, Eric A.; Luna‐Jorquera, Guillermo
Population estimates for selected breeding seabirds at Kīlauea Point National Wildlife Refuge, Kauaʻi, in 2019
Kīlauea Point National Wildlife Refuge (KPNWR) is an important seabird breeding site located at the northeastern tip of Kauaʻi in the main Hawaiian Islands. Despite the regional significance of KPNWR as one of the most important breeding sites for red-tailed tropicbirds (Phaethon rubricauda), red-footed boobies (Sula sula), and wedge-tailed...
Felis, Jonathan J.; Kelsey, Emily C.; Adams, Josh; Stenske, Jennilyn G.; White, Laney M. Post-release survival of fallout Newell’s Shearwater fledglings from a rescue and rehabilitation program on Kauai, Hawaii
Light attraction impacts nocturnally active fledgling seabirds worldwide and is a particularly acute problem on Kaua‘i (the northern-most island in the main Hawaiian Island archipelago) for the Critically Endangered Newell’s shearwater Puffinus newelli. The Save Our Shearwaters (SOS) program was created in 1979 to address this issue and to...
Raine, Andre F.; Anderson, Tracy; Vynne, Megan; Driskill, Scott; Raine, Helen; Adams, Josh
Abundance and productivity of marbled murrelets (Brachyramphus marmoratus) off central California during the 2019 breeding season
Marbled murrelets (Brachyramphus marmoratus) have been listed as “endangered” by the State of California and “threatened” by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service since 1992 in California, Oregon, and Washington. Information regarding marbled murrelet abundance, distribution, population trends, and habitat associations is critical for risk assessment...
Felis, Jonathan J.; Kelsey, Emily C.; Adams, Josh; Horton, Cheryl; White, Laura (Laney) Pacific Continental Shelf Environmental Assessment (PaCSEA): Characterization of Seasonal Water Masses within the Northern California Current System Using Airborne Remote Sensing off Northern California, Oregon, and Washington, 2011–2012
Here, we use ocean color measurements (Figure 1) and sea surface temperature (SST) data collected using sensors mounted on low-flying aircraft to characterize NCCS water masses and identify patterns among seasons and between years. To accomplish this, we applied k-means clustering to measured and derived ecologically-relevant physical and bio-...
Schulien, J A; Adams, Josh; Felis, Jonathan J. Habitat affinities and at-sea ranging behaviors among main Hawaiian Island seabirds: Breeding seabird telemetry, 2013–2016
Recent Hawaiʻi state clean energy policy mandates and federal interest in developing offshore renewable energy resources have prompted unsolicited lease requests for offshore wind energy infrastructure (OWEI) to be located in ocean waters off Hawaiʻi. This study describing at-sea ranging behaviors for five seabirds was intended to provide new...
Adams, Josh; Felis, Jonathan J.; Czapanskiy, Max Spatial and temporal diving behavior of non-breeding common murres during two summers of contrasting ocean conditions
Successful foraging of marine predators depends on environmental conditions, which also influence prey availability. Neutral or negative El Niño Southern Oscillation and Pacific Decadal Oscillation ocean conditions during the summer of 2013 and strongly positive conditions during the summer of 2015 in the northern California Current System...
Laredo, Stephanie A; Orben, Rachael A; Suryan, Robert M.; Lyons, Donald E.; Adams, Josh Synopsis of research programs that can provide baseline and monitoring information for offshore energy activities in the Pacific region: Seabird and marine mammal surveys in the Pacific region
We assembled and tabulated information about marine bird and mammal research and monitoring programs that could provide data needed to support environmental risk assessments. This included identifying ongoing or completed research programs that contain information on species and habitats sensitive to offshore energy activities and that could...
Adams, Josh; Lafferty, Kevin D.; Kelsey, Emily C.; Johnston, Cora A.
12 Days of Conifers: Where the Forest Meets the Sea: Seabirds, Conifers, and Wildfire
It’s Day 12 of 12 Days Of Conifers and today we feature a tale of land and sea, involving two conifers and the little seabird that nests in their highest branches.
WERC Scientists Combine Bird Calls and Artificial Intelligence to Keep Tabs on the Elusive Ashy-Storm Petrel (Audubon magazine)
CALIFORNIA COAST – Artificial intelligence and acoustic sensors help scientists monitor seabirds
A Day in the Life of a WERC Seabird Scientist
In the featured photo, WERC scientists search for potential nesting habitat of seabirds like the Ashy Storm-Petrel (Oceanodroma homochroa) on False Klamath Rock off the coast of California.