Mark Wildhaber, PhD
Dr. Mark Wildhaber is a Research Ecologist at the Columbia Environmental Research Center.
Mark has worked at USGS, Columbia Environment Research Center since 1991. His major responsibilities include research in all areas of aquatic ecology, fish biology, behavioral ecology, ecological modeling, and climate change in understanding for and support of conservation and recovery efforts. His expertise includes: at-risk, threatened, and endangered fishes, reproductive ecology, bioenergetics and population, community, and ecosystem modeling and forecasting, population monitoring and experiment designs, and Bayesian and non-Bayesian approaches to analyzing fisheries data. Mark's research includes reproductive behavior and physiology and abiotic and biotic requirements for reproductive success of commercially valuable and/or federally-listed as threatened or endangered fishes; effects of heavy metals and acidic contamination on riverine ecosystems; effects of water management on the benthic fish community of riverine ecosystems; effects of organic and inorganic contamination on aquatic benthic invertebrate communities; and spatial and temporal hierarchical fish population modeling using spatially-explicit individual-based models that incorporate bioenergetics, foraging theory, and other models of habitat choice under varying environmental conditions in the context of global climate to guide conservation and recovery efforts.
Professional Experience
1997-present Research Ecologist/Quantitative Ecology Section Leader, USGS Columbia Environmental Research Center
1991-1997 Statistician, USFWS/NBS National Fisheries Contaminant Research Center
1989-1991 Research Associate and Tutor, Department of Zoology, North Carolina State University
1983-1989 Research and Teaching Assistant, Department of Zoology, North Carolina State University
1981-1983 Teaching Assistant, Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, Texas A&M University
1979 Laboratory Assistant, Department of Biology, Southeast Missouri State University
Education and Certifications
Ph.D. Zoology and Biomathematics, Southeast Missouri State University 1989
M.S. Wildlife and Fisheries Science, Southeast Missouri State University 1985
B.S. Zoology and Mathematics, Minor in Chemistry, Southeast Missouri State University 1981
Affiliations and Memberships*
2017-presesent, International Union for Conservation of Nature, Sturgeon Specialty Group Commission Member
2009-present Member, World Sturgeon Conservation Society
2002-present Fellow, American Institute of Fishery Research Biologists
1993-present Member, North Central Division of the American Fisheries Society
1993-1994 Continuing Education Coordinator, North Central Division of the American Fisheries Society
1993-present Member, Missouri Chapter of the American Fisheries Society
1993-1995 Continuing Education Coordinator, Missouri Chapter of the American Fisheries Society
1990-present Member, American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists
1988-present Member, Animal Behavior Society
2004-present Member, Conservation Committee, Animal Behavior Society
1984-present, Member, American Fisheries Society
1994-1995 Member Publications Award Committee, American Fisheries Society
1994-1998 Associate Editor, The Progressive Fish Culturist, American Fisheries Society
Science and Products
Distribution and habitat use of the Missouri River and Lower Yellowstone River benthic fishes from 1996 to 1998: A baseline for fish community recovery
Identifying structural elements needed for development of a predictive life-history model for pallid and shovelnose sturgeons
Assessing power of large river fish monitoring programs to detect population changes: the Missouri River sturgeon example
Discrete choice modeling of shovelnose sturgeon habitat selection in the Lower Missouri River
Characterization of environmental cues for initiation of reproductive cycling and spawning in shovelnose sturgeon Scaphirhynchus platorynchus in the Lower Missouri River, USA
The Neosho madtom and the multifaceted nature of population limiting factors
Evaluating spawning migration patterns and predicting spawning success of shovelnose sturgeon in the Lower Missouri River
Ecological requirements for pallid sturgeon reproduction and recruitment in the Lower Missouri River: Annual report 2009
Neosho madtom and other ictalurid populations in relation to hydrologic characteristics of an impounded Midwestern warmwater stream: Update
The power to detect trends in Missouri River fish populations within the Pallid Sturgeon Population Assessment Program
Modeling Climate Change and Sturgeon Populations in the Missouri River
Power to detect trends in Missouri River fish populations within the Habitat Assessment Monitoring Program
Non-USGS Publications**
**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.
Science and Products
- Science
- Data
Filter Total Items: 13No Result Found
- Multimedia
- Publications
Filter Total Items: 89
Distribution and habitat use of the Missouri River and Lower Yellowstone River benthic fishes from 1996 to 1998: A baseline for fish community recovery
Past and present Missouri River management practices have resulted in native fishes being identified as in jeopardy. In 1995, the Missouri River Benthic Fishes Study was initiated to provide improved information on Missouri River fish populations and how alterations might affect them. The study produced a baseline against which to evaluate future changes in Missouri River operating criteria. The oAuthorsM. L. Wildhaber, D. W. Gladish, A. ArabIdentifying structural elements needed for development of a predictive life-history model for pallid and shovelnose sturgeons
Intensive management of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers has resulted in dramatic changes to the river systems and their biota. These changes have been implicated in the decline of the pallid sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus albus), which has been listed as a United States federal endangered species. The sympatric shovelnose sturgeon (S. platorynchus) is more common and widespread but has also been inAuthorsMark L. Wildhaber, A. J. DeLonay, D. M. Papoulias, D.L. Galat, R. B. Jacobson, D.G. Simpkins, P.J. Braaten, C. E. Korschgen, M. J. MacAssessing power of large river fish monitoring programs to detect population changes: the Missouri River sturgeon example
In 2003, the US Army Corps of Engineers initiated the Pallid Sturgeon Population Assessment Program (PSPAP) to monitor pallid sturgeon and the fish community of the Missouri River. The power analysis of PSPAP presented here was conducted to guide sampling design and effort decisions. The PSPAP sampling design has a nested structure with multiple gear subsamples within a river bend. Power analysesAuthorsM. L. Wildhaber, S. H. Holan, J.L. Bryan, D. W. Gladish, M. EllersieckDiscrete choice modeling of shovelnose sturgeon habitat selection in the Lower Missouri River
Substantive changes to physical habitat in the Lower Missouri River, resulting from intensive management, have been implicated in the decline of pallid (Scaphirhynchus albus) and shovelnose (S. platorynchus) sturgeon. To aid in habitat rehabilitation efforts, we evaluated habitat selection of gravid, female shovelnose sturgeon during the spawning season in two sections (lower and upper) of the LowAuthorsT.W. Bonnot, Mark L. Wildhaber, J.J. Millspaugh, Aaron J. Delonay, Robert B. Jacobson, J.L. BryanCharacterization of environmental cues for initiation of reproductive cycling and spawning in shovelnose sturgeon Scaphirhynchus platorynchus in the Lower Missouri River, USA
We presume that the shovelnose sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus platorynchus) has evolved to spawn in the springtime when environmental conditions are at some optimum, but this state has not yet been defined. In this study physiological readiness to spawn in shovelnose sturgeon was examined to define more closely when spawning could occur and thus identify and evaluate prevailing environmental conditionsAuthorsD. M. Papoulias, A. J. DeLonay, M.L. Annis, M. L. Wildhaber, D. E. TillittThe Neosho madtom and the multifaceted nature of population limiting factors
No abstract available.AuthorsMark L. WildhaberEvaluating spawning migration patterns and predicting spawning success of shovelnose sturgeon in the Lower Missouri River
Approaches using telemetry, precise reproductive assessments, and surgically implanted data storage tags (DSTs) were used in combination with novel applications of analytical techniques for fish movement studies to describe patterns in migratory behavior and predict spawning success of gravid shovelnose sturgeon. From 2004 to 2007, over 300 gravid female shovelnose sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus platoryAuthorsM. L. Wildhaber, S. H. Holan, G. M. Davis, D. W. Gladish, A. J. DeLonay, D. M. Papoulias, D. K. SommerhauserEcological requirements for pallid sturgeon reproduction and recruitment in the Lower Missouri River: Annual report 2009
The Comprehensive Sturgeon Research Project is a multiyear, multiagency collaborative research framework developed to provide information to support pallid sturgeon recovery and Missouri River management decisions. The general Comprehensive Sturgeon Research Project strategy is to integrate field and laboratory studies of sturgeon reproductive ecology, habitat requirements, and physiology to produAuthorsAaron J. DeLonay, Robert B. Jacobson, Diana M. Papoulias, Mark L. Wildhaber, Kimberly A. Chojnacki, Emily K. Pherigo, Casey L. Bergthold, Gerald E. MestlNeosho madtom and other ictalurid populations in relation to hydrologic characteristics of an impounded Midwestern warmwater stream: Update
The Neosho madtom, Noturus placidus, is a small (less than 75 millimeters in total length) ictalurid that is native to the main stems of the Neosho and Cottonwood Rivers in Kansas and Oklahoma and the Spring River in Kansas and Missouri. The Neosho madtom was federally listed as threatened by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in May 1990. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has been monitoring NeoAuthorsJanice L. Bryan, Mark L. Wildhaber, William B. Leeds, Rima DeyThe power to detect trends in Missouri River fish populations within the Pallid Sturgeon Population Assessment Program
As with all large rivers in the United States, the Missouri River has been altered, with approximately 32.5 percent of the main stem length impounded and 32.5 percent channelized. These physical alterations to the environment have had effects on the fisheries, but studies examining the effects of alterations have been localized and for short periods of time. In response to the U.S. Fish and WildliAuthorsJanice L. Bryan, Mark L. Wildhaber, Dan Gladish, Scott Holan, Mark EllerseickModeling Climate Change and Sturgeon Populations in the Missouri River
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Columbia Environmental Research Center (CERC), in collaboration with researchers from the University of Missouri and Iowa State University, is conducting research to address effects of climate change on sturgeon populations (Scaphirhynchus spp.) in the Missouri River. The CERC is conducting laboratory, field, and modeling research to identify causative factorsAuthorsMark L. WildhaberPower to detect trends in Missouri River fish populations within the Habitat Assessment Monitoring Program
As with all large rivers in the United States, the Missouri River has been altered, with approximately one-third of the mainstem length impounded and one-third channelized. These physical alterations to the environment have affected the fish populations, but studies examining the effects of alterations have been localized and for short periods of time, thereby preventing generalization. In responsAuthorsJanice L. Bryan, Mark L. Wildhaber, Dan W. GladishNon-USGS Publications**
Wildhaber, M.L., and Neill, W.H., 1992, Activity and distribution of northern and Florida largemouth bass in a Texas impound: Journal of Freshwater Ecology, v. 7, no. 3, p. 293-302
Wildhaber, M.L., and Crowder, L.B., 1991, Mechanisms of patch choice by bluegills (Lepomis macrochirus) foraging in a variable environment: Copeia, v. 1991, no. 2, p. 445-460Wildhaber, M.L., Green, R.F., and Crowder, L.B., 1994, Bluegills continuously update patch giving-up times based on foraging experience: Animal Behaviour, v. 47, no. 3, p. 501-513.W. Westerman, P., M. Losordo, T., and L. Wildhaber, M., 1996, Evaluation of Various Biofilters in an Intensive Recirculating Fish Production Facility: Transactions of the ASAE, v. 39, no. 2, p. 723-727.**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.
*Disclaimer: Listing outside positions with professional scientific organizations on this Staff Profile are for informational purposes only and do not constitute an endorsement of those professional scientific organizations or their activities by the USGS, Department of the Interior, or U.S. Government