Assistant Unit Leader - Oregon Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units
I am currently the project coordinator Assistant Unit Leader for the Oregon Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit in Corvallis, Oregon. My most recent work examines the role of estuarine habitat diversity in supporting juvenile salmon during their out-migration.
RESEARCH INTERESTS
- Restoration Ecology
- Community Ecology
- Invertebrates
- Salmon
- Wildlife Ecology
Professional Experience
Assistant Unit Leader, Oregon Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, 2020-
Education and Certifications
Ph.D. University of Washington, 2019
M.S. Colorado State University, Ecology, 2012
B.S. Miami University of Ohio, Zoology, Chemistry, 2009
Science and Products
Can coastal habitats rise to the challenge? Resilience of estuarine habitats, carbon accumulation, and economic value to sea-level rise in a Puget Sound estuary
Sea-level rise (SLR) and obstructions to sediment delivery pose challenges to the persistence of estuarine habitats and the ecosystem services they provide. Restoration actions and sediment management strategies may help mitigate such challenges by encouraging the vertical accretion of sediment in and horizontal migration of tidal forests and marshes. We used a process-based soil accretion model (
A climate-mediated shift in the estuarine habitat mosaic limits prey availability and reduces nursery quality for juvenile salmon
The estuarine habitat mosaic supports the reproduction, growth, and survival of resident and migratory fish species by providing a diverse portfolio of unique habitats with varying physical and biological features. Global climate change is expected to result in increasing temperatures, rising sea levels, and changes in riverine hydrology, which will have profound effects on the extent and composit
Variable prey consumption leads to distinct regional differences in Chinook salmon growth during the early marine critical period
Growth during the early marine critical period is positively associated with survival and recruitment for Pacific salmon Oncorhynchus spp., so it is important to understand how certain foraging strategies may bolster growth in estuarine and marine environments. To elucidate how spatiotemporal and demographic differences in diet contribute to growth rate variability, we analyzed stomach contents in
Carbon sources in the sediments of a restoring vs. historically unaltered salt marsh
Salt marshes provide the important ecosystem service of carbon storage in their sediments; however, little is known about the sources of such carbon and whether they differ between historically unaltered and restoring systems. In this study, stable isotope analysis was used to quantify carbon sources in a restoring, sparsely vegetated marsh (Restoring) and an adjacent, historically unaltered marsh
Development and implementation of an empirical habitat change model and decision support tool for estuarine ecosystems
Widespread land use change in coastal ecosystems has led to a decline in the amount of habitat available for fish and wildlife, lower production of ecosystem goods and services, and loss of recreational and aesthetic value. This has prompted global efforts to restore the natural hydrologic regimes of developed shorelines, especially resource-rich estuaries, but the resilience of these restored eco
A mosaic of estuarine habitat types with prey resources from multiple environmental strata supports a diversified foraging portfolio for juvenile Chinook salmon
Estuaries provide vital nursery habitat for threatened Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) by promoting an ecological portfolio effect, whereby multiple habitat types and environmental strata maximize foraging opportunities for out-migrating salmon by varying the abundance and composition of prey through space and time. To study this portfolio effect, we evaluated the foraging capacity of fi
Freshwater tidal forests and estuarine wetlands may confer early life growth advantages for delta-reared Chinook Salmon
Large river deltas are complex ecosystems that are believed to play a pivotal role in promoting the early marine growth and survival of threatened Chinook Salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha. We used a fish bioenergetics model to assess the functional role of multiple delta habitats across a gradient of salinities and vegetation types, where consumption and growth rate potential (GRP) were considered
Changes in aquatic prey resources in response to estuary restoration in Willapa Bay, southwestern Washington
Executive SummaryThe ongoing restoration of more than 200 hectares of estuarine habitat at Willapa National Wildlife Refuge, southwestern Washington, is expected to benefit a variety of species, including salmonids that use estuarine and tidal marshes as rearing and feeding areas as well as migratory waterbirds. During March–June 2014 and 2015, U.S. Geological Survey Western Ecological Research Ce
Integrated diet analyses reveal contrasting trophic niches for wild and hatchery juvenile Chinook Salmon in a large river delta
Hatchery programs have been used as a conservation tool to bolster declining populations of Chinook Salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha along much of the North American Pacific coast. In many watersheds, hatchery stocks are released concurrently with the wild population, thus raising the potential for density‐dependent effects. Competition for prey resources during the critical period for early marine
Enhanced invertebrate prey production following estuarine restoration supports foraging for multiple species of juvenile salmonids (Oncorhynchus spp.)
Estuaries provide crucial foraging resources and nursery habitat for threatened populations of anadromous salmon. As such, there has been a global undertaking to restore habitat and tidal processes in modified estuaries. The foraging capacity of these ecosystems to support various species of out-migrating juvenile salmon can be quantified by monitoring benthic, terrestrial, and pelagic invertebrat
Gauging resource exploitation by juvenile Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) in restoring estuarine habitat
In the context of delta restoration and its impact on salmonid rearing, success is best evaluated based on whether out-migrating juvenile salmon can access and benefit from suitable estuarine habitat. Here, we integrated 3 years of post-restoration monitoring data including habitat availability, invertebrate prey biomass, and juvenile Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) physiological conditi
Changes in habitat availability for outmigrating juvenile salmon (Oncorhychus spp.) following estuary restoration
The restoration of the Nisqually River Delta (Washington, U.S.A.) represents one of the largest efforts toward reestablishing the ecosystem function and resilience of modified habitat in the Puget Sound, particularly for anadromous salmonid species. The opportunity for outmigrating salmon to access and benefit from the expansion of available tidal habitat can be quantified by several physical attr
Non-USGS Publications**
Anderson, CM et al. 2019. How commercial fishing effort is managed. Fish and Fisheries 20:268-285. https://doi.org/10.1111/faf.12339
Riginos, C, M Graham, MJ Davis, A Johnson, A May, K Ryer, and L Hall. 2018. Wildlife Warning Reflectors and White Canvas Reduce Deer-Vehicle Collisions and Risky Road-Crossing Behavior. The Wildlife Society Bulletin 42:119-130. https://doi.org/10.1002/wsb.862
Riginos, C, MW Graham, MJ Davis, C Smith, and A Johnson. 2015. Effects of wildlife warning reflectors ("deer delineators") on wildlife-vehicle collisions in central Wyoming. Technical Publication FHWA-WY-15/03F. Wyoming Department of Transportation, Wyoming, USA. https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/29527
Davis, MJ, S Thokala, X Xing, NT Hobbs, MW Miller, R Han, and S Mishra. 2013. Testing the functionality and contact error of a GPS-based wildlife tracking network. The Wildlife Society Bulletin 37: 855-861. https://doi.org/10.1002/wsb.303
Davis, MJ, J Purrenhage, and MD Boone. 2012. Elucidating predator-prey interactions using aquatic microcosms: complex effects of a crayfish predator, vegetation, and atrazine on tadpole survival and behavior. Journal of Herpetology 46:527-534. https://doi.org/10.1670/10-185
Davis, MJ, S Thokala, X Xing, NT Hobbs, D Walsh, R Han, and S Mishra. 2012. Developing a data transfer model for WildSense: a wildlife tracking network. The Wildlife Society Bulletin 36:820-827. https://doi.org/10.1002/wsb.188
Davis, MJ, PN Kleinhenz, and MD Boone. 2011. Juvenile green frog (Rana clamitans) predatory ability not affected by exposure to carbaryl at different times during larval development. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 30:1618-1620. https://doi.org/10.1002/etc.539
**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.
Assessing the Benefits and Vulnerability of Current and Future Potential Ecosystem Services of the Nisqually River Delta and other Puget Sound Estuaries
The Nisqually River Delta represents the largest wetland restoration in the Pacific Northwest. The restoration resulted in a 50% increase in potential salt marsh habitat. The Delta supports threatened salmon fisheries, large populations of migratory birds, and provides unique opportunities for recreation. The Delta also provides multiple ecosystem services, which are the benefits that wildlife or
Projected future habitat, elevation change, and carbon accumulation of coastal wetlands in the Nisqually River Delta, Washington
This dataset consists of raster geotiff outputs from modeling habitat change, marsh vertical accretion, and carbon accumulation in the Nisqually River Delta, Washington, USA. These rasters represent projections of future habitat type, change in surface elevation above Mean Sea Level, and total sediment carbon accumulation since 2011 in coastal wetland habitats. Projections were generated in 20-yea
Tidal marsh biomass field plot and remote sensing datasets for six regions in the conterminous United States (ver. 2.0, June 2020)
Remote sensing based maps of tidal marshes, both of their extents and carbon stocks, have the potential to play a key role in conducting greenhouse gas inventories and implementing climate mitigation policies. Our objective was to generate a single remote sensing model of tidal marsh aboveground biomass and carbon that represents nationally diverse tidal marshes within the conterminous United Stat
Science and Products
- Publications
Can coastal habitats rise to the challenge? Resilience of estuarine habitats, carbon accumulation, and economic value to sea-level rise in a Puget Sound estuary
Sea-level rise (SLR) and obstructions to sediment delivery pose challenges to the persistence of estuarine habitats and the ecosystem services they provide. Restoration actions and sediment management strategies may help mitigate such challenges by encouraging the vertical accretion of sediment in and horizontal migration of tidal forests and marshes. We used a process-based soil accretion model (A climate-mediated shift in the estuarine habitat mosaic limits prey availability and reduces nursery quality for juvenile salmon
The estuarine habitat mosaic supports the reproduction, growth, and survival of resident and migratory fish species by providing a diverse portfolio of unique habitats with varying physical and biological features. Global climate change is expected to result in increasing temperatures, rising sea levels, and changes in riverine hydrology, which will have profound effects on the extent and compositVariable prey consumption leads to distinct regional differences in Chinook salmon growth during the early marine critical period
Growth during the early marine critical period is positively associated with survival and recruitment for Pacific salmon Oncorhynchus spp., so it is important to understand how certain foraging strategies may bolster growth in estuarine and marine environments. To elucidate how spatiotemporal and demographic differences in diet contribute to growth rate variability, we analyzed stomach contents inCarbon sources in the sediments of a restoring vs. historically unaltered salt marsh
Salt marshes provide the important ecosystem service of carbon storage in their sediments; however, little is known about the sources of such carbon and whether they differ between historically unaltered and restoring systems. In this study, stable isotope analysis was used to quantify carbon sources in a restoring, sparsely vegetated marsh (Restoring) and an adjacent, historically unaltered marshDevelopment and implementation of an empirical habitat change model and decision support tool for estuarine ecosystems
Widespread land use change in coastal ecosystems has led to a decline in the amount of habitat available for fish and wildlife, lower production of ecosystem goods and services, and loss of recreational and aesthetic value. This has prompted global efforts to restore the natural hydrologic regimes of developed shorelines, especially resource-rich estuaries, but the resilience of these restored ecoA mosaic of estuarine habitat types with prey resources from multiple environmental strata supports a diversified foraging portfolio for juvenile Chinook salmon
Estuaries provide vital nursery habitat for threatened Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) by promoting an ecological portfolio effect, whereby multiple habitat types and environmental strata maximize foraging opportunities for out-migrating salmon by varying the abundance and composition of prey through space and time. To study this portfolio effect, we evaluated the foraging capacity of fiFreshwater tidal forests and estuarine wetlands may confer early life growth advantages for delta-reared Chinook Salmon
Large river deltas are complex ecosystems that are believed to play a pivotal role in promoting the early marine growth and survival of threatened Chinook Salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha. We used a fish bioenergetics model to assess the functional role of multiple delta habitats across a gradient of salinities and vegetation types, where consumption and growth rate potential (GRP) were consideredChanges in aquatic prey resources in response to estuary restoration in Willapa Bay, southwestern Washington
Executive SummaryThe ongoing restoration of more than 200 hectares of estuarine habitat at Willapa National Wildlife Refuge, southwestern Washington, is expected to benefit a variety of species, including salmonids that use estuarine and tidal marshes as rearing and feeding areas as well as migratory waterbirds. During March–June 2014 and 2015, U.S. Geological Survey Western Ecological Research CeIntegrated diet analyses reveal contrasting trophic niches for wild and hatchery juvenile Chinook Salmon in a large river delta
Hatchery programs have been used as a conservation tool to bolster declining populations of Chinook Salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha along much of the North American Pacific coast. In many watersheds, hatchery stocks are released concurrently with the wild population, thus raising the potential for density‐dependent effects. Competition for prey resources during the critical period for early marineEnhanced invertebrate prey production following estuarine restoration supports foraging for multiple species of juvenile salmonids (Oncorhynchus spp.)
Estuaries provide crucial foraging resources and nursery habitat for threatened populations of anadromous salmon. As such, there has been a global undertaking to restore habitat and tidal processes in modified estuaries. The foraging capacity of these ecosystems to support various species of out-migrating juvenile salmon can be quantified by monitoring benthic, terrestrial, and pelagic invertebratGauging resource exploitation by juvenile Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) in restoring estuarine habitat
In the context of delta restoration and its impact on salmonid rearing, success is best evaluated based on whether out-migrating juvenile salmon can access and benefit from suitable estuarine habitat. Here, we integrated 3 years of post-restoration monitoring data including habitat availability, invertebrate prey biomass, and juvenile Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) physiological conditiChanges in habitat availability for outmigrating juvenile salmon (Oncorhychus spp.) following estuary restoration
The restoration of the Nisqually River Delta (Washington, U.S.A.) represents one of the largest efforts toward reestablishing the ecosystem function and resilience of modified habitat in the Puget Sound, particularly for anadromous salmonid species. The opportunity for outmigrating salmon to access and benefit from the expansion of available tidal habitat can be quantified by several physical attrNon-USGS Publications**
Anderson, CM et al. 2019. How commercial fishing effort is managed. Fish and Fisheries 20:268-285. https://doi.org/10.1111/faf.12339Riginos, C, M Graham, MJ Davis, A Johnson, A May, K Ryer, and L Hall. 2018. Wildlife Warning Reflectors and White Canvas Reduce Deer-Vehicle Collisions and Risky Road-Crossing Behavior. The Wildlife Society Bulletin 42:119-130. https://doi.org/10.1002/wsb.862Riginos, C, MW Graham, MJ Davis, C Smith, and A Johnson. 2015. Effects of wildlife warning reflectors ("deer delineators") on wildlife-vehicle collisions in central Wyoming. Technical Publication FHWA-WY-15/03F. Wyoming Department of Transportation, Wyoming, USA. https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/29527Davis, MJ, S Thokala, X Xing, NT Hobbs, MW Miller, R Han, and S Mishra. 2013. Testing the functionality and contact error of a GPS-based wildlife tracking network. The Wildlife Society Bulletin 37: 855-861. https://doi.org/10.1002/wsb.303Davis, MJ, J Purrenhage, and MD Boone. 2012. Elucidating predator-prey interactions using aquatic microcosms: complex effects of a crayfish predator, vegetation, and atrazine on tadpole survival and behavior. Journal of Herpetology 46:527-534. https://doi.org/10.1670/10-185Davis, MJ, S Thokala, X Xing, NT Hobbs, D Walsh, R Han, and S Mishra. 2012. Developing a data transfer model for WildSense: a wildlife tracking network. The Wildlife Society Bulletin 36:820-827. https://doi.org/10.1002/wsb.188Davis, MJ, PN Kleinhenz, and MD Boone. 2011. Juvenile green frog (Rana clamitans) predatory ability not affected by exposure to carbaryl at different times during larval development. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 30:1618-1620. https://doi.org/10.1002/etc.539**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
Assessing the Benefits and Vulnerability of Current and Future Potential Ecosystem Services of the Nisqually River Delta and other Puget Sound Estuaries
The Nisqually River Delta represents the largest wetland restoration in the Pacific Northwest. The restoration resulted in a 50% increase in potential salt marsh habitat. The Delta supports threatened salmon fisheries, large populations of migratory birds, and provides unique opportunities for recreation. The Delta also provides multiple ecosystem services, which are the benefits that wildlife or - Data
Projected future habitat, elevation change, and carbon accumulation of coastal wetlands in the Nisqually River Delta, Washington
This dataset consists of raster geotiff outputs from modeling habitat change, marsh vertical accretion, and carbon accumulation in the Nisqually River Delta, Washington, USA. These rasters represent projections of future habitat type, change in surface elevation above Mean Sea Level, and total sediment carbon accumulation since 2011 in coastal wetland habitats. Projections were generated in 20-yeaTidal marsh biomass field plot and remote sensing datasets for six regions in the conterminous United States (ver. 2.0, June 2020)
Remote sensing based maps of tidal marshes, both of their extents and carbon stocks, have the potential to play a key role in conducting greenhouse gas inventories and implementing climate mitigation policies. Our objective was to generate a single remote sensing model of tidal marsh aboveground biomass and carbon that represents nationally diverse tidal marshes within the conterminous United Stat - News