Peter Coates
Biography
Dr. Peter Coates is interested in sound science and management practices aimed at restoring wildlife communities and their habitats. He is committed to progressive, scientifically defensible conservation actions in the face of increasing human population size and individual consumption. Abundance and distribution of wild populations often can be linked to changes in their environments caused by human land use practices, but identifying the ecological mechanisms of declining populations are often challenging. Specifically, Dr. Coates is interested in investigating the links between nesting habitat, predator composition, and incubation behavior and success of birds. Additionally, he is interested in the effects of anthropogenic-resource subsidies on the survival and reproduction of predators and how these changes influence demographics and distribution of prey populations. Dr. Coates seeks to develop a broader understanding of how human-caused landscape changes affect communities and aim to identify restoration practices that preserve natural ecological processes. He is also interested in behavioral traits of grouse that affect population establishment and persistence in the face of environmental challenges.
RESEARCH INTERESTS
- Avian Ecology
- Behavioral ecology of vertebrates
- Conservation biology
- Effects of Anthropogenic Disturbance
- Geographic Information Systems
- Habitat modeling
- Telemetry (radio and/or satellite)
EDUCATION
- Ph. D., Biology, Idaho State University 2007
- M. S., Biology, University of Nevada Reno 2001
- B. S., Conservation Biology, University of Nevada Reno 1998
PROFESSIONAL AND HONORARY SOCIETIES AND SCIENCE ADVISORY COMMITTEES
- American Ornithologists Union
- Cooper Ornithological Society
- Jack H. Berryman Institute
- Society for Conservation Biology
- The Wildlife Society
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
- Wildlife Biologist, U. S. Geological Survey, 2008–present
- Postdoctoral Appointment, Idaho State University, 2008
- Seasonal Wildlife Biologist, Wildlife Conservation Society, 2007
- Graduate Research Assistantship, Idaho State University, 2002–2007
- Teaching Assistantship, Idaho State University, 2004–2007
- National Science Foundation GK–12 Teaching F, Idaho State University, 2005–2006
- Seasonal Biological Specialist, U. S. Department of Agriculture, 2003–2005
- Field Research Technician, University of Nevada Reno, 1999
- Conservation Biological Technician I, II, and III, Nevada Department of Wildlife, 1996–1998
Science and Products
WERC Fire Science
WERC scientists are defining the past, present, and future of wildfires for wildlife and human communities. Explore this webpage to learn about specific, ongoing projects across California and parts of Nevada.
Greater Sage-Grouse Population Ecology
Greater Sage-grouse are iconic birds found only in the Great Basin of the western U.S. Known for their showy courting displays, sage-grouse rely on native sagebrush habitat to shelter their young. Dr. Pete Coates is providing resource managers with the tools and information they need to conserve sage-grouse as invasive plants, evolving wildfire patterns, and energy development change the Great...
Stressors to Greater Sage-Grouse
The Greater Sage-grouse is a small bird found only in the sagebrush steppe of the Great Basin. Invasions of non-native grasses, evolving wildfire patterns, grazing from livestock, and human land uses are changing this unique ecosystem. WERC’s Dr. Pete Coates studies sage-grouse populations to determine how these influences could affect the bird and other wildlife in the future.
Reproductive Success of Black-Crowned Night-Herons and Snowy Egrets on Alcatraz Island
Years after the last inmate departed Alcatraz Island, waterbirds like Black-crowned Night Herons and Snowy Egrets still make the forbidding island their home. The National Park Service has requested the aid of WERC’s Dr. Pete Coates to inform efforts to expand visitor access to the Island, and simultaneously maintain healthy waterbird populations.
Dixon Field Station
WERC scientists at the Dixon Field Station conduct studies from the San Francisco Bay-Delta in California to the Great Basin spanning California and Nevada.
Range-wide greater sage-grouse hierarchical monitoring framework—Implications for defining population boundaries, trend estimation, and a targeted annual warning system
Incorporating spatial and temporal scales into greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) population monitoring strategies is challenging and rarely implemented. Sage-grouse populations experience fluctuations in abundance that lead to temporal oscillations, making trend estimation difficult. Accounting for stochasticity is critical to...
Coates, Peter S.; Prochazka, Brian G.; O'Donnell, Michael S.; Aldridge, Cameron L.; Edmunds, David R.; Monroe, Adrian P.; Ricca, Mark A.; Wann, Gregory T.; Hanser, Steve E.; Wiechman, Lief A.; Chenaille, Michael
Free-roaming horses disrupt greater sage-grouse lekking activity in the Great Basin
Greater Sage-Grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus; hereafter, sage-grouse) and free-roaming horses (Equus caballus) co-occur within large portions of sagebrush ecosystems within the Great Basin of western North America. In recent decades, sage-grouse populations have declined substantially while concomitant free-roaming horse populations have...
Munoz, Diana A.; Coates, Peter S.; Ricca, Mark A. Postfire growth of seeded and planted big sagebrush - Strategic designs for restoring Greater Sage-grouse nesting habitat
Wildfires change plant community structure and impact wildlife habitat and population dynamics. Recent wildfire‐induced losses of big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) in North American shrublands are outpacing natural recovery and leading to substantial losses in habitat for sagebrush‐obligate species such as Greater Sage‐grouse. Managers are...
Pyke, David A.; Shriver, Robert K.; Arkle, Robert; Pilliod, David; Aldridge, Cameron L.; Coates, Peter S.; Germino, Matthew; Heinrichs, Julie Arlene; Ricca, Mark A.; Shaff, Scott Wildfire and the ecological niche: Diminishing habitat suitability for an indicator species within semi‐arid ecosystems
Globally accelerating frequency and extent of wildfire threatens the persistence of specialist wildlife species through direct loss of habitat and indirect facilitation of exotic invasive species. Habitat specialists may be especially prone to rapidly changing environmental conditions because their ability to adapt lags behind the rate of habitat...
O'Neil, Shawn; Coates, Peter S.; Brussee, Brianne E.; Ricca, Mark A.; Espinosa, Shawn P.; Gardner, Scott C.; Delahanty, David J First recorded observations of conspecific egg and nestling consumption in common ravens (Corvus corax)
We observed cannibalism, the act of consuming a conspecific, of eggs and nestlings by Common Ravens (Corvus corax; hereafter “raven”) by video-monitoring nests in Nevada and California. Specifically, within the sagebrush steppe of Nevada, adult ravens killed and consumed raven chicks from an active nest. Additionally, on the coast of California,...
Atkinson, Joseph; Coates, Peter S.; Brussee, Brianne E.; Delehanty, David J. Greater sage-grouse chick killed by Great Basin gopher snake
Despite extensive range overlap between Great Basin gopher snakes (Pituophis catenifer deserticola) and Greater Sage-Grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) within sagebrush ecosystems, there are few documented predator–prey interactions between these species. Although gopher snakes have been observed preying on nests of other prairie grouse, studies...
McIntire, Sarah E; Rabon, Jordan C; Coates, Peter S.; Ricca, Mark A.; Johnson, Tracey N Broad-scale impacts of an invasive native predator on a sensitive native prey species within the shifting avian community of the North American Great Basin
Human enterprise has modified ecosystem processes through direct and indirect alteration of native predators’ distribution and abundance. For example, human activities subsidize food, water, and shelter availability to generalist predators whose subsequent increased abundance impacts lower trophic-level prey species. The common raven (Corvus corax...
Coates, Peter S.; O'Neil, Shawn; Brussee, Brianne E.; Ricca, Mark A.; Jackson, Pat J.; Dinkins, Jonathan B.; Howe, Kristy B.; Moser, Ann M.; Foster, Lee J.; Delahunty, David J Integrating ecosystem resilience and resistance into decision support tools for multi-scale population management of a sagebrush indicator species
Imperiled sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) ecosystems of western North America are experiencing unprecedented conservation planning efforts. Advances in decision-support tools operationalize concepts of ecosystem resilience by quantitatively linking spatially explicit variation in soil and plant processes to outcomes of biotic and abiotic disturbances....
Ricca, Mark A.; Coates, Peter S. Spatially explicit models of seasonal habitat for greater sage‐grouse at broad spatial scales: Informing areas for management in Nevada and northeastern California
Defining boundaries of species' habitat across broad spatial scales is often necessary for management decisions, and yet challenging for species that demonstrate differential variation in seasonal habitat use. Spatially explicit indices that incorporate temporal shifts in selection can help overcome such challenges, especially for species of high...
Coates, Peter S.; Brussee, Brianne E.; Ricca, Mark A.; Severson, John; Casazza, Michael L.; Gustafson, K. Ben; Espinosa, Shawn P.; Gardner, Scott C.; Delahunty, David J
Population and habitat analyses for greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) in the bi-state distinct population segment—2018 update
Executive SummaryThe Bi-State Distinct Population Segment (Bi-State DPS) of greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus, hereinafter “sage-grouse”) represents a genetically distinct and geographically isolated population that straddles the border between Nevada and California. The primary threat to these sage-grouse populations is the expansion...
Coates, Peter S.; Ricca, Mark A.; Prochazka, Brian G.; O'Neil, Shawn T.; Severson, John P.; Mathews, Steven R.; Espinosa, Shawn; Gardner, Scott; Lisius, Sherri; Delehanty, David J. Estimating sightability of greater sage-grouse at leks using an aerial infrared system and N-mixture models
Counts of grouse present at leks (breeding grounds) during spring are widely used to monitor population numbers and assess trends. However, only a proportion of birds available to count are detected resulting in a biased population index. We designed a study using an aerial integrated infrared imaging system (AIRIS) and experimental pseudo-leks to...
Coates, Peter S.; Wann, Gregory T.; Gillette, Gifford L.; Ricca, Mark A.; Prochazka, Brian G.; Severson, John P.; Andrle, Katie M.; Espinosa, Shawn P.; Casazza, Michael L.; Delehanty, David J. Designing multi-scale hierarchical monitoring frameworks for wildlife to support management: A sage-grouse case study
Population monitoring is integral to the conservation and management of wildlife; yet, analyses of population demographic data rarely consider processes occurring across spatial scales, potentially limiting the effectiveness of adaptive management. Therefore, we developed a method to identify hierarchical levels of organization (i.e., populations...
O'Donnell, Michael S.; Edmunds, David R.; Aldridge, Cameron L.; Heinrichs, Julie; Coates, Peter S.; Prochazka, Brian G.; Hanser, Steve E.
12 Days of Conifers: Pinyon, Juniper, and the Greater Sage-Grouse
It’s Day 7 of 12 Days Of Conifers and we’re headed to the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada and into the sagebrush country at the edge of the Great Basin.
Research Spotlight: New Research Indicates that Greater Sage-Grouse are Struggling to Adapt to Wildfire-Induced Changes in the Great Basin
Research from the USGS and partners concluded that greater sage-grouse in the Great Basin often select nest sites that result in poor nest survival following wildfire. The poor quality nest sites are strongly associated with spread of invasive understory grasses and loss of shrub canopy cover.
Post-Fire Growth of Seeded and Planted Big Sagebrush – Strategic Designs for Restoring Greater Sage-grouse Nesting Habitat
Recent wildfire-induced losses of big sagebrush are outpacing natural recovery and leading to substantial losses in habitat for species such as greater sage-grouse.
Research Spotlight: Human Enterprise Brings More Ravens to the Great Basin, Threatening Greater Sage-Grouse
A new publication from the US Geological Survey Western Ecological Research Center (USGS WERC) and partners finds that ravens present a major risk to greater sage-grouse, a vulnerable species and prey for the ravens.
Altering Sagebrush Landscapes with Fuel Breaks to Save Them from Wildfire
Linear fuel breaks have long been used to help suppress fire in the Great Basin, and thousands of miles of new fuel breaks may be constructed in coming years to protect sagebrush ecosystems, including greater sage-grouse habitat.
Cumulative Effects of Wildfire Adversely Affect Greater Sage-Grouse in the Great Basin
Slowing fire-related population declines in greater sage-grouse in the Great Basin over the next 30 years may depend on the intensity of fire suppression efforts in core breeding areas and long-term patterns of precipitation, according to a just-published USGS-led study.