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.
Sage-grouse population dynamics are adversely impacted by overabundant feral horses
In recent decades, feral horse (Equus caballus; horse) populations increased in sagebrush (Artimesia spp.) ecosystems, especially within the Great Basin, to the point of exceeding maximum appropriate management levels (AMLmax), which were set by land administrators to balance resource use by feral horses, livestock, and wildlife....
Coates, Peter S.; O'Neil, Shawn; Munoz, Diana A.; Dwight, Ian; Tull, John C. Synthesizing and analyzing long-term monitoring data: A greater sage-grouse case study
Long-term monitoring of natural resources is imperative for increasing the understanding of ecosystem processes, services, and how to manage those ecosystems to maintain or improve function. Challenges with using these data may occur because methods of monitoring changed over time, multiple organizations collect and manage data differently, and...
O'Donnell, Michael; Edmunds, David R.; Aldridge, Cameron L.; Heinrichs, Julie A.; Monroe, Adrian P.; Coates, Peter S.; Prochazka, Brian G.; Christiansen, Thomas J; Hanser, Steve E.; Wiechman, Lief A.; Cook, Avery A; Espinosa, Shawn P.; Foster, Lee J.; Griffin, Kathleen A.; Kolar, Jesse L; Miller, Katherine S; Moser, Ann M.; Remington, Thomas E.; Runia, Travis J; Schreiber, Leslie A; Schroeder, Michael A; Stiver, San J; Whitford, Nyssa I; Wightman, Catherine S Large-scale wildfire reduces population growth in a peripheral population of sage-grouse
Drastic increases in wildfire size and frequency threaten western North American sagebrush (Artemisia L. spp.) ecosystems. At relatively large spatial scales, wildfire facilitates type conversion of sagebrush-dominated plant communities to monocultures of invasive annual grasses (e.g., Bromus tectorum L.). Annual grasses provide fine...
Dudley, Ian F; Coates, Peter S.; Prochazka, Brian G.; O'Neil, Shawn; Gardner, Scott C.; Delehanty, David J. A customized framework for regional classification of conifers using automated feature extraction
Pinyon and juniper expansion into sagebrush ecosystems is one of the major challenges facing land managers in the Great Basin. Effective pinyon and juniper treatment requires maps that accurately and precisely depict tree location and degree of woodland development so managers can target restoration efforts for early stages of pinyon and juniper...
Roth, Cali L.; Coates, Peter S.; Gustafson, K. Benjamin; Chenaille, Michael; Ricca, Mark A.; Sanchez-Chopitea, Erika; Casazza, Michael L.
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 Nesting, brood rearing, and summer habitat selection by translocated greater sage‐grouse in North Dakota, USA
Human enterprise has led to large‐scale changes in landscapes and altered wildlife population distribution and abundance, necessitating efficient and effective conservation strategies for impacted species. Greater sage‐grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus; hereafter sage‐grouse) are a widespread sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) obligate species that...
Lazenby, Kade D; Coates, Peter S.; O'Neil, Shawn; Kohl, Michel T.; Dahlgren, David K 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. Brood parasitism of greater sage-grouse by California Quail in Idaho
We describe a case of brood parasitism of a Greater Sage-Grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus; hereafter, sage-grouse) nest by California Quail (Callipepla californica; hereafter, quail) in southwestern Idaho during 2019. We observed one quail egg in the parasitized nest; the egg partially hatched, but the chick was dead upon the final nest check. Of...
Rabon, Jordan C; McIntire, Sarah E; Coates, Peter S.; Ricca, Mark A.; Johnson, Tracey N 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 Linking nest microhabitat selection to nest survival within declining pheasant populations in the Central Valley of California
Context: The ring-necked pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) has experienced considerable population declines in recent decades, especially in agricultural environments of the Central Valley of California. Although large-scale changes in land cover have been reported as an important driver of population dynamics, the effects of microhabitat...
Dwight, Ian; Vogt, Jessica H; Coates, Peter S.; Fleskes, Joseph P.; Connelly, Daniel P.; Gardner, Scott C. 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.
When Unchecked, Free-Roaming Horse Populations Threaten Greater Sage-Grouse
Greater sage-grouse populations may decline by more than 70% within free-roaming horse-occupied areas by 2034 if horse populations increase unchecked at current rates. Reducing horse numbers could neutralize their negative impacts.
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.