Robert N Fisher
Dr. Robert Fisher is a conservation biologist with the U.S. Geological Survey’s Western Ecological Research Center and works as part of a large integrated team.
His focus has been on how natural systems are responding to the Anthropocene, and what types of resiliency they have or lack as it relates to maintaining ecological integrity and biodiversity. Additionally, through understanding individual species and community responses to perturbations through modern monitoring techniques, he and his team can determine appropriate management experiments or options to possibly recover resiliency. Geographically they have two foci, the first is southern California where urbanization and conservation planning bring various direct and indirect drivers of ecological change, and climate variability is currently extreme and drives landscape level drought and wildfires. Their second foci are the tropical islands of the Pacific Basin, from Palau and Papua New Guinea east to Hawai’i. These islands have also been driven by human change and are on the front line as extreme recent weather variability in the cyclone belt impact terrestrial ecosystems. Understanding how biodiversity was generated in this ecoregion is critical to managing its loss, and their team focuses across time and space (biogeography) to understand these processes utilizing molecular tools tied to expeditions of discovery in this poorly studied ecoregion.
RESEARCH INTERESTS
- Conservation biology
- Biogeography
- Modelling
- Natural history
- Speciation
- Invasive species
- Climate variability
- Anthropocene
Education and Certifications
Ph.D., Population Biology, University of California, Davis, CA 1995
M.S., Zoology, University of California, Davis, CA 1991
B.S., Biology, University of California, Irvine, CA 1988
Science and Products
Ephemeral stream reaches preserve the evolutionary and distributional history of threespine stickleback in the Santa Clara and Ventura River watersheds of southern California
The precarious persistence of the endangered Sierra Madre yellow-legged frog Rana muscosa in southern California, USA
Photographic evidence of interspecies mating in geckos of the Lepidodactylus lugubris unisexual-bisexual complex (Squamata: Gekkonidae)
Roads influence movement and home ranges of a fragmentation-sensitive carnivore, the bobcat, in an urban landscape
Mapping habitat for multiple species in the Desert Southwest
Movement-based estimation and visualization of space use in 3D for wildlife ecology and conservation
Testing for multiple invasion routes and source populations for the invasive brown treesnake (Boiga irregularis) on Guam: implications for pest management
Two new species of Eimeria (Apicomplexa, Eimeriidae) from tree skinks, Prasinohaema spp. (Sauria: Scincidae), from Papua New Guinea
Four new species of coccidia (Apicomplexa: Eimeriidae) from Owen Stanley Skinks, Papuascincus stanleyanus (Sauria: Scincidae), from Papua New Guinea
Fuzzy boundaries: color and gene flow patterns among parapatric lineages of the western shovel-nosed snake and taxonomic implication
Population declines lead to replicate patterns of internal range structure at the tips of the distribution of the California red-legged frog (Rana draytonii)
A new species of Eimeria Schneider, 1875 (Apicomplexa: Eimeriidae) from the Solomon ground skink, Sphenomorphus solomonis (Boulenger) (Sauria: Scincidae) from Papua New Guinea
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Ephemeral stream reaches preserve the evolutionary and distributional history of threespine stickleback in the Santa Clara and Ventura River watersheds of southern California
Much remains to be understood about the evolutionary history and contemporary landscape genetics of unarmored threespine stickleback in southern California, where populations collectively referred to as Gasterosteus aculeatus williamsoni have severely declined over the past 70+ years and are now endangered. We used mitochondrial sequence and microsatellite data to assess the population genetics anAuthorsJonathan Q. Richmond, David K. Jacobs, Adam R. Backlin, Camm C. Swift, Chris Dellith, Robert N. FisherThe precarious persistence of the endangered Sierra Madre yellow-legged frog Rana muscosa in southern California, USA
We conducted surveys for the Endangered Sierra Madre yellow-legged frog Rana muscosa throughout southern California to evaluate the current distribution and status of the species. Surveys were conducted during 2000–2009 at 150 unique streams and lakes within the San Gabriel, San Bernardino, San Jacinto, and Palomar mountains of southern California. Only nine small, geographically isolated populatiAuthorsAdam R. Backlin, Cynthia J. Hitchcock, Elizabeth A. Gallegos, Julie L. Yee, Robert N. FisherPhotographic evidence of interspecies mating in geckos of the Lepidodactylus lugubris unisexual-bisexual complex (Squamata: Gekkonidae)
An interspecies mating between unisexual Lepidodactylus lugubris and a male of the bisexual Lepidodactylus moestus was photographed by Carlos Cianchini on Kosrae [Island], FSM, at 18:15 h on 22 August 2013 (Figure 1). The mating pair was on a window frame inside a house at Pukusruk Wan village (05°21'01" N, 163°00'41" E, elev. 28 m a.s.l.) on the northeastern side of the island. This is the firstAuthorsDonald W. Buden, Carlos Cianchini, Danko Taborosi, Robert N. Fisher, Aaron Bauer, Ivan IneichRoads influence movement and home ranges of a fragmentation-sensitive carnivore, the bobcat, in an urban landscape
Roads in urbanized areas can impact carnivore populations by constraining their movements and increasing mortality. Bobcats (Lynx rufus) are felids capable of living in urban environments, but are sensitive to habitat fragmentation and, thus, useful indicators of landscape connectivity; in particular, bobcat habitat selection, movement, and mortality may be affected by roads. We analyzed movementAuthorsSharon A Poessel, Erin E. Boydston, Lisa M. Lyren, Robert N. Fisher, Christopher L. Burdett, Robert S. Alonso, Kevin R. CrooksMapping habitat for multiple species in the Desert Southwest
Many utility scale renewable energy projects are currently proposed across the Mojave Ecoregion. Agencies that manage biological resources throughout this region need to understand the potential impacts of these renewable energy projects and their associated infrastructure (for example, transmission corridors, substations, access roads, etc.) on species movement, genetic exchange among populationsAuthorsRichard D. Inman, Kenneth E. Nussear, Todd C. Esque, Amy G. Vandergast, Stacie A. Hathaway, Dustin A. Wood, Kelly R. Barr, Robert N. FisherMovement-based estimation and visualization of space use in 3D for wildlife ecology and conservation
Advances in digital biotelemetry technologies are enabling the collection of bigger and more accurate data on the movements of free-ranging wildlife in space and time. Although many biotelemetry devices record 3D location data with x, y, and z coordinates from tracked animals, the third z coordinate is typically not integrated into studies of animal spatial use. Disregarding the vertical componentAuthorsJeff A. Tracey, James Sheppard, Jun Zhu, Fu-Wen Wei, Ronald R. Swaisgood, Robert N. FisherTesting for multiple invasion routes and source populations for the invasive brown treesnake (Boiga irregularis) on Guam: implications for pest management
The brown treesnake (Boiga irregularis) population on the Pacific island of Guam has reached iconic status as one of the most destructive invasive species of modern times, yet no published works have used genetic data to identify a source population. We used DNA sequence data from multiple genetic markers and coalescent-based phylogenetic methods to place the Guam population within the broader phyAuthorsJonathan Q. Richmond, Dustin A. Wood, James W. Stanford, Robert N. FisherTwo new species of Eimeria (Apicomplexa, Eimeriidae) from tree skinks, Prasinohaema spp. (Sauria: Scincidae), from Papua New Guinea
Between September 1991 and June 1992, feces from 4 species of tree skinks, Prasinohaema spp. from Papua New Guinea, were collected and examined for coccidia. Two species, P. flavipes and P. prehensicauda were found to harbor eimerians which are described as new. Oocysts of Eimeria krausi sp. nov. from P. flavipes were ellipsoidal to subspheroidal with a smooth bilayered wall and measured (L × W) 1AuthorsChris T. McAllister, Donald W. Duszynski, Robert N. Fisher, Christopher C. AustinFour new species of coccidia (Apicomplexa: Eimeriidae) from Owen Stanley Skinks, Papuascincus stanleyanus (Sauria: Scincidae), from Papua New Guinea
Between September and November 1991, 12 Owen Stanley skinks, Papuascincus stanleyanus (Booulenger) were collected from various localities on Papua New Guinea and examined for coccidians. Six (50%) were found to harbour four eimerians that we describe here as new. Oocysts of Eimeria burseyi sp. n. were elongate to ellipsoidal with a bilayered wall and measured (length x width, L x W) 36.0 x 24.0 miAuthorsChris T. McAllister, Donald W. Duszynski, Robert N. Fisher, Christopher C. AustinFuzzy boundaries: color and gene flow patterns among parapatric lineages of the western shovel-nosed snake and taxonomic implication
Accurate delineation of lineage diversity is increasingly important, as species distributions are becoming more reduced and threatened. During the last century, the subspecies category was often used to denote phenotypic variation within a species range and to provide a framework for understanding lineage differentiation, often considered incipient speciation. While this category has largely falleAuthorsDustin A. Wood, Robert N. Fisher, Amy G. VandergastPopulation declines lead to replicate patterns of internal range structure at the tips of the distribution of the California red-legged frog (Rana draytonii)
Demographic declines and increased isolation of peripheral populations of the threatened California red-legged frog (Rana draytonii) have led to the formation of internal range boundaries at opposite ends of the species’ distribution. While the population genetics of the southern internal boundary has been studied in some detail, similar information is lacking for the northern part of the range. IAuthorsJonathan Q. Richmond, Adam R. Backlin, Patricia J. Tatarian, Ben G. Solvesky, Robert N. FisherA new species of Eimeria Schneider, 1875 (Apicomplexa: Eimeriidae) from the Solomon ground skink, Sphenomorphus solomonis (Boulenger) (Sauria: Scincidae) from Papua New Guinea
Between September 1990 and November 1991, 19 Sphenomorphus spp. skinks, including nine S. jobiense, three S. simus, and seven Solomon ground skinks, S. solomonis (Boulenger), were collected from Madang and Morobe Provinces, Papua New Guinea (PNG), and examined for coccidia. A single S. solomonis was found to be infected with a new species of Eimeria Schneider, 1875. Oöcysts of Eimeria perkinsae n.AuthorsChris T. McAllister, Donald W. Duszynski, Robert N. Fisher, Christopher C. Austin - News
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