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
Inventory and Management Needs Study of Point Loma Herpetofauna (Reptiles and Amphibians) With Comments on Mammals and Invertebrates, 2001
Herpetofauna and Small Mammal Surveys on the Marine Corps Air Gound Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, CA. March 1999-October 2001
Monitoring reptiles and amphibians at long-term biodiversity monitoring stations: the Puente-Chino Hills
Survey results for the Arroyo Toad (Bufo californicus) in the San Bernardino National Forest, 2001
Angeles and San Bernardino National Forest mountain yellow-legged frog (Rana muscosa) surveys, 2000
Uncertainty and spatial linear models for ecological data
Coastal sage scrub case study
Effect of land cover, habitat fragmentation and ant colonies on the distribution and abundance of shrews in southern California
Summary of Arroyo Toad Surveys in the Angeles and San Bernardino National Forests
Pneumocystosis in wild small mammals from California
Spatial analysis on the occurrence of Pneumocystis carinii in the shrew Notiosorex crawfordi in fragmented landscape in southern California
Pneumocystosis in wild small mammals from California
Science and Products
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Filter Total Items: 279
Inventory and Management Needs Study of Point Loma Herpetofauna (Reptiles and Amphibians) With Comments on Mammals and Invertebrates, 2001
No abstract available at this timeAuthorsC. Brown, Robert N. FisherHerpetofauna and Small Mammal Surveys on the Marine Corps Air Gound Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, CA. March 1999-October 2001
No abstract available at this timeAuthorsR. Hirsch, S. Hathaway, Robert N. FisherMonitoring reptiles and amphibians at long-term biodiversity monitoring stations: the Puente-Chino Hills
No abstract available at this timeAuthorsC.D. Haas, R.A. Backlin, C.J. Rochester, Robert N. FisherSurvey results for the Arroyo Toad (Bufo californicus) in the San Bernardino National Forest, 2001
No abstract available at this timeAuthorsC. Brown, Robert N. FisherAngeles and San Bernardino National Forest mountain yellow-legged frog (Rana muscosa) surveys, 2000
No abstract available at this timeAuthorsA. Backlin, R. Hirsch, C. Brown, Robert N. FisherUncertainty and spatial linear models for ecological data
Models are not perfect; they do not fit the data exactly and they do not allow exact prediction. Given that models are imperfect, we need to assess the uncertainties in the fits of the models and their ability to predict new outcomes. The goals of building models for scientific problems include (1) understanding and developing appropriate relationships between variables, and (2) predicting variablAuthorsJay M Ver Hoef, Noel Cressie, Robert N. Fisher, Ted J. CaseCoastal sage scrub case study
In ecological applications of large-scale spatial data to management decisions concerning land planning and conservation, errors and biases may creep into the analysis and decision making at several steps (see Chaps. 1, 2, and 3), including:•Uncertainty in positions of spatial locations of relevant ecological and physiographic features of the landscape.•Uncertainty of the type and attributes of laAuthorsT. J. Case, Robert N. FisherEffect of land cover, habitat fragmentation and ant colonies on the distribution and abundance of shrews in southern California
Because effects of habitat fragmentation and anthropogenic disturbance on native animals have been relatively little studied in arid areas and in insectivores, we investigated the roles of different land covers, habitat fragmentation and ant colonies on the distribution and abundance of shrews, Notiosorex crawfordi and Sorex ornatus, in southern California.Notiosorex crawfordi was the numericallyAuthorsJuha Laakkonen, Robert N. Fisher, Ted J. CaseSummary of Arroyo Toad Surveys in the Angeles and San Bernardino National Forests
No abstract available at this timeAuthorsC. Brown, L. Lyren, Robert N. FisherPneumocystosis in wild small mammals from California
Cyst forms of the opportunistic fungal parasite Pneumocystis carinii were found in the lungs of 34% of the desert shrew, Notiosorex crawfordi (n = 59), 13% of the ornate shrew, Sorex ornatus (n = 55), 6% of the dusky-footed wood rat, Neotoma fuscipes (n = 16), 2.5% of the California meadow vole,Microtus californicus (n = 40), and 50% of the California pocket mouse, Chaetodipus californicus (n= 2)AuthorsJuha Laakkonen, Robert N. Fisher, Ted J. CaseSpatial analysis on the occurrence of Pneumocystis carinii in the shrew Notiosorex crawfordi in fragmented landscape in southern California
No abstract available.AuthorsJuha Laakkonen, Robert N. Fisher, Ted J. CasePneumocystosis in wild small mammals from California
Cyst forms of the opportunistic fungal parasite Pneumocystis carinii were found in the lungs of 34% of the desert shrew, Notiosorex crawfordi (n = 59), 13% of the ornate shrew, Sorex ornatus (n = 55), 6% of the dusky-footed wood rat, Neotoma fuscipes (n = 16), 2.5% of the California meadow vole, Microtus californicus (n = 40), and 50% of the California pocket mouse, Chaetodipus californicus (n = 2AuthorsJuha Laakkonen, Robert N. Fisher, Ted J. Case - News
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