Robert N Fisher
Biography
Dr. Robert Fisher is a conservation biologist with the US 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.
EDUCATION
- 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
RESEARCH INTERESTS
- Conservation biology
- Biogeography
- Modelling
- Natural history
- Speciation
- Invasive species
- Climate variability
- Anthropocene
Science and Products
Planning and setting objectives in field studies: Chapter 2
This chapter enumerates the steps required in designing and planning field studies on the ecology and conservation of reptiles, as these involve a high level of uncertainty and risk. To this end, the chapter differentiates between goals (descriptions of what one intends to accomplish) and objectives (the measurable steps required to achieve the...
Dodd, C. Kenneth; Fisher, Robert N. Historical habitat barriers prevent ring-like genetic continuity throughout the distribution of threatened Alameda Striped Racers (Coluber lateralis euryxanthus)
We used microsatellites and mtDNA sequences to examine the mixed effects of geophysical, habitat, and contemporary urban barriers on the genetics of threatened Alameda Striped Racers (Coluber lateralis euryxanthus), a species with close ties to declining coastal scrub and chaparral habitat in the eastern San Francisco Bay area of California. We...
Richmond, Jonathan Q.; Wood, Dustin A.; Swaim, Karen; Fisher, Robert N.; Vandergast, Amy G. Status of the California Red-legged Frog (Rana draytonii) in the State of Baja California, México
The California Red-legged Frog (Rana draytonii) is a threatened species in the United States that has undergone population declines, especially in southern California. Due to the lack of information on the status of Mexican populations, we surveyed for the presence of R. draytonii in Baja California and assessed possible threats to population...
Peralta-Garcia, Anny; Hellingsworth, Bradford D.; Richmond, Jonathan Q.; Valdez-Villavicencio, Jorge H.; Ruiz-Campos, Gorgonio; Fisher, Robert N.; Cruz-Hernandez, Pedro; Galina-Tessaro, Patricia Ecology and control of an introduced population of Southern Watersnakes (Nerodia fasciata) in southern California
Native to the southeastern United States, Southern Watersnakes (Nerodia fasciata) are known from two sites in California, but their ecological impacts are poorly understood. We investigated the ecology of Southern Watersnakes in Machado Lake, Harbor City, Los Angeles County, California, including an assessment of control opportunities. We captured...
Reed, Robert; Todd, Brian D; Miano, Oliver J.; Canfield, Mark; Fisher, Robert N.; McMartin, Louanne Quantitative evidence for the effects of multiple drivers on continental-scale amphibian declines
Since amphibian declines were first proposed as a global phenomenon over a quarter century ago, the conservation community has made little progress in halting or reversing these trends. The early search for a “smoking gun” was replaced with the expectation that declines are caused by multiple drivers. While field observations and...
Grant, Evan H. Campbell; Miller, David A. W.; Schmidt, Benedikt R.; Adams, M.J.; Amburgey, Staci M.; Chambert, Thierry A.; Cruickshank, Sam S.; Fisher, Robert N.; Green, David M.; Hossack, Blake R.; Johnson, Pieter T.J.; Joseph, Maxwell B.; Rittenhouse, Tracy A. G.; Ryan, Maureen E.; Waddle, J. Hardin; Walls, Susan C.; Bailey, Larissa L.; Fellers, Gary M.; Gorman, Thomas A.; Ray, Andrew M.; Pilliod, David S.; Price, Steven J.; Saenz, Daniel; Sadinski, Walt; Muths, Erin L. Trace elements in stormflow, ash, and burned soil following the 2009 station fire in southern California
Most research on the effects of wildfires on stream water quality has focused on suspended sediment and nutrients in streams and water bodies, and relatively little research has examined the effects of wildfires on trace elements. The purpose of this study was two-fold: 1) to determine the effect of the 2009 Station Fire in the Angeles National...
Burton, Carmen A.; Hoefen, Todd M.; Plumlee, Geoffrey S.; Baumberger, Katherine L.; Backlin, Adam R.; Gallegos, Elizabeth; Fisher, Robert N.
Biotelemetry data for golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) captured in coastal southern California, November 2014–February 2016
The status of golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) in coastal southern California is unclear. To address this knowledge gap, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in collaboration with local, State, and other Federal agencies began a multi-year survey and tracking program of golden eagles to address questions regarding habitat use, movement behavior,...
Tracey, Jeff A.; Madden, Melanie C.; Sebes, Jeremy B.; Bloom, Peter H.; Katzner, Todd E.; Fisher, Robert N. Biogeographical history and coalescent species delimitation of Pacific island skinks (Squamata: Scincidae: Emoia cyanura species group)
Aim A prevailing hypothesis for how Pacific islands organisms have obtained their extant distributions is that of a stepping-stone model, in which populations originate from Papua New Guinea in the western Pacific and gradually disperse eastward. Here, we test this model using a spatiotemporal framework for Emoia cyanura and E....
Klein, Elaine; Harris, Rebecca; Fisher, Robert N.; Reeder, Tod Multiple rod–cone and cone–rod photoreceptor transmutations in snakes: Evidence from visual opsin gene expression
In 1934, Gordon Walls forwarded his radical theory of retinal photoreceptor ‘transmutation’. This proposed that rods and cones used for scotopic and photopic vision, respectively, were not fixed but could evolve into each other via a series of morphologically distinguishable intermediates. Walls' prime evidence came from series of...
Simoe, Bruno F; Sampaio, Filipa L.; Loew, Ellis R.; Sanders, Kate L.; Fisher, Robert N.; Hart, Nathan S.; Hunt, David M.; Partridge, Julian C.; Gower, David J. The biogeography of threatened insular iguanas and opportunities for invasive vertebrate management
Iguanas are a particularly threatened group of reptiles, with 61% of species at risk of extinction. Primary threats to iguanas include habitat loss, direct and indirect impacts by invasive vertebrates, overexploitation, and human disturbance. As conspicuous, charismatic vertebrates, iguanas also represent excellent flagships for biodiversity...
Iverson, J.B.; Grant, T. D.; Knapp, C. R.; Pasachnik, S. A.; Tershy, Bernie R.; Newton, Kelly M.; Spatz, Dena R.; Swinnerton, Kirsty; Iverson, John B.; Fisher, Robert N.; Harlow, Peter S.; Holmes, Nick D.; Croll, Donald A. Urban and suburban areas
No abstract available.
Fisher, Robert N. A systematic survey of the integration of animal behavior into conservation
The role of behavioral ecology in improving wildlife conservation and management has been the subject of much recent debate. We aim to answer two foundational questions about the current use of behavioral knowledge in conservation: 1. To what extent is behavioral knowledge used in wildlife conservation and management? 2. How does the use of...
Berger-Tal, Oded; Blumstein, Daniel T.; Carroll, Scott; Fisher, Robert N.; Mesnick, Sarah L.; Owen, Megan A.; Saltz, David; St. Claire, Colleen Cassady; Swaisgood, Ronald R.