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
Heterogeneous responses of temperate-zone amphibian populations to climate change complicates conservation planning
The pervasive and unabated nature of global amphibian declines suggests common demographic responses to a given driver, and quantification of major drivers and responses could inform broad-scale conservation actions. We explored the influence of climate on demographic parameters (i.e., changes in the probabilities of survival and recruitment)...
Muths, Erin L.; Chambert, Thierry A.; Schmidt, B. R.; Miller, D. A. W.; Hossack, Blake R.; Joly, P.; Grolet, O.; Green, D. M.; Pilliod, David S.; Cheylan, M.; Fisher, Robert N.; McCaffery, R. M.; Adams, M. J.; Palen, W. J.; Arntzen, J. W.; Garwood, J.; Fellers, Gary M.; Thirion, J. M.; Grant, Evan H. Campbell; Besnard, A. Candoia Bibroni (Pacific Boa). Diet
No abstract available.
Clause, Adam G.; Fraser, Mark J.; Pene, Sarah; Thomas-Moko, Nunia; Fisher, Robert N. A new species of iguana Brachylophus Cuvier 1829 (Sauria: Iguania: Iguanidae) from Gau Island, Fiji Islands
The south Pacific iguanas (Brachylophus) currently have three recognized living species in Fiji. Recent surveys have uncovered more specific variation (morphological and genetic) within the genus and have better defined the geographic ranges of the named species. One of these recent discoveries is a strikingly different iguana from all...
Fisher, Robert N.; Niukula, Jone; Watling, Dick; Harlow, Peter S. Persistence of historical population structure in an endangered species despite near-complete biome conversion in California's San Joaquin Desert
Genomic responses to habitat conversion can be rapid, providing wildlife managers with time-limited opportunities to enact recovery efforts that use population connectivity information that reflects predisturbance landscapes. Despite near-complete biome conversion, such opportunities may still exist for the endemic fauna and flora of California's...
Richmond, Jonathan Q.; Wood, Dustin A.; Westphal, Michael F.; Vandergast, Amy G.; Leache, Adam D.; Saslaw, Lawrence; Butterfield, H. Scott; Fisher, Robert N.
Biotelemetery data for golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) captured in coastal southern California, February 2016–February 2017
Because of a lack of clarity about the status of golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) in coastal southern California, the 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, nest occupancy, genetic...
Tracey, Jeff A.; Madden, Melanie C.; Sebes, Jeremy B.; Bloom, Peter H.; Katzner, Todd E.; Fisher, Robert N. Amphibian conservation: clarifications to comments from Andreone
We appreciate the comments from Andreone (2016) regarding our proposed alternative strategy for addressing the amphibian crisis. Andreone recognizes the utility of an Incident Command System approach but doubts the feasibility of implementation at an international level. We stated in our original article, however, that ‘the feasibility of our...
Muths, Erin L.; Fisher, Robert N. Stable isotope analysis as an early monitoring tool for community-scale effects of rat eradication
Invasive rats have colonized most of the islands of the world, resulting in strong negative impacts on native biodiversity and on ecosystem functions. As prolific omnivores, invasive rats can cause local extirpation of a wide range of native species, with cascading consequences that can reshape communities and ecosystems. Eradication of rats on...
Nigro, Katherine M.; Hathaway, Stacie A.; Wegmann, Alex; Miller-ter Kuile, Ana; Fisher, Robert N.; Young, Hillary S. A discrete stage-structured model of California newt population dynamics during a period of drought
We introduce a mathematical model for studying the population dynamics under drought of the California newt (Taricha torosa), a species of special concern in the state of California. Since 2012, California has experienced a record-setting drought, and multiple studies predict drought conditions currently underway will persist and even increase in...
Jones, Marjorie T.; Milligan, William R.; Kats, Lee B.; Vandergon, Thomas L.; Honeycutt, Rodney L.; Fisher, Robert N.; Davis, Courtney L.; Lucas, Timothy A. Four new species of Eimeria (Apicomplexa: Eimeriidae) from Emoia spp. Skinks (Sauria: Scincidae), from Papua New Guinea and the Insular Pacific
Between September and November 1991, 54 adult skinks from 15 species were collected by hand or blowpipe from several localities on Rarotonga, Cook Islands, Ovalau Island, Fiji, and Papua New Guinea (PNG), and their feces were examined for coccidians. Species included 5 seaside skinks (Emoia atrocostata), 1 Pacific blue-tailed skink (Emoia...
McAllister, Chris T.; Duszynski, Donald W.; Austin, Christopher C.; Fisher, Robert N. A global database of ant species abundances
What forces structure ecological assemblages? A key limitation to general insights about assemblage structure is the availability of data that are collected at a small spatial grain (local assemblages) and a large spatial extent (global coverage). Here, we present published and unpublished data from 51,388 ant abundance and occurrence records of...
Gibb, Heloise; Dunn, Rob R.; Sanders, Nathan J.; Grossman, Blair F.; Photakis, Manoli; Abril, Silvia; Agosti, Donat; Andersen, Alan N.; Angulo, Elena; Armbrecht, Ingre; Arnan, Xavier; Baccaro, Fabricio B.; Bishop, Tom R.; Boulay, Raphael; Bruhl, Carsten; Castracani, Cristina; Cerda, Xim; Del Toro, Israel; Delsinne, Thibaut; Diaz, Mireia; Donoso, David A.; Ellison, Aaron M.; Enriquez, Martha L.; Fayle, Tom M.; Feener Jr., Donald H.; Fisher, Brian L.; Fisher, Robert N.; Fitpatrick, Matthew C.; Gomez, Cristanto; Gotelli, Nicholas J.; Gove, Aaron; Grasso, Donato A.; Groc, Sarah; Guenard, Benoit; Gunawardene, Nihara; Heterick, Brian; Hoffmann, Benjamin; Janda, Milan; Jenkins, Clinton; Kaspari, Michael; Klimes, Petr; Lach, Lori; Laeger, Thomas; Lattke, John; Leponce, Maurice; Lessard, Jean-Philippe; Longino, John; Lucky, Andrea; Luke, Sarah H.; Majer, Jonathan; McGlynn, Terrence P.; Menke, Sean; Mezger, Dirk; Mori, Alessandra; Moses, Jimmy; Munyai, Thinandavha Caswell; Pacheco, Renata; Paknia, Omid; Pearce-Duvet, Jessica; Pfeiffer, Martin; Philpott, Stacy M.; Resasco, Julian; Retana, Javier; Silva, Rogerio R.; Sorger, Magdalena D.; Souza, Jorge; Suarez, Andrew V.; Tista, Melanie; Vasconcelos, Heraldo L.; Vonshak, Merav; Weiser, Michael D.; Yates, Michelle; Parr, Catherine L. An alternative framework for responding to the amphibian crisis
Volumes of data illustrate the severity of the crisis affecting amphibians, where > 32% of amphibians worldwide are threatened with declining populations. Although there have been isolated victories, the current approach to the issue is unsuccessful. We suggest that a radically different approach, something akin to human emergency response...
Muths, Erin L.; Fisher, Robert N. A new species of Myotis (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) from Suriname
We describe a new species of bat in the genus Myotis (Vespertilionidae: Myotinae) from the district of Sipaliwini, Suriname. The new species (Myotis clydejonesi sp. nov.), known from a single specimen, is sister to a clade of M. nigricans (Schinz) from southern South America, but differs from all Neotropical species of Myotis in qualitative and...
Moratelli, Ricardo; Wilson, Don E.; Gardner, Alfred; Fisher, Robert D.; Gutiérrez, Eliécer E.