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
Community-based conservation and recovery of native species on Monuriki Island, Fiji
The small uninhabited island of Monuriki (40.4 ha) in western Fiji is of national and international conservation concern for its several protected species. Exotic invasive species and a Category 5 cyclone have exacerbated conservation challenges. The cooperation of local, national, and international stakeholders continues to be crucial in...
Fisher, Robert N.; Niukula, Jone; Harlow, Peter S.; Rasalato, Sia; Chand, Ramesh; Thaman, Baravi; Seniloli, Elenoa; Vadada, Joeli; Cranwell, Steve; Brown, J. Jed; Lovich, Kim; Thomas-Moko, Nunia Effect of amphibian chytrid fungus (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis) on apparent survival of frogs and toads in the western USA
Despite increasing interest in determining the population-level effects of emerging infectious diseases on wildlife, estimating effects of disease on survival rates remains difficult. Even for a well-studied disease such as amphibian chytridiomycosis (caused by the fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis [Bd]), there are few estimates of...
Russell, Robin E.; Halstead, Brian J.; Mosher, Brittany; Muths, Erin L.; Adams, Michael J.; Campbell Grant, Evan H.; Fisher, Robert N.; Kleeman, Patrick M.; Backlin, Adam R.; Pearl, Christopher; Honeycutt, R. Ken; Hossack, Blake R. Habitat preference modulates trans-oceanic dispersal in a terrestrial vertebrate
The importance of long-distance dispersal (LDD) in shaping geographical distributions has been debated since the nineteenth century. In terrestrial vertebrates, LDD events across large water bodies are considered highly improbable, but organismal traits affecting dispersal capacity are generally not taken into account. Here, we focus on a recent...
Blom, Mozes P.K.; Matzke, Nicholas J; Bragg, Jason G; Arida, Evy; Austin, Christopher C; Backlin, Adam R.; Carretero, Miguel A; Fisher, Robert N.; Glaw, Frank; Hathaway, Stacie A.; Iskandar, Djoko T; McGuire, Jimmy A; Karin, Benjamin R; Reilly, Sean B; Rittmeyer, Eric N; Rocha, Sara; Sanchez, Mickael; Stubbs, Alexander L; Vences, Miguel; Moritz, Craig Topographic drivers of flight altitude over large spatial and temporal scales
Bird movements vary spatially and temporally, but the primary drivers that explain such variation can be difficult to identify. For example, it is well known that the availability of updraft influences soaring flight and that topography interacts with weather to produce these updrafts. However, the influences of topography on flight are not well...
Duerr, Adam E.; Miller, Tricia A.; Dunn, Leah; Bell, Douglas A.; Bloom, Peter H.; Fisher, Robert N.; Tracey, Jeff A.; Katzner, Todd E. Globally important islands where eradicating invasive mammals will benefit highly threatened vertebrates
Invasive alien species are a major threat to native insular species. Eradicating invasive mammals from islands is a feasible and proven approach to prevent biodiversity loss. We developed a conceptual framework to identify globally important islands for invasive mammal eradications to prevent imminent extinctions among highly threatened species...
Holmes, Nick D.; Spatz, Dena R.; Oppel, Steffen; Tershy, Bernie; Croll, Donald; Keitt, Brad; Genovesi, Piero; Burfield, Ian; Will, David J.; Bond, Alexander L.; Wegmann, Alex; Aguirre-Munoz, Alfonso; Raine, Andre F.; Knapp, Charles R.; Hung, Chung-Hang; Wingate, David; Hagen, Erin; Mendez-Sanchez, Federico; Rocamora, Gerard; Yuan, Hsiao-Wei; Fric, Jakob; Millett, James; Russell, James M.; Liske-Clark, Jill; Vidal, Eric; Jourdan, Herve; Campbell, Karl; Springer, Keith; Swinnerton, Kristy; Gibbons-Decherong, Lolita; Langrand, Olivier; de L. Brooke, M.; McMinn, Miguel; Bunbury, Nancy; Oliveira, Nuno; Sposimo, Paolo; Geraldes, Pedro; McClelland, Pete; Hodum, Peter; Ryan, Peter G.; Borroto-Paez, Rafael; Pierce, Ray J.; Griffiths, Richard; Fisher, Robert N.; Wanless, Ross M.; Pasachnik, Stesha A.; Cranwell, Steve; Micol, Thierry; Butchart, Stuart H. M. Assessing effects of nonnative crayfish on mosquito survival
Introductions of nonnative predators often reduce biodiversity and affect natural predator–prey relationships and may increase the abundance of potential disease vectors (e.g., mosquitoes) indirectly through competition or predation cascades. The Santa Monica Mountains (California, U.S.A.), situated in a global biodiversity hotspot, is an area of...
Bucciarelli, Gary M.; Suh, Daniel; Davis Lamb, Avery; Roberts, Dave; Sharpton, Debra; Shaffer, H. Bradley; Fisher, Robert N.; Kats, Lee B. The Introduced Argentine ant (Linepithema humile) on the California Channel Islands: Distribution and Patterns of Spread
The Argentine ant (Linepithema humile) is a widespread and abundant introduced species that disrupts ecosystems throughout its introduced range. This invader was inadvertently introduced to Santa Catalina, San Clemente, Santa Cruz, and San Nicolas Islands at various points during the past century but currently appears to be absent from the...
Boser, Christina L.; Merrell, Korie; Fisher, Robert N.; Naughton, Ida; Holway, David A Multi-scale effects of land cover and urbanization on the habitat suitability of an endangered toad
Habitat degradation, entwined with land cover change, is a major driver of biodiversity loss. Effects of land cover change on species can be direct (when habitat is converted to alternative land cover types) or indirect (when land outside of the species habitat is altered). Hydrologic and ecological connections between terrestrial and...
Treglia, Michael L.; Landon, Adam C; Fisher, Robert N.; Kyle, Gerard; Fitzgerald, Lee A. Identifying management-relevant research priorities for responding to disease-associated amphibian declines
A research priority can be defined as a knowledge gap that, if resolved, identifies the optimal course of conservation action. We (a group of geographically distributed and multidisciplinary research scientists) used tools from nominal group theory and decision analysis to collaboratively identify and prioritize information...
Campbell Grant, Evan H.; Adams, M.J.; Fisher, Robert N.; Grear, Daniel A.; Halstead, Brian J.; Hossack, Blake R.; Muths, Erin L.; Richgels, Katherine L. D.; Russell, Robin E.; Smalling, Kelly L.; Waddle, J. Hardin; Walls, Susan C.; White, C. LeAnn Quantifying climate sensitivity and climate-driven change in North American amphibian communities
Changing climate will impact species’ ranges only when environmental variability directly impacts the demography of local populations. However, measurement of demographic responses to climate change has largely been limited to single species and locations. Here we show that amphibian communities are responsive to climatic variability, using >...
Miller, David A.W.; Campbell Grant, Evan H.; Muths, Erin L.; Amburgey, Staci M.; Adams, M.J.; Joseph, Maxwell B.; Waddle, J. Hardin; Johnson, Pieter T.J.; Ryan, Maureen E.; Schmidt, Benedikt R.; Calhoun, Daniel L.; Davis, Courtney L.; Fisher, Robert N.; Green, David M.; Hossack, Blake R.; Rittenhouse, Tracy A.G.; Walls, Susan C.; Bailey, Larissa L.; Cruickshank, Sam S.; Fellers, Gary M.; Gorman, Thomas A.; Haas, Carola A.; Hughson, Ward; Pilliod, David S.; Price, Steven J.; Ray, Andrew M.; Sadinski, Walter; Saenz, Daniel; Barichivich, William J.; Brand, Adrianne B.; Brehme, Cheryl S.; Dagit, Rosi; Delaney, Katy S.; Glorioso, Brad M.; Kats, Lee B.; Kleeman, Patrick M.; Pearl, Christopher; Rochester, Carlton J.; Riley, Seth P. D.; Roth, Mark F.; Sigafus, Brent Prioritizing conserved areas threatened by wildfire and fragmentation for monitoring and management
In many parts of the world, the combined effects of habitat fragmentation and altered disturbance regimes pose a significant threat to biodiversity. This is particularly true in Mediterranean-type ecosystems (MTEs), which tend to be fire-prone, species rich, and heavily impacted by human land use. Given the spatial complexity of overlapping...
Tracey, Jeff A.; Rochester, Carlton J.; Hathaway, Stacie A.; Preston, Kristine L.; Syphard, Alexandra D.; Vandergast, Amy G.; Diffendorfer, James E.; Franklin, Janet; MacKenzie, Jason B.; Oberbauer, Tomas A.; Tremor, Scott; Winchell, Clark S.; Fisher, Robert N. Effects of urbanization, and habitat composition on site occupancy of two snake species using regional monitoring data from southern California
Detection data from a regional, reptile-monitoring program conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey were analyzed to understand the effects of urbanization and habitat composition on site occupancy of the coachwhip (Masticophis flagellum) and striped racer (M. lateralis) in coastal southern California. Likelihood-based occupancy models indicated...
Mitrovich, Milan J.; Diffendorfer, James E.; Brehme, Cheryl S.; Fisher, Robert N.