Todd Esque
Dr. Todd Esque's research interests are in disturbance ecology with emphasis in areas of community ecology, herpetology, invasive species and fire, habitat restoration, and conservation biology.
Dr. Esque's work focuses on understanding how organisms, habitats, and ecosystem processes respond to environmental change, how organisms interact to effect change, and how human-induced changes compare to the natural range of variation in arid systems. Recent work focuses on the synthesis of these experiments into regional analyses of habitat suitability and connectivity in response to global change and other anthropogenic disturbances for use by natural resource managers.
Representative studies include: projects to determine how desert tortoises, Mojave ground squirrels, golden eagles, long-lived plants, and biodiversity will respond to climate change and energy development in a rapidly changing landscape; vegetation change from fires across a 30-year chronosequence in Sonoran desert tortoise habitat; identifying habitat and health relationships for the desert tortoise, and developing a vegetation restoration program for the Mojave Desert.
Dr. Esque's projects are collaborative and interdisciplinary in nature and he is active in academic research as well as applied problems for public entities in the Department of Interior (Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service), Department of Defense, State and local governments, and private entities.
RESEARCH INTERESTS
- Arid Systems
- Conservation Biology
- Disturbance and Restoration Ecology
- Demographic and Habitat Modeling
- Community Ecology
- Invasive Species and Wildfire
- Energy Development
EDUCATION
- 2004 Ph.D. Ecology Evolution, and Conservation Biology, University of Nevada, Reno
- 1994 M.S. Zoology, Colorado State University
- 1982 B.A. Biology, Prescott College, Arizona
PROFESSIONAL AND HONORARY SOCIETIES AND SCIENCE ADVISORY COMMITTEES
- Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan – Science Advisory Committee 2012
- BLM – Rapid Ecoregional Assessments – lead USGS science reviewer for the Mojave and Sonoran Ecoregions 2013
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
- Research Ecologist, USGS, Western Ecological Research Center, 1997-Present
- Station Leader, USGS, St. George Field Station, 1994-1997
- Research Ecologist, USGS, Mid-continent Ecological Science Center, 1996- 1997
- Research Ecologist, National Biological Service (Survey), Mid-continent Ecological Science Center, 1993 - 1996
- Ecologist, Bureau of Land Management, Dixie Resource Area, Utah, 1993 - 1993
- Research Technician, Fish and Wildlife Service, Region 8, Research, Ft. Collins, CO 1986-1993
Science and Products
Host contact and shedding patterns clarify variation in pathogen exposure and transmission in threatened tortoise Gopherus agassizii: implications for disease modelling and management
Deserts
Blackbrush (Coleogyne ramosissima Torr.): State of our knowledge and future challenges
Black-tailed and white-tailed jackrabbits in the American West: History, ecology, ecological significance, and survey methods
Book review: Biology and conservation of North American tortoises
Topography and climate are more important drivers of long-term, post-fire vegetation assembly than time-since-fire in the Sonoran Desert, US
Severe mortality of a population of threatened Agassiz’s desert tortoises: the American badger as a potential predator
Landscape genomics of Sphaeralcea ambigua in the Mojave Desert: a multivariate, spatially-explicit approach to guide ecological restoration
Desert tortoise use of burned habitat in the Eastern Mojave desert
A 30-year chronosequence of burned areas in Arizona: effects of wildfires on vegetation in Sonoran Desert Tortoise (Gopherus morafkai) habitats
Integrating gene transcription-based biomarkers to understand desert tortoise and ecosystem health
Direct and indirect effects of environmental variability on growth and survivorship of pre-reproductive Joshua trees, Yucca brevifolia Engelm (Agavaceae)
Science and Products
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Filter Total Items: 142
Host contact and shedding patterns clarify variation in pathogen exposure and transmission in threatened tortoise Gopherus agassizii: implications for disease modelling and management
Summary Most directly transmitted infections require some form of close contact between infectious and susceptible hosts to spread. Often disease models assume contacts are equal and use mean field estimates of transmission probability for all interactions with infectious hosts. Such methods may inaccurately describe transmission when interactions differ substantially in their ability to cause inAuthorsChristina M. Aiello, Kenneth E. Nussear, Todd C. Esque, Patrick G. Emblidge, Pratha Sah, Shweta Bansal, Peter J. HudsonDeserts
The deserts of California (Lead photo, Fig. 1) occupy approximately 38% of California’s landscape (Table 1) and consist of three distinct deserts: the Great Basin Desert, Mojave Desert, and Colorado Desert, the latter of which is a subdivision of the Sonoran Desert (Brown and Lowe 1980). The wide range of climates and geology found within each of these deserts result in very different vegetative cAuthorsJayne Belnap, Robert H. Webb, Todd C. Esque, Matthew L. Brooks, Lesley A. DeFalco, James A. MacMahonBlackbrush (Coleogyne ramosissima Torr.): State of our knowledge and future challenges
Covering 130,000 square miles and a wide range of elevations from desert to alpine in Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico, the Colorado Plateau has long fascinated researchers. The Colorado Plateau VI provides readers with a plethora of updates and insights into land conservation and management questions currently surrounding the region. The Colorado Plateau VI’s contributors show how new tecAuthorsRosemary L. Pendleton, Burton K. Pendleton, Susan E. Meyer, Bryce A. Richardson, Todd C. Esque, Stanley G. KitchenBlack-tailed and white-tailed jackrabbits in the American West: History, ecology, ecological significance, and survey methods
Across the western United States, Leporidae are the most important prey item in the diet of Golden Eagles (Aquila chrysaetos). Leporids inhabiting the western United States include black-tailed (Lepus californicus) and white-tailed jackrabbits (Lepus townsendii) and various species of cottontail rabbit (Sylvilagus spp.). Jackrabbits (Lepus spp.) are particularly important components of the ecologiAuthorsMatthew Simes, Kathleen M. Longshore, Kenneth E. Nussear, Greg L. Beatty, David E. Brown, Todd C. EsqueBook review: Biology and conservation of North American tortoises
The charismatic North American tortoises hold a special place in our culture and natural history. Despite the perseverance of these tortoises over millions of years, biologists now question their ability to persist into the future. In light of documented declines, habitat loss, and numerous threats to tortoise populations, the editors gathered a diverse group of researchers to review what we haveAuthorsDavid Munoz, Christina M. AielloTopography and climate are more important drivers of long-term, post-fire vegetation assembly than time-since-fire in the Sonoran Desert, US
Questions Do abiotic environmental filters or time-since-fire (TSF) explain more variability in post-fire vegetation assembly? Do these influences vary between vegetation structure and composition, and across spatial scales? Location Sonoran Desert of southwestern Arizona, US. Methods We measured perennial vegetation in a chronosequence of 13 fires (8-33 yr TSF) spanning a broad regional gradient.AuthorsDaniel F. Shryock, Todd C. Esque, Felicia C. ChenSevere mortality of a population of threatened Agassiz’s desert tortoises: the American badger as a potential predator
In the Mojave Desert of the southwestern United States, adult Agassiz’s desert tortoises Gopherus agassizii typically experience high survival, but population declines associated with anthropogenic impacts led to their listing as a threatened Species under the US Endangered Species Act in 1990. Predation of adult tortoises is not often considered a significant threat as they are adapted to deter mAuthorsPatrick G. Emblidge, Ken E. Nussear, Todd C. Esque, Christina M. Aiello, Andrew D. WaldeLandscape genomics of Sphaeralcea ambigua in the Mojave Desert: a multivariate, spatially-explicit approach to guide ecological restoration
Local adaptation influences plant species’ responses to climate change and their performance in ecological restoration. Fine-scale physiological or phenological adaptations that direct demographic processes may drive intraspecific variability when baseline environmental conditions change. Landscape genomics characterize adaptive differentiation by identifying environmental drivers of adaptive geneAuthorsDaniel F. Shryock, Caroline A. Havrilla, Lesley DeFalco, Todd C. Esque, Nathan Custer, Troy E. WoodDesert tortoise use of burned habitat in the Eastern Mojave desert
Wildfires burned 24,254 ha of critical habitat designated for the recovery of the threatened Mojave desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) in southern Nevada during 2005. The proliferation of non-native annual grasses has increased wildfire frequency and extent in recent decades and continues to accelerate the conversion of tortoise habitat across the Mojave Desert. Immediate changes to vegetation aAuthorsK. Kristina Drake, Todd C. Esque, Kenneth E. Nussear, Lesley DeFalco, Sara J. Scoles-Sciulla, Andrew T. Modlin, Philip A. MedicaA 30-year chronosequence of burned areas in Arizona: effects of wildfires on vegetation in Sonoran Desert Tortoise (Gopherus morafkai) habitats
Fire is widely regarded as a key evolutionary force in fire-prone ecosystems, with effects spanning multiple levels of organization, from species and functional group composition through landscape-scale vegetation structure, biomass, and diversity (Pausas and others, 2004; Bond and Keeley 2005; Pausas and Verdu, 2008). Ecosystems subjected to novel fire regimes may experience profound changes thatAuthorsDaniel F. Shryock, Todd C. Esque, Felicia C. ChenIntegrating gene transcription-based biomarkers to understand desert tortoise and ecosystem health
Tortoises are susceptible to a wide variety of environmental stressors, and the influence of human disturbances on health and survival of tortoises is difficult to detect. As an addition to current diagnostic methods for desert tortoises, we have developed the first leukocyte gene transcription biomarker panel for the desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii), enhancing the ability to identify specificAuthorsLizabeth Bowen, A. Keith Miles, K. Kristina Drake, Shannon C. Waters, Todd C. Esque, Kenneth E. NussearDirect and indirect effects of environmental variability on growth and survivorship of pre-reproductive Joshua trees, Yucca brevifolia Engelm (Agavaceae)
• Premise of study: Accurate demographic information about long-lived plant species is important for understanding responses to large-scale disturbances, including climate change. It is challenging to obtain these data from desert perennial plants because seedling establishment is exceptionally rare, and estimates of survival are lacking for their vulnerable early stages. Desert wildfires, urbanizAuthorsTodd C. Esque, Phil A. Medica, Daniel F. Shryock, Lesley A. Defalco, Robert H. Webb, Richard B. Hunter - Web Tools
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