Publications

We evaluated the impact of fire severity and related spatial and vegetative parameters on small mammal populations in 2 yr- to 15 yr-old burns in Yosemite National Park, California, USA. We also developed habitat models that would predict small mammal responses to fires of differing severity. We hypothesized that fire severity would influence the abundances of small mammals through...

The effects of prescription burning on watershed balances of major ions in mixed conifer forest were examined in a 16-year paired catchment study in Sequoia National Park, California. The objective was to determine whether fire-related changes in watershed balances persist as long as estimated low-end natural fire-return intervals (???10 years), and whether cumulative net export caused...

More than 900 individually marked island night lizards (Xantusia riversiana) were captured on San Nicolas Island, California, between 1984 and 2007 as part of an ongoing study to monitor the status of this threatened species. Our data suggest that at least a few lizards are probably more than 20 years old, and one lizard would be 31.5 years old if it grew at an average rate for the...

Weather and climate are strong drivers of population dynamics, plant and animal spatial distributions, community interactions, and ecosystem states. Information on local weather and climate is crucial in interpreting trends and patterns in the natural environment for resource management, research, and visitor enjoyment. This document describes the weather and climate monitoring program...

We developed and tested a new protocol for sampling populations of the desert tortoise, Gopherus agassizii, a state- and federally listed species, in areas where population densities are very low, historical data are sparse, and anthropogenic uses may threaten the well-being of tortoise populations and habitat. We conducted a 3-year (2002–2004) survey in Jawbone-Butterbredt Area of...

For most large U.S. parks and wilderness areas, enabling legislation and management policy call for preservation of these protected areas unimpaired in perpetuity. Central to the notions of protection, preservation, and unimpairment has been the concept of maintaining “naturalness,” a condition imagined by many to persist over time in the absence of human intervention. As will be...

Because sea otters (Enhydra lutris) exert a wide array of direct and indirect effects on coastal marine ecosystems throughout their geographic range, we investigated the potential influence of sea otters on the ecology of Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) in the Aleutian Islands, Alaska, USA. We studied the diets, productivity, and density of breeding Bald Eagles on four islands...

Persistent organochlorine compounds and mercury (Hg) have been detected in numerous coastal organisms of the Aleutian archipelago of Alaska, yet sources of these contaminants are unclear. We collected glaucous-winged gulls, northern fulmars, and tufted puffins along a natural longitudinal gradient across the western and central Aleutian Islands (Buldir, Kiska, Amchitka, Adak), and an...

To evaluate mercury (Hg) and other element exposure in cliff swallows (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota), eggs were collected from 16 sites within the mining-impacted Cache Creek watershed, Colusa, Lake, and Yolo counties, California, USA, in 1997-1998. Nestlings were collected from seven sites in 1998. Geometric mean total Hg (THg) concentrations ranged from 0.013 to 0.208 ??g/g wet weight (ww)...

Variation in climate is predicted to increase over much of the planet this century. Forecasting species persistence with climate change thus requires understanding of how populations respond to climate variability, and the mechanisms underlying this response. Variable rainfall is well known to drive fluctuations in annual plant populations, yet the degree to which population response is...

Small, rare and wide-ranging pelagic birds are difficult to locate and observe at sea; little is therefore known regarding individual movements and habitat affinities among many of the world's storm-petrels (Family Hydrobatidae). We re-located 57 of 70 radio-marked Ashy Storm-Petrels Oceanodroma homochroa captured at three colonies in the California Channel Islands: Scorpion Rocks (2004...

Review of: Avian Influenza. By David E. Swayne, Blackwell Publishing Ltd., Oxford, UK. 2008. 605 pp. ISBN-13 978-0-8138-2047-7/2008. US $149.99 (hardback).