Publications

In 2005 and 2006, the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus subtype H5N1 rapidly spread from Asia through Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Waterbirds are considered the natural reservoir of low pathogenic avian influenza viruses (1), but their potential role in the spread of HPAI (H5N1), along with legal and illegal poultry and wildlife trade (2), is yet to be clarified.

The emergence of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 has elevated concerns about wild birds as virus hosts; however, little is known about the ecological and epidemiological factors of transmission by shorebirds. Here we summarize results for 2,773 shorebirds that were live-trapped on the Pacific coast of the United States during 2006-2007 and tested for avian influenza virus...

There is a growing body of literature covering the responses of bird species to wildland fire events. Our study was unique among these because we investigated the effects of large-scale wildland fires on entire bird communities across multiple vegetation types. We conducted avian point counts during the breeding seasons for two years before and two years after the Cedar and Otay Fires in...

An extinction necessarily affects community members that have obligate relationships with the extinct species. Indirect or cascading effects can lead to even broader changes at the community or ecosystem level. However, it is not clear whether generalist parasites should be affected by the extinction of one of their hosts. We tested the prediction that loss of a host species could affect...

The encounter/compatibility paradigm of host specificity provides three qualitative pathways to the success or failure of a potential host-parasite interaction. It is usually impossible to distinguish between two of these (encounter and compatibility filters closed versus encounter filter open and compatibility filter closed) because unsuccessful infection attempts are difficult to...

Changes are made in the nomenclature of species and subspecies in the genus Arctostaphylos(Ericaceae). In this study, the focus is on species found in the coast ranges of California. Changes are made in A. nortensis from the area around the Oregon border with California, in the A. nevadensiscomplex in the North Coast Ranges, in the A. nummularia complex of the north to central coast, in...

In this article, a collaborative effort between archaeologists and marine ecologists, we discuss the role kelp forest ecosystems may have played in facilitating the movement of maritime peoples from Asia to the Americas near the end of the Pleistocene. Growing in cool nearshore waters along rocky coastlines, kelp forests offer some of the most productive habitats on earth, with high...

Thamnophis hammondii is considered one of the most aquatic of the gartersnakes and is closely associated with creeks and impoundments (Fitch 1940. Univ. California Publ. Zool. 44:1–150) with a diet consisting largely of both the larvae and transformed stages of amphibians (Spea, Bufo, Rana, Pseudacris) and small fish (Oncorhynchus, Gasterosteus, Eucyclogobius, and Cottus) (Jennings and...

Concentrations of many anthropogenic contaminants in the San Francisco Estuary exist at levels that have been associated with biological effects elsewhere, so there is a potential for them to cause biological effects in the Estuary. The purpose of this paper is to summarize information about biological effects on the Estuary's plankton, benthos, fish, birds, and mammals, gathered since...

This research examined the onset, duration, and termination of hibernation in Desert Tortoises (Gopherus agassizii) over several years at multiple sites in the northeastern part of their geographic range, and recorded the temperatures experienced by tortoises during winter hibernation. The timing of hibernation by Desert Tortoises differed among sites and years. Environmental cues acting...

Introduction The San Diego Multiple Species Conservation Program (MSCP) was developed for the conservation of plants and animals in the south part of San Diego County, under the California Natural Community Conservation Planning Act of 1991 (California Department of Fish and Game) and the Federal Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (16 U.S. Code 1531-1544.) The Program is on the...

Large wildfires are an inevitable feature of chaparral. The moderate temperatures during winter promote growth of extensive stands of shrublands with contiguous fuels covering massive portions of the landscape. The summer-fall drought makes these fuels highly flammable over a relatively lengthy portion of the year. Because of widespread human influence, most fires today are anthropogenic...