Publications

This report details the development and analysis of single nucleotide polymorphic loci to understand population genetic structure and diversity among local populations of the Harbison’s dun skipper, Euphyes vestris harbisoni, primarily in San Diego County, California, USA. We developed a set of 2984 SNPs. Local populations were clustered into two to three regional genetic clusters...

Noise exposure is a potential stressor for free-ranging marine mammals and is often studied in the absence of other environmental factors. Here, a multi-investigator, interdisciplinary effort was undertaken to examine the response of elephant seals to multiple stressors. An integrated physiological and ecological approach was taken, including immunology, stress physiology, toxicology...

A serious emerging threat to southern California riparian ecosystems is the invasive shot hole borer (Euwallacea spp.; SHB), a non-native beetle that cultivates a pathogenic fungus that kills trees of 66 reproductive host species. We examined the response of the bird community at the Tijuana River, California, to a massive SHB infestation in 2015 using data from a Monitoring Avian...

We assembled and annotated a chromosome-level genome for the Western Spadefoot, Spea hammondii (Anura, Scaphiopodidae) representing one of only three amphibians included in the California Conservation Genomics Project (CCGP). Spea hammondii is a vernal pool breeding anuran native to California and northwestern Baja California which has undergone both range contractions and local...

A parasite’s perceived societal impact depends on the disease it causes and the perception of the affected host species. For instance, doctors and veterinarians have a mission to treat parasites that infect humans or that impact host species that have some utilitarian or aesthetic value for society. Marine scientists have different concerns than doctors. Although the number of parasites...

We tracked 19 adult Galapagos Petrels Pterodroma phaeopygia during the chick-rearing seasons in 2009 and 2010 (Santa Cruz Island [n = 16] and Floreana Island [n = 3]) in the Galápagos Islands, Ecuador. Eight petrels performed 27 complete foraging trips lasting 0.6 to 18.8 days. Short trips (3.2 ± 2.1 days; 785 km; max displacement 671 km) and long trips (10.8 ± 3.9 days; 2,856 km; max...

Frequent and intense droughts are rapidly altering stand dynamics in western North American forests. The ecological and geographical diversity of northern California provides a unique opportunity to measure these responses across species, habitat types, and levels of competitive pressure. This study used dendrochronological techniques and linear mixed-effects models to assess growth...

This chapter identifies and describes the most important geographic regions for migrating and wintering waterfowl across North America. Although breeding habitats have historically been the focus of waterfowl conservation, this chapter emphasizes that the non-breeding period plays a critical role in shaping population dynamics. The authors use expert judgment, survey data, and...

J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge (DDNWR) is located on Sanibel Island along the southwestern coast of Florida, USA. There, eutrophication attributed to agricultural discharge along the Caloosahatchee River has affected the area’s aquatic habitat. In anticipation of additional nutrient loading, we experimentally fertilized mangrove forests with nitrogen (+N; NH4) and...

Since establishment of the Clean Air Act in the early 1970s, occurrence of the dense ‘Tule Fog’, historically prevalent throughout winter across California’s Central Valley, has substantially reduced. At the same time, waterfowl body masses have generally increased. Flight is metabolically expensive, and fog visually and navigationally impairs birds in flight, likely causing them to...

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