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At least 289 records · Page 16Linked to original sources
USGS2018

A vision for documenting and sharing knowledge in conservation

As editors, we mark the launch of Conservation Science and Practice , a journal of the Society for Conservation Biology (SCB), with the following remarks framing the purpose and aspirations of the journal. Our aim is to share scholarship on and experiences of the practice of conservation. We define conservation practice as the application of conservation principles or theory across conservation issues, from planning and directly managing nature to influencing public policy and private behaviors—at scales from local communities to international governing bodies. We are striving for Conservation Science and Practice to be a forum for sharing lessons learned from research and practice to reciprocally informing and improving both arenas.

Conservation Science and Practice↗
USGS2026

Assessment of the fish tumors or other deformities beneficial use impairment and associated risks at two Lake Michigan Areas of Concern

The U.S. Great Lakes Areas of Concern (AOCs) have been designated due to significant environmental degradation, with multiple Beneficial Use Impairments (BUIs) requiring remediation before delisting. The “fish tumors or other deformities” BUI remains at the Sheboygan River and the Lower Green Bay and Fox River AOCs, necessitating evaluation in white sucker ( Catostomus commersonii ), a sentinel species. This study documented the prevalence of skin and liver neoplastic and preneoplastic lesions at these AOCs, assessed temporal trends at the Sheboygan River AOC from 2012 to 2021, and investigated potential risk factors influencing liver neoplasm development using histological and molecular approaches. Histopathological analyses revealed that skin neoplasms were present in 15.5% of fish from the Green Bay AOC and 21.5% from the Sheboygan River AOC, while liver neoplasms were detected in 7.0% and 6.0% of fish, respectively. At the Sheboygan River AOC, the prevalence of skin tumors declined from 32.6% in 2012 to 21.5% in 2021, and liver tumor prevalence decreased from 8.3% in 2012 to 6.0% in 2021. Hepatic transcript analyses identified significant expression of genes associated with contaminant exposure, oxidative stress, and immune response, suggesting ongoing exposure to environmental stressors. The presence of white sucker hepatitis B-like virus (WSHBV) in hepatocytes was confirmed, though no direct correlation between viral transcript abundance and neoplastic lesions was found. Findings indicate tumor prevalence has declined over time, however rates remain elevated compared to previous reference site assessments. The study underscores the potential multifactorial nature of carcinogenesis in wild fish populations, involving both chemical and biological stressors.

Lake Michigan↗
USGS1989

Streamside habitats in southern forested wetlands: Their role and implications for management

The value of streamside forests to fish and wildlife and the influence of forest management on their value have been recognized in a general sense for decades. However, in today’s climate of increasing environmental regulation and intensive forest management, there is need for more detailed understanding of the value of streamside forests to fish and wildlife. Dickson and Huntley (1987:38) described the problem well when they wrote that “quantitative data on the effects of riparian zones on wildlife populations are insufficient to enable wildlife managers to justify the retention of riparian zones in land-use plans on a biological and economical basis.” Due in large part to the passage of water pollution control legislation, as well as legislation mandating multiple-use management in our national forests, progress is being made. During the last l&15 years, a great deal of research has been directed at understanding the value and appropriate management of the riparian zone (Brouha and Parsons 1985). The vast majority of research on riparian habitats has been conducted in western forests and/or narrow zones in otherwise upland areas. Also, much of the work done in southern forested wetlands has applied to entire floodplain forests. In this paper, we review the literature on streamside habitats within southern forested wetlands and, for reasons described in the next section, we make a distinction between streamside forests and floodplain (or riparian) forests. We also discuss in less detail the value of streamside habitats within other southern forest types, such as pine or mixed pine-hardwood.

General Technical Report↗
USGS2013

Identifying stakeholder-relevant climate change impacts: a case study in the Yakima River Basin, Washington, USA

Designing climate-related research so that study results will be useful to natural resource managers is a unique challenge. While decision makers increasingly recognize the need to consider climate change in their resource management plans, and climate scientists recognize the importance of providing locally-relevant climate data and projections, there often remains a gap between management needs and the information that is available or is being collected. We used decision analysis concepts to bring decision-maker and stakeholder perspectives into the applied research planning process. In 2009 we initiated a series of studies on the impacts of climate change in the Yakima River Basin (YRB) with a four-day stakeholder workshop, bringing together managers, stakeholders, and scientists to develop an integrated conceptual model of climate change and climate change impacts in the YRB. The conceptual model development highlighted areas of uncertainty that limit the understanding of the potential impacts of climate change and decision alternatives by those who will be most directly affected by those changes, and pointed to areas where additional study and engagement of stakeholders would be beneficial. The workshop and resulting conceptual model highlighted the importance of numerous different outcomes to stakeholders in the basin, including social and economic outcomes that go beyond the physical and biological outcomes typically reported in climate impacts studies. Subsequent studies addressed several of those areas of uncertainty, including changes in water temperatures, habitat quality, and bioenergetics of salmonid populations.

Washington↗
USGS2025

Overwinter survival of an estuarine resident fish (Fundulus heteroclitus) in North Carolina salt marsh creeks

The mummichog Fundulus heteroclitus is a trophically important fish inhabiting Atlantic coastal salt marshes, with few in situ estimates of overwinter survival throughout the species range. We estimated overwinter apparent survival rates of F. heteroclitus at the approximate mid-latitudinal species range [coastal North Carolina (USA)] in four tidal creeks that experience variable winter water temperatures. To estimate apparent survival, we fitted a Cormack-Jolly-Seber model to daily mark-resight data autonomously obtained from fish marked with passive integrated transponder tags. Creek, year, mean daily water temperature, change in mean daily temperature, fish length and fish condition were considered for effects on the modelled parameters: apparent survival (Φ) (product of true survival and site fidelity) and detection probability ( p ). Modelling showed that water temperature and fish metrics were not related to Φ. Water temperature was directly related to p , indicating reduced fish activity and thus reduced detection probability or poor antenna detection performance at low temperatures. Creek was related to Φ and p , and the creek most open to its downstream estuary (lacking a culvert) had lower rates than the others. Greater loss (fish mortality plus emigration) in this one creek may more effectively transfer production of F . heteroclitus to larger waterbodies via emigration or predation. Conversely, lower Φ may reflect reduced detection efficiency. The results suggest that F . heteroclitus survival is insensitive to variable winter water temperatures typical of thermal dynamics in shallow estuaries in this region of its range. Median creek-specific overwinter Φ rates (range of median values, 2 × 10 −8 , 0.04) were roughly equal to previously published rates for these creeks during the growing season (April–October). At these latitudes and with increasingly moderate winters, the results indicate that natural mortality could arise equally or more so from predation during the growing season than mechanisms such as starvation, direct mortality, thermal morbidity and stress-related susceptibility to predation resulting from intermittently low water temperatures during the overwinter season.

North Carolina↗
USGS2001

Food webs including parasites, biomass, body sizes, and life stages for three California/Baja California estuaries

This data set presents food webs for three North American Pacific coast estuaries and a “Metaweb” composed of the species/stages compiled from all three estuaries. The webs have four noteworthy attributes: (1) parasites (infectious agents), (2) body-size information, (3) biomass information, and (4) ontogenetic stages of many animals with complex life cycles. The estuaries are Carpinteria Salt Marsh, California (CSM); Estero de Punta Banda, Baja California (EPB); and Bahía Falsa in Bahía San Quintín, Baja California (BSQ). Most data on species assemblages and parasitism were gathered via consistent sampling that acquired body size and biomass information for plants and animals larger than ∼1 mm, and for many infectious agents (mostly metazoan parasites, but also some microbes). We augmented this with information from additional published sources and by sampling unrepresented groups (e.g., plankton). We estimated free-living consumer–resource links primarily by extending a previously published version of the CSM web (which the current CSM web supplants) and determined most parasite consumer–resource links from direct observation. We recognize 21 possible link types including four general interactions: predators consuming prey, parasites consuming hosts, predators consuming parasites, and parasites consuming parasites. While generally resolved to the species level, we report stage-specific nodes for many animals with complex life cycles. We include additional biological information for each node, such as taxonomy, lifestyle (free-living, infectious, commensal, mutualist), mobility, and residency. The Metaweb includes 500 nodes, 314 species, and 11 270 links projected to be present given appropriate species' co-occurrences. Of these, 9247 links were present in one or more of the estuarine webs. The remaining 2023 links were not present in the estuaries but are included here because they may occur in other places or times. Initial analyses have examined and are examining the interrelationships among consumer strategy, body size, abundance, biomass, trophic level, life stages, and food-web structure and dynamics. Further use of these data may enable a more general exploration how infectious processes and parasites impact communities and ecosystems. Additionally, we present the data and metadata in a standardized format, attempting to provide a system-neutral template for future food-web assembly and publication.

Ecology↗
USGS2015

Vegetation community response to tidal marsh restoration of a large river estuary

Estuaries are biologically productive and diverse ecosystems that provide ecosystem services including protection of inland areas from flooding, filtering freshwater outflows, and providing habitats for fish and wildlife. Alteration of historic habitats, including diking for agriculture, has decreased the function of many estuarine systems, and recent conservation efforts have been directed at restoring these degraded areas to reestablish their natural resource function. The Nisqually Delta in southern Puget Sound is an estuary that has been highly modified by restricting tidal flow, and recent restoration of the delta contributed to one of the largest tidal salt marsh restorations in the Pacific Northwest. We correlated the response of nine major tidal marsh species to salinities at different elevation zones. Our results indicated that wetland species richness was not related to soil pore-water salinity (R2 = 0.03), but were stratified into different elevation zones (R2 = 0.47). Thus, restoration that fosters a wide range of elevations will provide the most diverse plant habitat, and potentially, the greatest resilience to environmental change.

Washington↗
USGS2003

The Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant accident: ecotoxicological update

The accident at the Chernobyl, Ukraine, nuclear reactor on 26 April 1986 released large amounts of radiocesium and other radionuclides into the environment, contaminating much of the northern hemisphere, especially Europe. In the vicinity of Chernobyl, at least 30 people died, more than 115,000 others were evacuated, and consumption of milk and other foods was banned because of radiocontamination. At least 14,000 human cancer deaths are expected in Russia, Belarus, and the Ukraine as a direct result of Chernobyl. The most sensitive local ecosystems, as judged by survival, were the soil fauna, pine forest communities, and certain populations of rodents. Elsewhere, fallout from Chernobyl significantly contaminated freshwater and terrestrial ecosystems and flesh and milk of domestic livestock; in many cases, radionuclide concentrations in biological samples exceeded current radiation protection guidelines. Reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) in Scandinavia were among the most seriously afflicted by Chernobyl fallout, probably because their main food during winter (lichens) is an efficient absorber of airborne particles containing radiocesium. Some reindeer calves contaminated with 137Cs from Chernobyl showed 137Cs-dependent decreases in survival and increases in frequency of chromosomal aberrations. Although radiation levels in the biosphere are declining with time, latent effects of initial exposure--including an increased frequency of thyroid and other cancers--are now measurable. The full effect of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor accident on natural resources will probably not be known for at least several decades because of gaps in data on long-term genetic and reproductive effects and on radiocesium cycling and toxicokinetics.

Book chapter↗
USGS2020

Ecology of urban climates: The need for landscape biophysics in cities

In this chapter we will review and evaluate the climatic and ecological parallels between urbanization and climate change, with an emphasis on temperature and its effects on terrestrial ectotherms, a group of organisms thought to be particularly sensitive to climate change. We will summarize patterns of urban warming and how they relate to global climate change projections, then discuss the potential strengths and limitations of urban climates as a source of insight into biotic responses to climate change and highlight future research directions. Future work will benefit from explicit consideration of the mechanisms by which urbanization and urban warming drive ectotherms’ body temperatures and activity periods. Urban ecosystems may provide a valuable first approximation of the dramatic effects of warming on certain terrestrial systems, and continued advances in urban thermal biology will promote a mechanistic understanding of how organisms use, respond to, and adapt to the unique thermal landscapes of cities.

Book chapter↗
USGS2023

Data-limited fishery assessment methods shed light on the exploitation history and population dynamics of Endangered Species Act-listed Yelloweye Rockfish in Puget Sound, Washington

Objective The distinct population segment (DPS) of Yelloweye Rockfish Sebastes ruberrimus inhabiting the Puget Sound/Georgia Basin was listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in 2010, and a formal recovery plan for the DPS was published by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries in 2017. In this recovery plan, the biological criteria for delisting or downlisting were specified as certain levels of spawning potential ratio (SPR), a commonly used metric of equilibrium stock status for commercially exploited fishes. Although this metric can be estimated from length compositions, the combination of length data with a catch history (which was not previously available for this DPS) improves our understanding of population dynamics over time and allows us to estimate a different measure of stock status, relative (to unfished) spawning stock biomass (SSB), rather than only SPR. Methods To estimate relative SSB and reconstruct the historical dynamics of this DPS, we reconstructed the catch history from fisheries records, collated length data from historical and contemporary hook-and-line surveys, and fitted a data-limited version of a statistical catch-at-age model. Result Despite a high level of uncertainty, we estimated that Yelloweye Rockfish in Puget Sound are above 25% of unfished biomass (a reference point detailed in the recovery criteria) under the assumption of deterministic recruitment, presenting the first direct estimates of Yelloweye Rockfish population status in Puget Sound. Conclusion However, as informed by recent genetic studies, the DPS boundaries of ESA-listed Yelloweye Rockfish extend from South Puget Sound to Queen Charlotte Strait in British Columbia. The Canadian portion of this population is managed separately and is currently estimated to be at 32% of unfished biomass (95% quantiles = 15%–68%). Thus, the disjunction between the biological boundaries of the population and the jurisdictional boundaries between Canada and the United States presents an additional source of uncertainty in assessing recovery that must be addressed to achieve DPS-wide recovery goals.

Washington↗
USGS2006

Freshwater and saline loads of dissolved inorganic nitrogen to Hood Canal and Lynch Cove, western Washington

Hood Canal is a long (110 kilometers), deep (175 meters) and narrow (2 to 4 kilometers wide) fjord of Puget Sound in western Washington. The stratification of a less dense, fresh upper layer of the water column causes the cold, saltier lower layer of the water column to be isolated from the atmosphere in the late summer and autumn, which limits reaeration of the lower layer. In the upper layer of Hood Canal, the production of organic matter that settles and consumes dissolved oxygen in the lower layer appears to be limited by the load of dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN): nitrate, nitrite, and ammonia. Freshwater and saline loads of DIN to Hood Canal were estimated from available historical data. The freshwater load of DIN to the upper layer of Hood Canal, which could be taken up by phytoplankton, came mostly from surface and ground water from subbasins, which accounts for 92 percent of total load of DIN to the upper layer of Hood Canal. Although DIN in rain falling on land surfaces amounts to about one-half of the DIN entering Hood Canal from subbasins, rain falling directly on the surface of marine waters contributed only 4 percent of the load to the upper layer. Point-source discharges and subsurface flow from shallow shoreline septic systems contributed less than 4 percent of the DIN load to the upper layer. DIN in saline water flowing over the sill into Hood Canal from Admiralty Inlet was at least 17 times the total load to the upper layer of Hood Canal. In September and October 2004, field data were collected to estimate DIN loads to Lynch Cove - the most inland marine waters of Hood Canal that routinely contain low dissolved-oxygen waters. Based on measured streamflow and DIN concentrations, surface discharge was estimated to have contributed about one-fourth of DIN loads to the upper layer of Lynch Cove. Ground-water flow from subbasins was estimated to have contributed about one-half of total DIN loads to the upper layer. In autumn 2004, the relative contribution of DIN from shallow shoreline septic systems to the upper layer was higher in Lynch Cove (23 percent) than in the entire Hood Canal. Net transport of DIN into Lynch Cove by marine currents was measured during August and October 2004-a time of high biological productivity. The net transport of lower-layer water into Lynch Cove was significantly diminished relative to the flow entering Hood Canal at its entrance. Even though the net transport of saline water into the lower layer of Lynch Cove was only 119 cubic meters per second, estuarine currents between 33 and 47 m were estimated to have carried more than 35 times the total freshwater load of DIN to the upper layer from surface and ground water, shallow shoreline septic systems, and direct atmospheric rainfall. The subsurface maximums in measured turbidity, chlorophyll a, particulate organic carbon, and particulate organic nitrogen strongly suggest that the upward mixing of nitrate-rich deeper water is a limiting factor in supplying DIN to the upper layer that enhances marine productivity in Lynch Cove. The presence of phosphate in the upper layer in the absence of dissolved inorganic nitrogen also suggests that the biological productivity that leads to low dissolved-oxygen concentrations in the lower layer of Lynch Cove is limited by the supply of nitrogen rather than by phosphate loads. Although the near-shore zones of the shallow parts of Lynch Cove were sampled, a biogeochemical signal from terrestrial nitrogen was not found. Reversals in the normal estuarine circulation suggest that if the relative importance of the DIN load of freshwater terrestrial and atmospheric sources and the DIN load from transport of saline water by the estuarine circulation in controlling dissolved-oxygen concentrations in Lynch Cove is to be better understood, then the physical forces driving Hood Canal circulation must be better defined.

Scientific Investigations Report↗
USGS2016

Natural recovery of biological soil crusts after disturbance

Natural recovery of biological soil crusts (biocrusts) is influenced by a number of different parameters, such as climate, soil conditions, the severity of disturbance, and the timing of disturbance relative to the climatic conditions. In recent studies, it has been shown that recovery is often not linear, but a highly dynamic process directly influenced by non-linear external parameters as extraordinary climatic conditions (e.g., particularly dry or wet year). Natural recovery often follows a general succession pattern, starting out with cyanobacteria and algae, which is then followed by lichens and bryophytes at a later stage. However, this general sequence can be altered by parameters like dust deposition, fire effects, and special climatic conditions as in fog deserts and under mesic climates. Recent studies have proposed that under favorable, stable soil conditions, the initial soil-stabilizing cyanobacteria-dominated succession stages may be omitted and moss-dominated biocrusts can develop in the initial phases of biocrust development. During natural recovery of biocrusts, soil properties change, e.g., soil nutrient and organic matter contents increase. Also, silt and clay contents of encrusted soils increase with biocrust maturity, which may be caused by two mechanisms, i.e. entrapment of fine soil particles by biocrusts and the new formation of smaller particles by weathering of the existing substrate.

Book chapter↗
USGS2018

A diverse suite of pharmaceuticals contaminates stream and riparian food webs

A multitude of biologically active pharmaceuticals contaminate surface waters globally, yet their presence in aquatic food webs remain largely unknown. Here, we show that over 60 pharmaceutical compounds can be detected in aquatic invertebrates and riparian spiders in six streams near Melbourne, Australia. Similar concentrations in aquatic invertebrate larvae and riparian predators suggest direct trophic transfer via emerging adult insects to riparian predators that consume them. As representative vertebrate predators feeding on aquatic invertebrates, platypus and brown trout could consume some drug classes such as antidepressants at as much as one-half of a recommended therapeutic dose for humans based on their estimated prey consumption rates, yet the consequences for fish and wildlife of this chronic exposure are unknown. Overall, this work highlights the potential exposure of aquatic and riparian biota to a diverse array of pharmaceuticals, resulting in exposures to some drugs that are comparable to human dosages.

Nature Communications↗
USGS2017

U.S. Geological Survey shrub/grass products provide new approach to shrubland monitoring

In the Western United States, shrubland ecosystems provide vital ecological, hydrological, biological, agricultural, and recreational services. However, disturbances such as livestock grazing, exotic species invasion, conversion to agriculture, climate change, urban expansion, and energy development are altering these ecosystems. Improving our understanding of how shrublands are distributed, where they are changing, the extent of the historical change, and likely future change directions is critical for successful management of these ecosystems. Remote-sensing technologies provide the most likely data source for large-area monitoring of ecosystem disturbance—both near-real time and historically. A monitoring framework supported by remote-sensing data can offer efficient and accurate analysis of change across a range of spatial and temporal scales. The U.S. Geological Survey has been working to develop new remote-sensing data, tools, and products to characterize and monitor these changing shrubland landscapes. Nine individual map products (components) have been developed that quantify the percent of shrub, sagebrush, big sagebrush, herbaceous, annual herbaceous, litter, bare ground, shrub height, and sagebrush height at 1-percent intervals in each 30-meter grid cell. These component products are designed to be combined and customized to widely support different applications in rangeland monitoring, analysis of wildlife habitat, resource inventory, adaptive management, and environmental review.

Fact Sheet↗
USGS2022

Potential effects of energy development on environmental resources of the Williston Basin in Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota—Executive summary

Executive Summary The Williston Basin, which includes parts of Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota in the United States and parts of Manitoba and Saskatchewan in Canada, has been explored as a potential source of energy resources since the early 20th century; however, commercially viable petroleum drilling and recovery began in earnest in the 1950s. When oil prices rose in the mid-1980s, the number of wells also increased and then subsequently declined. Interest in the Williston Basin increased again in the mid-2000s with the application of new drilling technology. Since then, development has increased rather quickly. Most of this new development has been facilitated by advances in horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing technologies. The North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources reported an increase of more than 10,000 producing wells between 2000 and the spring of 2016. In total, 84 percent of those 10,000 wells target the Bakken Formation, which is now home to one of the Nation’s largest energy booms. Current estimates suggest that exploration and drilling activities are expected to continue for the next 20 to 50 years; however, future activity will likely ebb and flow in response to energy prices. Although most energy has been developed on non-Federal property, more than 2,000 wells were started on federally managed lands in the three States that contain the Williston Basin between 2004 and 2015, though these numbers do not reflect whether or not these wells targeted the Bakken Formation. Executive Order no. 13604 (March 22, 2012) directs Federal agencies to improve the timeliness of the permitting process for extracting publically owned minerals, while minimizing negative environmental effects. This means that Federal agencies need information about how energy development may affect other resources they are tasked with managing. One example of where information about potential effects of development may be useful is the Bureau of Land Management’s permitting process. Permits may include stipulations or special conditions that limit unforeseen negative consequences or ameliorate potential conflicts of future development. Federal agencies also need to coordinate permitting actions to ensure that development complies with existing regulations (for example, the Endangered Species Act [16 U.S.C. § 1531 et seq.] or the National Environmental Protection Act [42 U.S.C. § 4321 et seq.]) without unnecessarily restricting or delaying development. Part of this coordination entails agreeing on the information that will be used to assess the potential effects of energy development, which should also improve efficiency of the permitting process. Within the Williston Basin, a group of Federal agencies called the Bakken Federal Executive Group is developing coordination strategies for numerous energy-related issues on Federal lands. This report was developed in cooperation with the Bureau of Land Management to provide them with the best available scientific information to support documentation of potential effects on resources that Federal agencies manage. This report summarizes information about the effects of energy development on air, water, and biological resources within the U.S. part of the Williston Basin. The topics discussed in the report were based on a prioritized list of information needs elicited from the Bakken Federal Executive Group. The list was developed using a process known as structured decision making or decision analysis. This process began with an initial scoping workshop to determine the range of decisions made by those involved directly in managing energy development and resources on public land. U.S. Geological Survey staff then developed a simple quantitative ranking tool to assess which information needs were of greatest importance to those decisions.

Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota↗
USGS2026

The WOAH global wildlife health collaborating centre network (WOAH-WildNet): A coordinated and transformative approach to global wildlife health challenges

Wildlife health is integral to functioning, complex ecosystems [ 1 ], directly and indirectly influencing the health of people, animals, plants, and the environment [ 2 – 4 ]. Healthy wildlife populations are essential for ecosystem services and are at the heart of the One Health approach [ 3 , 4 ], which aims to sustainably balance and optimize the health of people, animals, and ecosystems through multisectoral and transdisciplinary collaboration [ 5 ]. Despite its importance, wildlife health initiatives often operate in silos, limiting capacity to address transboundary threats such as emerging diseases, pollution, and environmental changes. Anthropogenic changes, including habitat loss, degradation, fragmentation, and unsustainable harvesting, exacerbate wildlife health challenges [6–9]. These pressures disrupt species biology and alter host-pathogen dynamics [10–12], underscoring the importance of coordinated collective action in addressing harmful effects on the health of wild animals. While local conservation efforts are vital, long-term success in safeguarding biodiversity requires a unified, global network. For instance, without harmonized surveillance and response systems, individual institutions cannot effectively track pathogens across borders or share diagnostic capabilities. The World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) Collaborating Centre Network for Wildlife Health—WOAH-WildNet—was established to bridge these gaps. By fostering global collaboration, sharing resources, and enabling data exchange, WOAH-WildNet provides a transformative, systems-based approach to wildlife health, managing risks, and enhancing ecosystem resilience. Central to this mission is breaking down silos to promote intersectoral coordinated responses to complex wildlife health challenges.

PLOS Sustainability and Transformation↗
USGS2018

Ecological neighborhoods as a framework for umbrella species selection

Umbrella species are typically chosen because they are expected to confer protection for other species assumed to have similar ecological requirements. Despite its popularity and substantial history, the value of the umbrella species concept has come into question because umbrella species chosen using heuristic methods, such as body or home range size, are not acting as adequate proxies for the metrics of interest: species richness or population abundance in a multi-species community for which protection is sought. How species associate with habitat across ecological scales has important implications for understanding population size and species richness, and therefore may be a better proxy for choosing an umbrella species. We determined the spatial scales of ecological neighborhoods important for predicting abundance of 8 potential umbrella species breeding in Nebraska using Bayesian latent indicator scale selection in N-mixture models accounting for imperfect detection. We compare the conservation value measured as collective avian abundance under different umbrella species selected following commonly used criteria and selected based on identifying spatial land cover characteristics within ecological neighborhoods that maximize collective abundance. Using traditional criteria to select an umbrella species resulted in sub-maximal expected collective abundance in 86% of cases compared to selecting an umbrella species based on land cover characteristics that maximized collective abundance directly. We conclude that directly assessing the expected quantitative outcomes, rather than ecological proxies, is likely the most efficient method to maximize the potential for conservation success under the umbrella species concept.

Biological Conservation↗
USGS2022

Informing surveillance through the characterization of outbreak potential of chronic wasting disease in white-tailed deer

Understanding the role that an environmental prion reservoir plays in the outbreak dynamics of chronic wasting disease (CWD) in free ranging white-tailed deer ( Odocoileus virginianus ) is critical for the allocation of disease surveillance resources by state and provincial wildlife agencies. We hypothesized that demographic, ecological, and epidemiological configurations naturally attenuate epidemic risk despite the introduction of infectious prions into a susceptible population of deer, but the magnitude of infectious prions in the environmental prion reservoir complicate outbreak expectations. We developed a Susceptible-Latent-Exposed-Infective (SLEI) compartment model to represent the dynamics of CWD epidemics in free-ranging white-tailed deer, then used the basic reproductive ratio ( R 0 "> R0 ) to pinpoint counties under which pathogenic introduction (transport of infectious bodily fluids, tissues, and carcasses through natural or anthropogenic means) naturally produced (or failed to produce) an epidemic. We found that the outlook for an epidemic hinged on transmission rates, the magnitude of environmental contamination, and system type (density-, frequency-, or density/frequency-dependent). CWD can persistently infect individuals living in a contaminated environment even if direct transmission is insufficient to sustain circulation. Theoretical results show that transmission of CWD cannot be exclusively density dependent, and must behave as either a mix between frequency and density dependent, or strictly frequency dependent. While the compartment model is a simplistic representation of reality and did not contain many complicating biological considerations, it was immediately useful in hypothesis generation, motivating the collection of additional data for use in more biologically detailed models, and in the allocation of finite surveillance resources to place emphasis on data collection in areas where an introduction of infectious prions is comparatively more likely to result in an epidemic.

Ecological Modelling↗