Treesearch

Understanding habitat associations is vital for conservation of at-risk marsh-endemic wildlife species, particularly those under threat from sea level rise. We modeled environmental and habitat associations of the marsh-endemic, Federally endangered salt marsh harvest mouse (Reithrodontomys raviventris, RERA) and co-occurrence with eight associated small mammal species from annual trap data, 1998–2014, in six estuarine marshes in North San Francisco Bay, California. Covariates included microhabitat metrics of elevation and vegetation species and cover; and landscape metrics of latitude–long...

Passive acoustic monitoring is an emerging approach to wildlife monitoring that leverages recent improvements in automated recording units and other technologies. A central challenge of this approach is the task of locating and identifying target species vocalizations in large volumes of audio data. To address this issue, we developed an efficient data processing pipeline using a deep convolutional neural network (CNN) to automate the detection of owl vocalizations in spectrograms generated from unprocessed field recordings. While the project was initially focused on spotted and barred...

Passive acoustic monitoring using autonomous recording units (ARUs) is a fast-growing area of wildlife research especially for rare, cryptic species that vocalize. Northern Spotted Owl (Strix occidentalis caurina) populations have been monitored since the mid-1980s using mark–recapture methods. To evaluate an alternative survey method, we used ARUs to detect calls of Northern Spotted Owls and Barred Owls (S. varia), a congener that has expanded its range into the Pacific Northwest and threatens Northern Spotted Owl persistence. We set ARUs at 30 500-ha hexagons (150 ARU stations) with...

Summertime low clouds are common in the Pacific Northwest (PNW), but spatiotemporal patterns have not been characterized. We show the first maps of low cloudiness for the western PNW and North Pacific Ocean using a 22‐year satellite‐derived record of monthly mean low cloudiness frequency for May through September and supplemented by airport cloud base height observations. Domain‐wide cloudiness peaks in midsummer and is strongest over the Pacific. Empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis identified four distinct PNW spatiotemporal modes: oceanic, terrestrial highlands, coastal, and...

Context As the frequency of large, severe fires increases, detecting the drivers of spatial fire severity patterns is key to predicting controls provided by weather, fuels, topography, and management. Objectives Identify the biophysical and management drivers of severity patterns and their spatial variability across the 2013 Rim Fire, Sierra Nevada, California, USA. Methods Random forest models were developed separately for reburned and fire-excluded ([80 year) areas within Yosemite National Park (NP) and Stanislaus National Forest (NF). Models included biophysical, past disturbance, and...

As the American Fisheries Society (AFS) approaches its sesquicentennial, it is a time to take a moment to celebrate the increasing diversity within the Society and the pivotal role of pioneering women in shaping fisheries. Gender disparities still persist in science, including in fisheries where only a fraction of academic tenure-track, research, and federal scientist positions are held by women, though attainment of PhDs in biological sciences is equal between women and men. In addition, an extensive review of published peer-reviewed articles in both the International Aquaculture Curated...

As we reflect on the rich history of the American Fisheries Society (AFS), no greater inspiration emerges than the pioneering figure of our 47th president, Dr. Emmeline Moore. In addition to serving as the Society’s first woman president, her groundbreaking research in the fields of aquatic ecology, fish health, and watershed-based ecosystems irrevocably shaped fisheries research and management. She led the New York State Conservation Department (NYSCD), reminiscing “I had to be all things to all fishes”. She was similarly broad in her service to AFS as is demonstrated by her participation...

Watershed assessments have become common for prioritizing restoration in river networks. These assessments primarily focus on geomorphic conditions of rivers but less frequently incorporate non-geomorphic abiotic factors such as water chemistry and temperature, and biotic factors such as the structure of food webs. Using a dynamic food web model that integrates physical and ecological environmental conditions of rivers, we simulated how juvenile salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) biomass responded to restoration at twelve sites distributed across the Methow River (Washington, USA), ranging from...

Species introductions threaten ecosystem function worldwide, and interactions among introduced species may amplify their impacts. Effects of multiple invasions are still poorly studied, and often, the mechanisms underlying potential interactions among invaders are unknown. Despite being a remote and well-conserved area, the southern portion of South America has been greatly impacted by invasions of both the American beaver (Castor canadensis) and Brown Trout (Salmo trutta fario). Here, we compared growth, condition, diet, and stable isotopes of sulfur δ34S, nitrogen δ15N, and carbon δ13C...

Discussions about diversity, equity, and inclusivity are becoming increasingly common in scientific societies. However, more concerted efforts are needed to recognize and challenge systemic discrimination to ensure scientists from marginalized groups can contribute to and benefit from scientific societies. Here, we evaluate efforts and opportunities within the Society for Freshwater Science (SFS) as examples for how scientific societies can make progress toward diversity, equity, and inclusivity. In 2017, SFS collected anonymous demographic information and open-ended feedback from SFS...