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In 1969, researchers developed the first global circulation model (Ruttiman 2006); however, it was not until 2014 that modelers first attempted a global ecosystem and biodiversity model that included human pressures (i.e., the Madingley Model) (Harfoot et al. 2014). Other large-scale models of biodiversity exist, such as GLOBIO (Alkemade et al. 2009), but to date there are no well accepted global biodiversity models similar to global circulation models that can help guide global biodiversity policy development and targets. The lack of global biodiversity models compared to the extensive array of general circulation models provides a unique opportunity for climate, ecosystem, and biodiversity modeling experts to...
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Climate change influences apex predators in complex ways, due to their important trophic position, capacity for resource plasticity, and sensitivity to numerous anthropogenic stressors. Bald eagles, an ecologically and culturally significant apex predator, congregate seasonally in high densities on salmon spawning rivers across the Pacific Northwest. One of the largest eagle concentrations is in the Skagit River watershed, which connects the montane wilderness of North Cascades National Park to the Puget Sound. Using multiple long-term datasets, we evaluated the relationship between local bald eagle abundance, chum and coho salmon availability and phenology, and the number and timing of flood events in the Skagit...
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Prairies were once widespread across North America, but are now one of the most endangered and least protected ecosystems in the world. Agriculture and residential development have reduced once extensive prairies into a patchwork of remnant prairies and “surrogate” grasslands (e.g., hayfields, planted pastures). Grassland ecosystems and many grassland-dependent birds are also particularly vulnerable to rapid shifts in climate and associated changes in drought and extreme weather. The Central Flyway is a vast bird migration route that comprises more than half of the continental U.S., and extends from Central America to Canada, and harbors the greatest diversity of grassland birds in North America. Throughout this...
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Negative human-bear interactions are a common problem and management priority for many wildlife agencies in North America. Bears are adaptable to anthropogenic activity and food sources which creates opportunities for conflict with humans, including property damage, livestock depredation, and in severe cases, human injury. Acute climate events and long-term directional climate change can exacerbate the frequency and severity of human-bear interactions by changing resource availability, increasing overlap between humans and wildlife, and driving competition. Despite the pervasive threat that climate change poses, studies evaluating climate, human-wildlife interactions, and adaptive management strategies are limited....
At present, inland fisheries are not often a national or regional governance priority and as a result, inland capture fisheries are undervalued and largely overlooked. As such they are threatened in both developing and developed countries. Indeed, due to lack of reliable data, inland fisheries have never been part of any high profile global fisheries assessment and are notably absent from the Sustainable Development Goals. The general public and policy makers are largely ignorant of the plight of freshwater ecosystems and the fish they support, as well as the ecosystem services generated by inland fisheries. This ignorance is particularly salient given that the current emphasis on the food-water-energy nexus often...
Abstract (from ScienceDirect): We present the first high resolution (1:20,000) river centerlines shapefiles from 50 large rivers across the world. Rivers were selected based on the criteria of having more than 1000 km length and which have been reported to have a significant contribution to global fishery production. Since large rivers often span multiple countries, the degree of changes (i.e., anthropogenic or climate derived) varies from region to region. These high-resolution layers were developed to enable researchers to delineate accurate river length, from headwaters regions to their delta and assess or visualize the ongoing changes more accurately in these river systems. Further, these polylines could be...
Abstract: Macrophyte removal by lakefront property owners occurs on glacial lakes throughout the range of Largemouth Bass Micropterus salmoides, yet little information exists on how it affects recruitment of these fish populations. We hypothesized that with greater prey availability in macrophytes, age‐0 Largemouth Bass consumption and growth would increase. To test this hypothesis, we conducted an in‐lake experiment with age‐0 Largemouth Bass in twelve 9.29‐m2 littoral mesocosms in glacial Chancellor Lake, Michigan, during summer and fall 2014. We removed macrophytes from mesocosm substrates to produce low‐coverage, high‐coverage, and vegetation edge treatments and determined treatment effects on consumption and...
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Inland recreational fishing, defined as primarily leisure-driven fishing in freshwaters, is a popular past-time in the USA. State natural resource agencies endeavor to provide high-quality and sustainable fishing opportunities for anglers. Managers often use creel and other angler-survey data to inform state- and waterbody-level management efforts. Despite the broad implementation of angler surveys and their importance to fisheries management at state scales, regional and national coordination among these activities is minimal, limiting data applicability for larger-scale management practices and research. The goal of this project is to develop and implement the U.S. Inland Creel and Angler Survey Catalog (CreelCat),...
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There have been increasing concerns regarding the decline in moose numbers along the southern range of their North American distribution. This has prompted varied research efforts to determine the factors contributing to the reduced local populations. Although heat stress from increasing temperatures could be a potential factor for declining populations in Minnesota, temperature increases have also occurred in New York, Massachusetts, and Connecticut where populations have been expanding in recent years. Alternatively, indirect climate effects from warmer temperatures may be playing a role, such as increased prevalence of parasites (e.g., brainworm, winter tick) to levels lethal to moose. Additionally, factors such...
The United Nations’ (UN) 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development defines the formidable challenge of integrating historically separate economic, social, and environmental goals into a unified ‘plan of action for people, planet, and prosperity.’ We highlight the substantial contribution inland fisheries can make towards preventing increased poverty and, in some cases, alleviating poverty (i.e. addressing Sustainable Development Goal [SDG] 1: No Poverty) as an opportunity to inform the next set of development agendas and their associated budgets and priorities. Overlooking the contribution of inland fisheries to poverty prevention and alleviation may undermine the capacity to successfully meet the development goals,...
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Ungulates, or hoofed mammals such as elk, deer, and moose, occupy a diversity of habitats across North America, from Canada’s high arctic to the deserts of Mexico. Ungulates play an important ecological role, helping to regulate processes such as nutrient cycling in forests and grasslands, through their grazing activities. They are also economically and culturally important, providing recreational and subsistence hunting opportunities and non-consumptive, aesthetic values. Yet throughout their range, ungulates face numerous anthropogenic and environmental threats that have the potential to impact populations and their ability to move across the landscape. Of these threats, an improved understanding of the effects...
Abstract: Population persistence across broad spatial scales (e.g., watersheds) can depend on asynchronous dynamics among populations at finer scales (e.g., streams or habitats). We applied a von Bertalanffy growth model and closed N‐mixture abundance model in a hierarchical Bayesian framework to examine effects of fine‐scale variability in temperature and density dependence on growth and abundance as well as within‐ versus among‐stream variability in growth and abundance of Rio Grande Cutthroat Trout Oncorhynchus clarkii virginalis (RGCT) in northern New Mexico streams. An accumulation of degree‐days positively influenced instantaneous growth rates and, to a lesser extent, negatively affected asymptotic body length....
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Inland fisheries make up more than 50% of all food fish in the world. Sustainable inland fisheries can support global economic development by providing food for billions and livelihood for millions of people worldwide. However, it can be difficult to quantitatively track and evaluate the services that inland fisheries provide to communities, which ultimately means that the contributions of this important sector to global development and sustainability are often undervalued. There is a growing body of evidence that suggests inland fisheries have disproportionate importance for impoverished countries. However, the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and the associated Sustainable Development Goals...
Changing climate conditions pose challenges for many migratory birds, and their responses to these challenges can depend on their biology. To illustrate these impacts, I developed a board game to help elementary school students understand these challenges. The use of the game provides an opportunity to further discuss changes in phenology, the timing of life cycle events, in response to a changing climate.
Abstract (from AFS): Many Bluegill Lepomis macrochirus populations are dominated by fish ≤125 mm total length (TL) that may be underrepresented when using standard sampling gears. To identify efficient sampling methods for these populations, we compared catch per unit effort (CPUE) and TL frequency distributions of Bluegill captured in cloverleaf traps, boat electrofishing, mini‐fyke nets, and beach seine hauls from two northern Wisconsin lakes supporting populations dominated by fish ≤125 mm TL. Mean Bluegill CPUE ranged from 41 (SE = 11) fish per cloverleaf trap lift to 16 (SE = 8) fish per beach seine haul. Cloverleaf traps generally captured smaller Bluegill relative to other gears and were the only gear to...
Abstract (from AFS): Managing recreational fisheries in lake‐rich landscapes with diverse fish communities and anglers alike presents a social and biological challenge for managers. Understanding angler preferences is central to navigating these challenges and can aid in predicting shifts in angler behavior in response to management actions or changing fish populations. Species‐specific angler surveys do not incorporate tradeoffs inherent in multispecies fisheries, thus limiting their application to real‐world management issues. To better understand angler preferences in relation to realistic tradeoffs among different fishing opportunities, we conducted a survey of Wisconsin anglers in 2013–2014 that included questions...
Abstract (from Scientific Data): Inland fishes provide important ecosystem services to communities worldwide and are especially vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Fish respond to climate change in diverse and nuanced ways, which creates challenges for practitioners of fish conservation, climate change adaptation, and management. Although climate change is known to affect fish globally, a comprehensive online, public database of how climate change has impacted inland fishes worldwide and adaptation or management practices that may address these impacts does not exist. We conducted an extensive, systematic primary literature review to identify peer-reviewed journal publications describing projected and documented...
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The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) documents the status and trends of marine fish stocks that represent approximately 80% of global marine catch. These stocks are routinely monitored, and the FAO assessment describes the extent of exploitation against different reference points - such as underfished, sustainable fished, or overfished. Although inland fisheries, which represent 12% of total global capture fishery production, provide important economic and social services, including accessible and affordable high-quality protein to some of the world’s most vulnerable populations, FAO has no comparable system for assessing the state of inland fisheries. This is a critical knowledge gap...
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Moose are an important game species in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming but hunter opportunities have been reduced in many areas over the last two decades as populations have declined at this southern limit of the species’ geographic range. In the Jackson, Wyoming area moose populations have declined by an estimated 80% since the early 1990s. Rising temperatures, pathogens, and parasites represent some of the hypothesized mechanisms behind the declines. Specifically, concerns have increased about the abundance of winter ticks (Dermacentor albipictus), a widespread parasite associated with moose that increases in abundance with shorter winters and longer growing seasons. The winter tick has been associated with drastic...
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Fish that are harvested from rivers and lakes play an important role in ensuring global food security. However, data on river fisheries is not collected in any standardized format globally. Although targeted analyses have been conducted on certain river systems, the approaches used, such as intensive field sampling, are not feasible at a global scale. Most river fish are harvested by small-scale operations and in countries that lack the necessary infrastructure and technology that would enable regular reporting of harvests. Therefore, alternative approaches are needed for estimating the harvest potential of river fisheries at a global scale. Given changing climate conditions and the potential impact of these changes...
map background search result map search result map Moose Health in a Changing Environment Trophic Implications of a Phenological Paradigm Shift: Bald Eagles and Salmon in a Changing Climate Estimating Global River Fisheries Harvest Potential The U.S. Inland Creel and Angler Survey Catalog (CreelCat): A Database and Interactive Tool for Inland Fisheries Management and Research Making an Invisible Resource Visible: Integrating Inland Fisheries into the Sustainable Development Goals Assessing the State of Global Inland Fisheries Strategies for Reducing the Vulnerability of Grassland Birds to Climate Change within the Central Flyway Moose and Winter Ticks in Western Wyoming Understanding the Effects of Climate Variability and Change on Ungulates in North America The Effects of Climate Variability and Change on Human-Bear Interactions in North America Moose and Winter Ticks in Western Wyoming Strategies for Reducing the Vulnerability of Grassland Birds to Climate Change within the Central Flyway Moose Health in a Changing Environment The Effects of Climate Variability and Change on Human-Bear Interactions in North America Understanding the Effects of Climate Variability and Change on Ungulates in North America The U.S. Inland Creel and Angler Survey Catalog (CreelCat): A Database and Interactive Tool for Inland Fisheries Management and Research Estimating Global River Fisheries Harvest Potential Making an Invisible Resource Visible: Integrating Inland Fisheries into the Sustainable Development Goals Assessing the State of Global Inland Fisheries