Adrian P Monroe

We present five hierarchical demarcations of greater sage-grouse population structure, representing the spatial structure of populations which can exist due to differences in dispersal abilities, landscape configurations, and mating behavior. These demarcations represent Thiessen polygons of graph constructs (least-cost path [LCP] minimum spanning trees [MST; LCP-MST]) representing greater sage-grouse population structure. Because the graphs included locational information of sage-grouse breeding sites, we have provided polygons of the population structure. We also present two results using graph analytics representing node/connectivity importance based on our population structure. Understanding wildlife population...

Tags: California, Centrocercus urophasianus, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, All tags... Nevada, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, USGS Science Data Catalog (SDC), United States, Utah, Washington, Wildlife Biology, Wyoming, biota, centrality measures, connectivity (structural, functional, potential), greater sage-grouse, least-cost paths, population structure, western United States, Fewer tags

Predicted 2020 densities for 11 songbird species across the western United States

Informed wildlife management requires robust information regarding population status, habitat requirements, and likely responses to changing resource conditions. Growing evidence indicates single species management may inadequately conserve communities and result in undesired effects to non-target species. Thus, management can benefit from habitat relationship information for multiple species within, and across, ecosystems. Using 13 years of point count data (2008-2020) collected across the western United States and a suite of relevant covariates for habitat, we fit hierarchical models to characterize and predict songbird densities and evaluate population trends for 11 species of interest: Bewick’s Wren (Thryomanes...

Tags: Ecology, USGS Science Data Catalog (SDC), United States, Wildlife Biology, biota, All tags... hierarchical abundance model, pinyon-juniper, sagebrush, Fewer tags

Data and analytical code associated with pinyon jay local-scale density-habitat relationship model (2008 - 2020) in the InterMountain West, USA

This data release provides pinyon jay (Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus) counts and local-scale vegetation data associated with summertime point count surveys conducted throughout the InterMountain West under the Integrated Monitoring in Bird Conservation Regions (IMBCR) program, 2008 - 2020. We also provide code written in the R programming language to model pinyon jay abundance as a function of local-scale covariates.

Tags: Arizona, California, Colorado, Ecology, Idaho, All tags... InterMountain West, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, USGS Science Data Catalog (SDC), United States, Utah, Wildlife Biology, Wyoming, biological population management, birds, ecological processes, ecosystem management, forest ecosystems, geoscientificInformation, habitats, wildlife population management, Fewer tags

All data layers included in this data release were created using the Prioritizing Restoration of Sagebrush Ecosystems Tool (PReSET) tool, which relies on spatial inputs on species distributions and likelihood of restoration success to select parcels for sagebrush restoration. The PReSET is a workflow that relies on the prioritizr package in program R to identify parcels for effective and meaningful sagebrush restoration.Inputs into the tool included occupancy data layers for six focal species (Brewer’s sparrow (Spizella breweri), sagebrush sparrow (Artemisiospiza nevadensis), sage thrasher (Oreoscoptes montanus), greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus), pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) and greater short-horned...

Tags: Southern Wyoming, USGS Science Data Catalog (SDC), USGS-CC Sage Steppe, USGS-EMA-LOW Management and Restoration, USGS-EMA-LOW Priority Landscapes, All tags... USGS-EMA-LOW-FWD Risk Assessment, Decision Science, Forecasting, USGS-EMA-LOW-IS Ecology and/or Impacts, USGS-EMA-LOW-MR Landscape Ecology, USGS-EMA-LOW-PL Wyoming LCI, USGS-EMA-LOW-SB SMC: Greater sage-grouse, USGS-EMA-LOW-SB SMC: Migratory birds, USGS-EMA-LOW-SB SMC: Multi-species, WLCI, Wyoming, Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative, biota, multi-species management, restoration, sagebrush, spatial conservation prioritization, Fewer tags

Projected sagebrush recovery from energy development across southwestern Wyoming

Identifying ecologically relevant reference sites is important for evaluating ecosystem recovery, but the relevance of references that are temporally static is unclear in the context of vast landscapes with varying disturbance and environmental contexts over space and time. This question is pertinent for landscapes dominated by sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) which face a suite of threats from disturbance and development but also have lengthy recovery times. Here, we applied a dynamic reference approach to studying and projecting recovery of sagebrush on former oil and gas well pads in southwest Wyoming, USA, using over 3 decades of remote sensing data (1985-2018). We also used quantile regression to evaluate factors...

Tags: Southwestern Wyoming, USGS-EMA-LOW-PL Sagebrush Steppe, USGS-EMA-LOW-SB SMC: Native Species Restoration, USGS-EMA-LOW-SS Oil and gas, United States of America, All tags... Upper Colorado River Basin, Wyoming, Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative, atmospheric and climatic processes, biota, habitat alteration and disturbance, natural resource management, remediation, soil moisture, Fewer tags