Products

We identify issues and uncertainties that pose obstacles to conservation and then—in collaboration with internal and external colleagues—develop science products that help overcome those obstacles.

2020 | Freshwater | Science | Publications & Reports

Characterizing benthic macroinvertebrate and algal biological condition gradient models for California wadeable Streams, USA

Michael J. Paul, Ben Jessup, Larry R. Brown, James L. Carter, Marco Cantonatie, Donald F. Charles, Jeroen Gerritsena, David B. Herbst, Rosalina Stancheva, Jeanette Howard, Bill Isham, Rex Lowe, Raphael D. Mazor, Patina K. Mendez, Peter R. Ode, Alison O'Dowd, John Olson, Yangdong Pan, Andrew C. Rehn, Sarah Spaulding, Martha Sutula, Susanna Theroux

Water resource agencies assess stream water quality by determining the bugs and algae present to develop biotic indices. Yet translating these technical measures into meaningful language is difficult.…

2020 | Terrestrial | Planning | Science | Publications & Reports

Santa Ana Mountains to eastern Peninsular Range Conservation Connectivity Infrastructure Planning Project for Interstate 15 and Closely Associated Roadways

Dr. Winston Vickers, Karen C. Drayer, Trish Smith, Brian Cohen

Highways across the greater San Diego region in southern California are major barriers and causes of mortality for mountain lions and are contributing to the species’ genetic restriction and…

2020 | Freshwater | Terrestrial | Technology | Science | Publications & Reports

Mojave Desert Springs: setting an ecological baseline

Sophie S. Parker

This article appears in the Desert Report, a news publication of the Sierra Club California/Nevada Desert Committee. The article introduces the Mojave Springs Research Project, led by The Nature…

2020 | Terrestrial | Technology | Science | Data

Low-impact land use pathways to deep decarbonization of electricity

Grace C. Wu, Emily Leslie, Douglas Allen, Oluwafemi Sawyerr, D. Richard Cameron, Erica Brand, Brian Cohen, Marcela Ochoa, Arne Olson

California has ambitious climate and energy policies that call for the development of significant amounts of new zero-carbon energy by midcentury. The Power of Place study looks at multiple pathways…

2020 | Terrestrial | Planning | Science | Publications & Reports

Roadmap to Restoration

Rodd Kelsey, Scott Butterfield, Abigail Hart, Ruthie Redmond, Hope Bigda-Peyton

This Policy Brief summarizes the results of a study on the potential for strategic habitat restoration in the San Joaquin Valley of California as an important part of reducing overall water…

2020 | Marine | Science | Publications & Reports

Effective fisheries management instrumental in improving fish stock status

Ray Hilborn, Ricardo Oscar Amoroso, Christopher M. Anderson, Julia K. Baum, Trevor A. Branch, Christopher Costello, Carryn L. de Moor, Abdelmalek Faraj, Daniel Hively, Olaf P. Jensen, Hiroyuki Kurota, L. Richard Little, Pamela Mace, Tim McClanahan, Michael C. Melnychuk, Cóilín Minto, Giacomo Chato Osio, Ana M. Parma, Maite Pons, Susana Segurado, Cody S. Szuwalski, Jono Wilson, Yimin Ye

Does fisheries management work at improving the status of fish stocks? The answer is a resounding, yes. This article compiles estimates of the status of global fish stocks, comprising roughly half of…

2020 | Terrestrial | Planning | Technology | Science | Publications & Reports

Jack and Laura Dangermond Preserve Rangeland Management Plan

Butterfield, H.S., M. Katkowski, J. Cota, O. Sage, C. Sage, K. Easterday, D. Zeleke, L. Riege, S. Gennet, K. Lin, B. Leahy, M. Bell, M. Reynolds

Cattle grazing is the dominant land management tool TNC has to manage biodiversity and reduce the threat of catastrophic wildfire at the TNC's Jack and Laura Dangermond Preserve. This…

2020 | Terrestrial | Science | Publications & Reports

Habitat selection by spotted owls after a megafire reflects their adaptation to historical frequent-fire regimes

Gavin M. Jones, H. Anu Kramer, Sheila A. Whitmore, William J. Berigan, Douglas J. Tempel, Connor M. Wood, Brendan K. Hobart, Tedward Erker, Fidelis A. Atuo, Nicole F. Pietrunti, Rodd Kelsey, R. J. Gutierrez, M. Zachariah Peery

This study examined spotted owl habitat selection after the King Fire in California using satellite tracking of 26 different owls . The authors found that whether severe fire was "good" or "bad" for…

2020 | Freshwater | Terrestrial | Marine | Planning | Technology | Science | Publications & Reports

Jack and Laura Dangermond Preserve Integrated Resources Management Plan

Butterfield, H.S., M. Reynolds , M.G. Gleason, M. Merrifield, B.S. Cohen, W.N. Heady, D. Cameron, T. Rick, E. Inlander, M. Katkowski, L. Riege, J. Knapp, S. Gennet, G. Gorga, K. Lin, K. Easterday, B. Leahy, M. Bell

This Plan frames the biological and cultural significance and provides the short- and long-term goals, objectives, and priority actions for the Jack and Laura Dangermond Preserve.

2020 | Terrestrial | Science | Publications & Reports

Effects of Field and Landscape Scale Habitat on Insect and Bird Damage to Sunflowers

Sara M. Kross, Breanna L. Martinico, Ryan P. Bourbour, Jason M. Townsend, Chris McColl, T. Rodd Kelsey

Agriculture-dominated landscapes harbor significantly diminished biodiversity. Woody vegetation along field margins can provide farmers with ecosystem services and benefit biodiversity. However, when…

2020 | Marine | Science | Publications & Reports

Unusual occurrences of fishes in the Southern California Current System during the warm water period of 2014–2018

H.J. Walker Jr., Philip A. Hastings, John R. Hyde, Robert N. Lea, Owyn E. Snodgrass, Lyall F. Bellquist

In response to anomalously warm sea-surface temperatures, poleward shifts in the geographic range of hundreds of marine organisms worldwide have been documented. This paper reports on the unusual…

2020 | Terrestrial | Technology | Science | Publications & Reports

Shrub and vegetation cover predict resource selection use by an endangered species of desert lizard

Christopher J. Lortie, Jenna Braun, Michael Westphal, Taylor Noble, Mario Zuliani, Emmeleia Nix, Nargol Ghazian, Malory Owen, H. Scott Butterfield

This paper evaluates how endangered species with highly restricted habitat needs and increasingly small population sizes (using blunt-nosed leopard lizard as our example), select and use available…

2020 | Freshwater | Marine | Science | Microsite

State of Salmon in California

Sally Liu, Megan Webb, Jeanette Howard, Jennifer Carah

Chinook, coho and steelhead were once tremendously abundant in most of California’s major rivers and streams. As recently as the 1960s, salmon and steelhead were so plentiful in streams that…

2020 | Freshwater | Terrestrial | Marine | Technology | Publications & Reports

Technology Catalyst Fund - 2019 Annual Report

Matt Merrifield, Sue Pollock

Conservation needs to harness technology to meet the complex challenges of today’s world. The Technology Catalyst Fund provides early stage resources to investigate and prototype technologies…

2020 | Freshwater | Terrestrial | Marine | Science | Publications & Reports

Conservation Science Catalyst Fund - 2019 Annual Report

Brynn Pewtherer, Scott Morrison

The Nature Conservancy deploys science to help overcome major challenges facing people and nature. In today’s fast-paced world, turning threats to nature into opportunities for conservation…

2020 | Freshwater | Science | Publications & Reports

A functional flows approach to selecting ecologically relevant flow metrics for environmental flow applications

Sarah M. Yarnell, Eric D. Stein, J. Angus Webb, Theodore Grantham, Rob A. Lusardi, Julie Zimmerman, Ryan A. Peek, Belize A. Lane, Jeanette Howard, Samuel Sandoval-Solis

The authors of this paper are engaged in developing flow criteria for California Streams through California Environmental Flows Framework (CEFF) collaboration. The effort is funded by the State…

2019 | Freshwater | Planning | Science | Publications & Reports

Dynamic multibenefit solutions for global water challenges

Melissa M. Rohde, Mark Reynolds, Jeanette Howard

In this article, the authors provide an example of how dynamic multi-benefit solutions used to provide “pop-up” wetland habitat for migratory birds also replenishing depleted aquifers to…

2019 | Terrestrial | Science | Publications & Reports

Oren Pollak Memorial Research Fund - 2020 RFP

Brynn Pewtherer

The Oren Pollak Memorial Research Fund was established in 2000 in memory of Dr. Oren Pollak, a leading grassland ecologist and restoration pioneer, as well as an ardent champion and mentor for…

2019 | Freshwater | Science | Publications & Reports

Cannabis and residential groundwater pumping impacts on streamflow and ecosystems in Northern California

Samuel C. Zipper, Jennifer K. Carah, Christopher Dillis, Tom Gleeson, Ben Kerr, Melissa M. Rohde, Jeanette K. Howard, Julie K.H. Zimmerman

Using a newly developed tool for estimating streamflow depletion from groundwater pumping, this study examined the impacts of ongoing groundwater pumping on streamflow and aquatic ecosystems in the…