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.

2009 | Terrestrial | Planning | Publications & Reports

Expanding the global network of protected areas to save the imperiled mediterranean biome

Underwood, E.C., K.R. Klausmeyer, R.L. Cox, S.M. Busby, S.A. Morrison, M.R.Shaw

Mediterranean habitats are among the rarest on Earth. Characterized by warm dry summers and cool wet winters, they are restricted to only 2% of the Earth’s land surface–portions of…

2008 | Terrestrial | Science | Publications & Reports

Quantifying eradication success: the removal of feral pigs from Santa Cruz Island, California

DSL Ramsey, J Parkes, SA Morrison

Populations at very low abundance can be very difficult to detect. Consequently, one of the biggest challenges of eradication projects is determining whether an inability to detect the species at the…

2008 | Terrestrial | Planning | Publications & Reports

Conserving connectivity: some lessons from mountain lions in southern California

Scott Morrison, Walter Boyce

Critical for biodiversity conservation is the retention of ecological connectivity in the landscape, so that wildlife—and the natural processes that sustain wildlife—can move around.…

2008 | Terrestrial | Technology | Science | Publications & Reports

One size does not fit all: the use of cattle grazing for grassland management at Carrizo Plain National Monument

Caroline Christian , Lawrence Saslaw, H. Scott Butterfield

To better understand the ecological role of cattle grazing in managing Carrizo Plain National Monument, we initiated a long-term study in 1997 designed to evaluate the effects of cattle grazing on…

2008 | Freshwater | Terrestrial | Science | Publications & Reports

Wildlife Response to Restoration on the Sacramento River

Golet G.H., T. Gardali, C. Howell, J. Hunt, R. Luster, B. Rainey, M. Roberts, H. Swagerty, N. Williams

Studies that assess the success of riparian restoration projects seldom focus on wildlife. More often, vegetation is studied, with the assumption that animal populations will recover once adequate…

2008 | Marine | Planning | Science | Publications & Reports

Establishing Resilient Marine Protected Area Networks–Making it Happen

Dan Laffoley, Alan T. White, Stacey Kilarski, Mary Gleason, Scott Smith, Ghislaine Llewellyn , Jon Day , Annie Hillary, Victoria Wedell, Daphine Pee

With government, agency and organizational partners, Conservancy scientists helped publish an IUCN guidebook to inspire conservation investment in global marine protection and provide a case study…

2007 | Terrestrial | Science | Publications & Reports

Reducing risk and enhancing efficiency in non-native vertebrate removal efforts on islands: a 25 year multi-taxa retrospective from Santa Cruz Island, CA

Scott A. Morrison

Eradication of invasive non-native species is often necessary to protect island ecosystems. Eradication efforts can nonetheless be risky investments. How they are planned and implemented can greatly…

2007 | Terrestrial | Science | Publications & Reports

Facing the dilemma at eradication’s end: uncertainty of absence and the Lazarus effect

Scott A. Morrison, Norman Macdonald, Kelvin Walker, Lynn Lozier, M Rebecca Shaw

One of the greatest challenges in pest eradication is knowing when it has been achieved. This paper discusses why that is challenging, and why it is so important to consider how that challenge will be…

2006 | Freshwater | Terrestrial | Marine | Publications & Reports

Designing and establishing conservation areas in the Baja California-Southern California border region

M.D. White , J.A. Stallcup, K. Comer, M.A. Vargas, J.M. Beltran Abaunza, F. Ochoa, S.A. Morrison

The California South Coast Ecoregion, a global biodiversity hotspot, is bisected by the US-Mexico border. Development near the border, ranging from urban sprawl to border security infrastructure,…

2006 | Freshwater | Terrestrial | Marine | Planning | Science | Publications & Reports

Where to draw the line: integrating feasibility into connectivity planning

Scott A. Morrison, Mark D. Reynolds

Protecting, restoring, and enhancing habitat connectivity in already fragmented landscapes poses many challenges for conservationists. This essay discusses the importance of considering implementation…

2006 | Freshwater | Terrestrial | Science | Publications & Reports

Abundance Patterns of Landbirds in Restored and Remnant Riparian Forests on the Sacramento River, California, U.S.A.

Gardali T. , A.L. Holmes, S.L. Small, N. Nur, G.R. Geupel, G.H. Golet

Restoration efforts on the Sacramento River are focusing on revegetating the land with native plants and restoring natural river processes in an attempt to recover wildlife populations. To evaluate…

2006 | Freshwater | Terrestrial | Planning | Economics | Science | Publications & Reports

Assessing societal impacts when planning restoration on large alluvial rivers: A case study of the Sacramento River Project, CA

Golet G.H., M.D. Roberts , E.W. Larsen, R.A. Luster, R. Unger, G. Werner, G.G. White.

River restoration projects have the potential to influence many of the services that rivers provide to people, yet rarely is this studied in a comprehensive manner. This paper reports on a set of…

2006 | Terrestrial | Science | Publications & Reports

Global Deserts Outlook: United Nations Environment Programme

United Nations Environment Programme, chapters co-authored by Scott Morrison

For the International Year of Deserts and Desertification, 2006, a team of environmental and social scientists assembled to assess the state of the world’s deserts. This report is the product of…

2006 | Marine | Planning | Publications & Reports

Assessing gaps in marine conservation in California

Mary G. Gleason, Matt S. Merrifield, Chuck Cook, Audrey L. Davenport, Rebecca Shaw

This study is the first marine gap analysis for California. It quantifies what is protected and what is not and highlights conservation needs and opportunities. Less than 5% of marine habitats are…

2006 | Marine | Planning | Publications & Reports

Northern California Marine Ecoregional Assessment

Mary Gleason, Matt Merrifield, Chuck Cook, Miguel Hall

The Conservancy's science and planning staff in California prepared this assessment of the most important areas for conservation of marine biodiversity in the Northern California…

2005 | Terrestrial | Science | Publications & Reports

Cattle grazing can maintain diversity of vernal pool grasslands

Marty, Jaymee T.

Livestock grazing in the American West often conjures up images of cattle degrading riparian areas or spreading weeds throughout desert rangeland. But cattle grazing does not always or necessarily…

2004 | Terrestrial | Science | Publications & Reports

Annual survivorship of a sedentary sparrow: no effect of edge or rainfall

Scott A. Morrison, Douglas T. Bolger, T. Scott Sillett

Fragmentation-sensitive species – those that tend to disappear when their habitat is fragmented – pose particular challenges for conservation, in part because fragmentation ushers in such…

2004 | Marine | Planning | Publications & Reports

Southern California Marine Ecoregional Assessment

Mary Gleason, Matt Merrifield, Craig Mayer, Michelle McCutchan, Chuck Cook

The Conservancy's science and planning staff in California prepared this assessment of the most important areas for conservation of marine biodiversity in the Southern California Marine…

2002 | Terrestrial | Science | Publications & Reports

Variation in a sparrow’s reproductive success with rainfall: food and predator-mediated processes

Scott A. Morrison, Douglas T. Bolger

Reproductive success of many species in arid environments can be sensitive to rainfall patterns: rainfall events can produce a boom of primary productivity that fuels an ecological response from the…

2002 | Terrestrial | Science | Publications & Reports

Lack of an urban edge effect on reproduction in a fragmentation-sensitive sparrow

Scott A. Morrison, Douglas T. Bolger

Fragmentation-sensitive species – those that tend to disappear when their habitat is fragmented – pose particular challenges for conservation, in part because fragmentation ushers in such…