Nearly half of California is protected in some land status that prevents most kinds of intensive human land uses. These lands support extensive natural habitats, and for many species, are a critical stronghold in an increasingly human-dominated world.
Yet, changes in the landscape in and near these places have left many in a degraded and precarious condition. Catastrophic wildfire, invasive species, and climate change threaten vast swathes of the state. Protected lands are becoming increasingly isolated by urban and agricultural development, roads, and other infrastructure. Such obstacles can limit a species’ ability to move to across the landscape and adapt to climate change.
Conservancy scientists are working to enhance the resiliency of protected lands in the face of rapid change, and to maintain the landscape connections necessary for plants and animals to adapt over time.
H.R. Sofaer, T.S. Sillett, K.M. Langin, S.A. Morrison, C.K. Ghalambor
The density of birds in their breeding areas can affect reproductive success in myriad ways – and it is often difficult to distinguish which factors are more influential. For example, areas that…
S.A. Morrison, K.A. Parker, P.W. Collins, W.C. Funk, T.S. Sillett
Pest eradication as a means to restore island ecosystems may come too late for populations that have already been driven extinct. Over decades, the California islands have been the focus of numerous…
CL Boser, C Hanna, KR Faulkner, C Cory, JM Randall, SA Morrison
Argentine ants are a highly aggressive and impactful non-native species introduced to California and around the world, impacting ecologically sensitive areas, commercial industries and residential…
TJ Coonan, V Bakker, B Hudgens, CL Boser, DK Garcelon, SA Morrison
The island fox is a rare carnivore existing on only six California Channel Islands. In the late 1990’s, due to new and excessive golden eagle predation, it was threatened with extinction on the…
Jeanne M. Robertson, Kathryn M. Langin, T. Scott Sillett, Scott A. Morrison, Cameron K. Ghalambor, W. Chris Funk
Conservation of biodiversity can be complicated when there are many priority taxa and tradeoffs in management need to be made. This can be especially challenging on islands, where populations with…
Mario B. Pesendorfer, Kathryn M. Langin, Brian Cohen, Zachary Principe, Scott A. Morrison, T. Scott Sillett
Acorns are an important food resource for many species that occupy oak habitats. Patterns of acorn abundance across time and space, however, are often difficult to characterize. This paper describes…
CL Boser, C Cory, KR Faulkner, JM Randall, JJ Knapp, SA Morrison
Biosecurity is the prevention of damaging non-native species’ arrival and establishment to new areas, for the protection of native plants and animals. This paper discusses the first iterations…
J Yoon, TS Sillett, SA Morrison, CK Ghalambor
When members of a single species display very different behavioral patterns it can present a helpful model for ecological study. This paper examines two breeding populations of a songbird species: one…
Luke Caldwell, Victoria J. Bakker, T. Scott Sillett, Michelle A. Desrosiers, Scott A. Morrison, Lisa M. Angeloni
The Island Scrub-Jay is the only island restricted bird species in the continental U.S. This study presents findings of a comprehensive breeding ecology study, aimed at elucidating demographic…
HR Sofaer, TS Sillett, SI Peluc, SA Morrison, CK Ghalambor
Island archipelagos can provide useful opportunities for comparative studies in ecology. In this paper, for example, breeding ecology of a songbird was studied on two of the California Channel…
TS Sillett, RB Chandler, JA Royle, M Kéry, SA Morrison
The Island Scrub-Jay occurs only on 250 km2 Santa Cruz Island. This study combined an intensive, short-term field survey with novel statistical modeling to generate estimates of population abundance,…
JongminYoon, T. Scott Sillett, Scott A.Morrison, Cameron K. Ghalambora
When members of a single species display very different behavioral patterns it can present a helpful model for ecological study. This paper examines two breeding populations of a songbird species: one…
Tim Bean, Bob Stafford, Laura Prugh, Scott Butterfield, Justin Brashares
This paper compares the efficacy of different monitoring methods for estimating distribution, abundance, and population growth of the endangered giant kangaroo rat to determine the best practices for…
M. Rebecca Shaw, Kirk Klausmeyer, D. Richard Cameron, Jason MacKenzie, Patrick Roehrdanz
Species will move around the landscape as the climate changes, presenting challenges for traditional conservation strategies like land acquisition. This paper models the cost and total land area that…
Scott A. Morrison, T. Scott Sillett, Cameron K. Ghalambor, John W. Fitzpatrick, David M. Graber, Victoria J. Bakker, Reed Bowman, Charles T. Collins, Paul W. Collins, Kathleen Semple Delaney, Daniel F. Doak, Walter D. Koenig, Lyndal Laughrin, Alan A. Lieberman, John M. Marzluff, Mark D. Reynolds, J. Michael Scott, Jerre Ann Stallcup, Winston Vickers, Walter M. Boyce
This paper discusses conservation of the Island Scrub-Jay in the context of novel threats posed by climate change. The authors discuss management actions that could reduce extinction…
Walter M. Boyce, Winston Vickers, Scott A. Morrison, Scott Sillett, Luke Caldwell, Sarah S. Wheeler, Christopher M. Barker, Robert Cummings, William K. Reisen
As West Nile virus invaded the mainland southern California coast in 2003 there were widespread die-offs of certain species of bird. Corvids (e.g., jays, ravens, crows) were especially susceptible.…
Sarah S. Wheeler, Stanley Langevin, Leslie Woods, Brian D. Carroll, Winston Vickers, Scott A. Morrison, Gwong-Jen J. Chang, William K. Reisen, Walter M. Boyce
Concerns about the spread of West Nile virus in North America and the high mortality it causes in corvids have led managers to consider vaccination as a strategy to proactively protect free-ranging…