WERC Highlights -- September 2007

Fire Impacts on Wildlife: USGS scientist Robert Fisher was interviewed by the Los Angeles Times about southern California wildfires and fire impacts on animals for an upcoming story. (Robert Fisher, San Diego, CA, 619-225-6422, rfisher@usgs.gov)

Toxoplasma gondii: USGS scientist Kevin Lafferty was contacted by a science writer researching a story on effects of a cat parasite, Toxoplasma gondii, on human personality for Flipside, a science magazine for teenagers. (Kevin Lafferty, Santa Barbara, CA, 805-893-8778, klafferty@usgs.gov)

Bats of Point Reyes: On September 22, 2007, USGS scientist Gary Fellers of the Western Ecological Research Center will meet the public at a bat research site at Point Reyes National Seashore. He will demonstrate techniques for capturing and studying bats. Fellers will discuss the bat species of Marin County and show how scientists study bats in the field, including methods of capture and the use of specialized recording devices that enable a person to identify passing bats based on their ultrasonic vocalizations. (Gary Fellers, Pt. Reyes, CA, 415- 464-5185, gary_fellers@usgs.gov)

Big problems for big trees?: On September 20, 2007, USGS scientist Nate Stephenson was interviewed by the Fresno Bee for an upcoming story about the great resilience of giant sequoias -- the world's largest trees -- and about possible threats to their future. Rapid climatic warming remains one of the greatest potential threats. (Nate Stephenson, Three Rivers, CA, 559-565-3176, nstephenson@usgs.gov)

Adapting to a changing climate: On September 19, 2007, USGS scientist Nate Stephenson was interviewed by High Country News for an upcoming article on how national parks and other protected areas are planning to address climatic change. Stephenson spoke of some of the contributions research has made toward planning for adaptation. (Nate Stephenson, Three Rivers, CA, 559-565-3176, nstephenson@usgs.gov)

Wildfires: On September 18, 2007, USGS scientist Jon Keeley was interviewed about California’s Zaca Fire by a science writer for the Wildland Fire Lessons Learned Center. (Jon Keeley, Three Rivers, CA, 559-565-3170, jon_keeley@usgs.gov)

Mercury: An article by USGS scientists Collin Eagle-Smith and Josh Ackerman on methylmercury risks to breeding birds in San Francisco Bay appears in The Pulse of the Estuary, the annual report of the Regional Monitoring Program for Water Quality in San Francisco Bay. See page 37: http://www.sfei.org/rmp/pulse/index.html. (Collin Eagles-Smith, Davis, CA, 530-754-8130, ceagles-smith@usgs.gov, and Josh Ackerman, Davis, CA, 530-752-0485, jackerman@usgs.gov)

Sierra Nevada Trees: USGS scientist Phil van Mantgem was interviewed about increasing tree deaths in the Sierra Nevada for a story in the September 2007 issue of The Forestry Source. (Phil van Mantgem, Three Rivers, CA, 559-565-3179, pvanmantgem@usgs.gov)

Mercury in Breeding Shorebirds in San Francisco Bay: San Francisco Bay, which supports over half a million wintering and migrating shorebirds annually, has a legacy of mercury contamination from both mercury mining and gold extraction. Mercury methylation might be especially problematic for San Francisco Bay waterbirds because a large proportion of the breeding populations of several waterbird species nest in the South Bay where much of the restoration of former salt evaporation ponds into tidal marsh will occur. To understand current mercury levels in locally breeding waterbirds, a team of scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Humboldt State University, and PRBO Conservation Science investigated the mercury concentrations of pre-breeding American avocets and black-necked stilts, the two most abundant breeding shorebirds in San Francisco Bay, and used radio telemetry to assess space use and sites of dietary mercury uptake. They found that mercury concentrations were higher in stilts than in avocets, and males had higher levels than females. Mercury concentrations were highest for both species at the southern end of San Francisco Bay. Radio telemetry data showed that birds had strong fidelity to their capture site. Avocets primarily used salt ponds, tidal marshes, tidal flats, and managed marshes, whereas stilts mainly used salt ponds, managed marshes, and tidal marshes. Their results suggest that variation in blood mercury concentrations among sites was attributed to differences in foraging areas, and species differences in habitat use and foraging strategies may increase mercury exposure in stilts more than avocets. They reported their results in a recent issue of Science of the Total Environment. See: http://www.werc.usgs.gov/pubbriefs/ackermanpbsep2007.html. (Josh Ackerman, Davis, CA, 530-752-0485, jackerman@usgs.gov) Citation: Ackerman, J.T., C.A. Eagles-Smith, J.Y. Takekawa, S.A. Demers, T.L. Adelsbach, J.D. Bluso, A.K. Miles, N. Warnock, T.H. Suchanek, and S.E. Schwarzbach. 2007. Mercury concentrations and space use of pre-breeding American avocets and black-necked stilts in San Francisco Bay. Science of the Total Environment 384: 452–466.

Sierra Nevada Trees: On September 13, 2007, USGS scientist Phil van Mantgem was contacted by New Scientist magazine regarding his recent study in Ecology Letters on increasing tree deaths in the Sierra Nevada. (Phil van Mantgem, Three Rivers, CA, 559-565-3179, pvanmantgem@usgs.gov)

Sea Otters: A September 13, 2007, Land Letter story about sea otter mortality along the California coast mentions the USGS-led annual spring survey of southern sea otters and counts of recent years: http://www.eenews.net/Landletter/print/2007/09/13/7. (Gloria Maender, Tucson, AZ, 520-670-5596, gloria_maender@usgs.gov)

DOI Adaptive Management Awards: USGS scientist Robert N. Fisher of the Western Ecological Research Center was recognized at the Adaptive Management Award Reception, which was held in Washington, D.C., on September 12, 2007. The awards honor employees who have been instrumental in advancing adaptive management within the Department over the past two years, developing the Adaptive Management Technical Guide, Web site, and training program. Fisher was among 13 USGS employees and a total of 53 DOI employees recognized for their efforts. (Robert Fisher, San Diego, CA, 619-225-6422, rfisher@usgs.gov)

USGS Scientist Peggy Moore Recognized by NPS for I&M Contributions: USGS plant ecologist Peggy Moore of the Western Ecological Research Center has been recognized by the National Park Service with a Star Award for her outstanding contributions to the NPS Sierra Nevada Network Inventory & Monitoring program. During pilot-testing of the wetlands monitoring protocol in Yosemite National Park this year, Moore provided expertise and guidance. She also provided leadership of the special status plants inventory in Yosemite, which resulted in many new populations of special status species documented and a species new to science discovered. Moore also played an important role in documentation and certification of the vascular plant list for Yosemite and the production of the park’s vegetation map. Moore will be presented her award at the NPS Sierra Nevada Network Inventory & Monitoring Program fall Science Committee meeting in Fresno, California, on November 1. (Jan van Wagtendonk, El Portal, CA, 209-379-1306, jan_van_wagtendonk@usgs.gov)

USGS Scientist Les Chow Recognized by NPS for I&M Contributions: USGS wildlife ecologist Les Chow of the Western Ecological Research Center has been recognized by the National Park Service with a Star Award for coordinating an important vertebrate inventory in Yosemite National Park, the re-survey of the historic Grinnell vertebrate transects. The project has reported significant changes in distributions and abundance of some vertebrate taxa, some of which may be associated with changes in climate and fire regimes. He has also coordinated important bat inventory and research projects that have resulted in much better understanding of the diversity, distribution and abundance of bats in Yosemite, many of which are special status species. Additionally, he played an important role in providing data for and certifying vertebrate species lists for the Inventory & Monitoring program. Chow will be presented his award at the NPS Sierra Nevada Network Inventory & Monitoring Program fall Science Committee meeting in Fresno, California, on November 1. (Jan van Wagtendonk, El Portal, CA, 209-379-1306, jan_van_wagtendonk@usgs.gov)

Best Publications Award: USGS wildlife biologist Collin Eagles-Smith is lead author of an article that has been selected as one of four papers to receive a best publication award from the University of California Toxic Substances Research & Teaching Program (TSR&TP). The four papers selected provide both novel insights and relevance to current and emerging needs. Eagles-Smith’s paper reveals important relationships between mercury accumulation and ecosystem structure. The paper, which is currently in-press in the journal Ecological Applications is titled “Changes in Fish Diets and Mercury Bioaccumulation in Clear Lake, California: Effects of an Invasive Planktivorous Fish” and authored by Collin Eagles-Smith, Thomas Suchanek, Arthur Colwell, Norman Anderson, and Peter Moyle. Eagles-Smith will receive a certificate of this award and the paper will be featured in the TSR&TP newsletter and on the program’s website. See: https://tsrtp.ucdavis.edu/public/our_program/newsletters/summer_2007/homepage.php. Dr. Eagles-Smith has recently come to the USGS Western Ecological Research Center from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and is involved in an ongoing large collaborative project funded by the CalFed Ecosystem Restoration Program, in which biologists of the USGS, FWS, San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory, and PRBO Conservation Science are investigating the risks of mercury to waterbirds breeding within the San Francisco Bay estuary. He received his Ph.D. in Ecology from the University of California, Davis in 2006. (Collin Eagles-Smith, Davis, CA, 530-754-8130, ceagles-smith@usgs.gov)

USGS Scientists to Speak on Reptile Research at The Wildlife Society Meeting: USGS scientists of the Western Ecological Research Center will give presentations on reptiles at The Wildlife Society 14th Annual Conference, to be held in Tucson, Arizona, September 22-26, 2007. Presentations include home range use and estimators for the threatened desert tortoise (Jeremy Mack), impacts to desert tortoises from dogs (Kristin Berry), an assessment of the genetic diversity of the western shovel-nosed snake (Dustin Wood), and a method for external attachment of radio transmitters on threatened giant garter snakes (Glenn Wylie). See: http://www.wildlife.org/conference/tucson07/index.cfm. (Gloria Maender, Tucson, AZ, 520-670-5596, gloria_maender@usgs.gov)

USGS to Participate in Annual Meeting of the Pintail Action Group: USGS scientists will be participating in the 5th Annual Meeting of the Pintail Action Group (PAG, http://www.siu.edu/~wildlife/PAG/Index.asp) on September 22, 2007. The all-day meeting will be held in association with The Wildlife Society 14th Annual Conference in Tucson, Arizona. Joseph Fleskes, USGS scientist with the Western Ecological Research Center and PAG Chair, will lead the meeting. PAG is an international group of public and private interests that bring researchers and managers together to address declines in northern pintail populations. (Joe Fleskes, Dixon, CA, 707-678-0682 ext 628, joe_fleskes@usgs.gov)

Salt Ponds Restoration: On Tuesday, September 18, 2007, Northern California Public Broadcasting will air a program on the San Francisco South Bay Salt Ponds Restoration Project titled “From Salt Ponds to Wetlands” at 7:30 p.m. on KQED TV, channel 9 in the San Francisco Bay Area. USGS scientists John Takekawa and Kathleen Henderson were filmed for this program. See: http://www.kqed.org/quest. (Gloria Maender, Tucson, AZ, 520-670-5596, gloria_maender@usgs.gov)