Kevin S. McKelvey

WHEN REINTRODUCTIONS ARE AUGMENTATIONS: THE GENETIC LEGACY OF FISHERS (MARTES PENNANTI) IN MONTANA

Abstract Fishers (Martes pennanti) were purportedly extirpated from Montana by 1930 and extant populations are assumed to be descended from translocated fishers. To determine the lineage of fisher populations, we sequenced 2 regions of the mitochondrial DNA genome from 207 tissue samples from British Columbia, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Montana. In northwestern Montana, fishers share haplotypes with samples from the upper Midwest and British Columbia; in west-central Montana, we detected haplotypes found in British Columbia samples, but also detected a control region and cytochrome-b haplotype not found in source populations. Based on the unique haplotypes found in west-central Montana, we propose that individuals with these haplotypes are descended from a relic population. Fishers in northwestern Montana are likely descended from fishers from the Midwest and British Columbia.

Data on Distribution and Abundance: Monitoring for Research and Management

In the first chapter of this book we identified the interdependence of method, data and theory as an important influence on the progress of science. The first several chapters focused mostly on progress in theory, in the areas of integrating spatial and temporal complexity into ecological analysis, the emergence of landscape ecology and its transformation into a multi-scale gradient-based science. These chapters weaved in some discussion about the interrelationships between method and these theoretical approaches. In particular, we discussed how powerful computing, large spatial databases and GIS cross-fertilized ecological theory by enabling new kinds of analyses and new scopes of investigation. However, up to this point we have given relatively little attention to the third leg of this triad, data. This and following chapters focus explicitly on data. The next several chapters discuss the advances in broad-scale data collection and analysis enabled by remote sensing, molecular genomics and satellite GPS telemetry, and how these data have made fundamental contributions to virtually all branches of ecology, especially spatial ecology, landscape ecology, and global scale research.

Resistance-surface-based wildlife conservation connectivity modeling: Summary of efforts in the United States and guide for practitioners

Resistance-surface-based connectivity modeling has become a widespread tool for conservation planning. The current ease with which connectivity models can be created, however, masks the numerous untested assumptions underlying both the rules that produce the resistance surface and the algorithms used to locate low-cost paths across the target landscape. Here we present a process to guide map creation, from conceptualization through validation, that seeks to better consider the complex biological issues inherent to connectivity modeling. Following this organized approach to connectivity modeling will help analysts prevent a plethora of issues common in recently created models, such as the failure to specify the temporal domain, purpose of the mapped connectivity, or the biological rationales for assigned pixel-level resistances. Following these steps will improve both the understanding and biological relevance of constructed connectivity maps.