There are few pieces of land left in the west that remain unknown. Fewer still that exist entirely in private ownership, span 85 square miles across four counties, and that are located less than 50 miles from San Francisco. The magnitude of time and labor required to canvas 50,000 acres of wilderness using traditional survey methods can be daunting. Using relatively simple GIS tools, landscape modeling, eDNA metabarcoding, and finally traditional survey methods as a validation tool, WRA was able to quickly and economically build a landscape level picture of targeted species distribution across a vast and rugged property. This talk will focus on the approach, methods, and findings of one of the most extensive validated eDNA case studies that occurred at what stands to be a conservation stronghold in an increasingly urbanized region.

Genetic evidence of connectivity can guide the definition of effective management units and identification of barriers to gene flow. Highly vagile species are expected to exhibit high gene flow and weak population structure. However, behavioral differences may cause differentiation among groups. Black-tailed deer in northern California are partially migratory, with individuals occupying inland mountains migrating seasonally and those in low-elevation habitats occupying year-round home ranges. Greater space use by migratory deer could confer higher gene flow among them compared to that among non-migratory deer. At the same time, strong site fidelity and social affinities among deer that migrate together could genetically differentiate them from non-migratory groups. We investigated these hypotheses using microsatellite genotypes from 1,294 individuals collected throughout north-coastal California from 2015–2020. Estimated effective migration surfaces and isolation-by-resistance modeling indicated higher gene flow in the migratory than non-migratory portions of the range. However, genetic clustering analysis indicated high levels of admixture with minimal genetic differentiation between migratory and nonmigratory groups. Our findings indicate that seasonal migration increases connectivity and does not result in positive assortative mating based on behavioral differences, supporting existing management units and indicating no immediate need to address issues of genetic management among behavioral groups.

Bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) were extirpated from much of their historic range in the 19th and 20th centuries as a result of widespread disease. In response, translocations emerged as a valuable restoration tool to return bighorn sheep to their native range in North America, but many of these translocated populations were characterized by low recruitment, limited range expansion, and poor population performance. Some investigators have implicated a failure to consider local adaptations to environmental conditions as a factor limiting translocation success, but research examining region-specific environmental factors has been limited. Our objective is to examine the spatial and temporal differences in resource selection between male and female bighorn sheep in the Little Missouri River region of North Dakota, an area that is most appropriate for the Rocky Mountain ecotype, and Antelope Island in Utah, which is most appropriate for the desert ecotype. Historically, populations at both locations experienced poor performance as a result of possible ecotype mismatch, but they are now improving after the addition of stock from source locations that more closely align with their release sites. The addition of bighorn sheep ecotypes from source environments that more closely align with the target environment might appear to be a strong predictor of improved population trajectories.To evaluate factors that might positively influence population trajectories, we are using resource selection functions to compare selection patterns in both locations. Our results will contribute to the improvement of restoration strategies and enhance translocation success.

Movement between distinct locations is an important strategy used by animals to escape environmental extremes or to maximize access to forage. This behavior occurs in multiple taxa around the world. Animal movements can fall into many classifications such as long-distance migration, exploratory movements, short-distance migrations, range shifts, and daily movement within a home range. Being able to distinguish movement types is important for conservation of habitat and movement corridors. It is also important to examine environmental factors that influence the initiation of these movements. Pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) make daily decisions about distances to move to best access high quality forage and minimize the effect of environmental changes. Pronghorn movements have been a focus of study, but little is known about how environmental cues influence these movements. Our objective was to identify daily changes in pronghorn home ranges and understand how these changes influence movement types in a population of pronghorn in southeast Oregon, USA. We deployed 203 GPS collars on adult female pronghorn between 2019 and 2021 by helicopter capture. We recorded daily precipitation, temperature and wind speed within a home range and used multiple regression to understand the influence on daily movements. We used time series, by month and seasonal, to look at how movements vary at separate times of the year. We identified individual variation of the effect of environmental cues and distances moved. We also identified variation of the influence of environmental cues during different seasons. Our observations indicate that pronghorn movement is influenced by daily variation of environmental factors such as precipitation, temperature, and wind speed. And that these variations are influenced by seasonality of weather.

Fire is a natural form of disturbance that shapes resource availability across spatial and temporal scales. As fire regimes change in response to climate change and anthropogenic factors, further work is necessary to understand how wildfire disturbance impacts medium-large (>0.5-kg) mammals. We used autologistic occupancy models to determine how ten mammal species responded to four wildfire events in Orange County and Santa Cruz County, California, USA, across a landscape and over time. Most species increased usage of sites affected by higher fire severity and/or heterogeneity, in the burned interior or along burned edges. Mesocarnivores increased their use of burned areas after a fire, while small herbivores and large carnivores did not exhibit a strong response to wildfire over time. Mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) were the only species to increase use of sites with lower fire severity and sites in unburned areas, and during mid- to late-successional stages. Although most mammals appeared to prefer landscape heterogeneity and resource pulses created by more severe wildfire, there was some variation. Wildlife managers should draw on region-specific studies when seeking to reintroduce healthy fire into fire-adapted ecosystems.

There has been widespread loss of riparian forests and floodplain habitats across the Sacramento Valley with increased pressures from highly channelized river systems, introduction of nonnative species, and other anthropogenic alterations. As a result of these changes, vegetation occurring within these systems has become overgrown and choked with a thick understory of both native and nonnative species, significantly increasing the wildfire risk. River Partners assessed vegetation conditions and wildlife use within four Sacramento River Wildlife Area (SRWA) units in their current state to prioritize future restoration efforts for the purpose of reducing wildfire risk and benefit wildlife species. These sites were chosen after desktop analysis due to their extensive weed or California grape populations, as well as potential for pollinator restoration. We performed vegetation releves and avian point count surveys, as well as deployed autonomous recording units to capture bird calls and wildlife cameras from May to July 2024. We also performed rapid pollinator surveys and the Bumble Bee Atlas. We will present these baseline wildlife data, and assess outcomes as associated with differences in the sites’ dominant vegetation. Lessons learned from this project may help guide future restoration projects that benefit both wildlife and wildfire resiliency.