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.
Michael C. Melnychuk, Charmane E. Ashbrook, Richard J. Bell, Lyall Bellquist, Kate Kauer, Jono R. Wilson, Ray Hilborn, Jay Odell
America’s fisheries provide nearly two million jobs and contribute $117 billion to the national GDP. Although state and territory fisheries account for 40% of the commercial value of U.S. marine fisheries overall, there has not been a nationwide synthesis of the performance of state/territory fisheries…
Christopher M. Free, Camila Vargas Poulsen, Lyall F. Bellquist, Sophia N. Wassermann, Kiva L. Oken
Commercial and recreational fisheries in California influence a long and dynamic history of coastal economies, cultural heritage, and marine ecosystem health. Fisheries-dependent data sources are critical for monitoring these trends over time, but even public data sources are often difficult to access. This slows down…
Lyall Bellquist, William J. Harford, Frank Hurd, Alexis Jackson, Jeremy D. Prince, Jan Freiwald, Anna Neumann, Jack Likins, Jono Wilson
Conventional fisheries management relies largely on professional sources of scientific data collection, typically from academic or government institutions. Development of community-led data sources (i.e., citizen/community science) has been slow, partially due to data quality concerns. Accelerating stressors to marine ecosystems and the dynamic nature of…
Nicholas C. Wegner, Elan J. Portner, Drew T. Nguyen, Lyall Bellquist, Andrew P. Nosal, Alena L. Pribyl, Kevin L. Stierhoff, Paul Fischer, Ken Franke, Russell D. Vetter, Philip A. Hastings, Brice X. Semmens, and John R. Hyde
Historical overfishing led to depletion of several groundfish species on the US west coast. Two of these species, Cowcod and Bocaccio, heavily influenced the expansion of groundfish regulations to rebuild multiple stocks. However, the effects of fishing-induced barotrauma, and the effectiveness of descending devices as…
Christopher M. Free, Sean C. Anderson, Elizabeth A. Hellmers, Barbara A. Muhling, Michael O. Navarro, Kate Richerson, Lauren A. Rogers, William H. Satterthwaite, Andrew R. Thompson, Jenn M. Burt, Steven D. Gaines, Kristin N. Marshall, J. Wilson White, Lyall F. Bellquist
As symptoms of climate change, extreme environmental events (e.g., marine heatwaves) now represent the greatest global threat to the oceans, causing profound ecosystem and socioeconomic impacts. The recent marine heatwave on the North America west coast was the largest ever recorded, but the extent of…
Lindsay Bonito, Lyall Bellquist, Alexis M. Jackson, Kate Kauer, Mary G. Gleason, Jono Wilson, Stuart Sandin
Experimentation supports adaptive and climate-ready fisheries management in numerous contexts. Exempted Fishing Permits (EFPs) enable fisheries participants, scientists, and managers to collaboratively test new fishing regulations and/or gear types that might advance fishery sustainability, although no evaluation of federal EFP performance had ever been conducted.…
Scott A. Aalbers, Michael Wang, Lyall Bellquist, Kate Kauer, Alexis Jackson, Chugey A. Sepulveda
An emerging recreational fishery for swordfish has recently developed in California, outpacing existing fisheries monitoring programs, which prevents accurate estimation of swordfish catch and effort as well as any potential bycatch. The study documents a sharp increase in swordfish catch relative to previous decades, and…
Kristina Kreter, Shona Ganguly, Rowan Roderick-Jones, and Kelsey Jessup
New strategies to address urban runoff management with nature-based approaches offer promising solutions to alleviating climate change impacts—like urban heat, water shortages, and floods—and environmental pollution and the loss of natural green space that diminish the quality of life for vulnerable communities. Vegetated…
Mario Zuliani, Nargol Ghazian, Malory Owen, Michael F. Westphal, H. Scott Butterfield, Christopher J. Lortie
As The Nature Conservancy embarks on restoration planning for its Strategic Restoration Strategy, it needs detailed information on the importance of shrubs to a suite of conservation targets, including the endangered blunt-nosed leopard lizard. Previous collaborative work between TNC and partners revealed a threshold of…
Julie Zimmerman, Jennifer Carah, Kirk Klausmeyer, Gabe Rossi, Mia Van Docto, Jeanette Howard, Charlie Schneider, Matt Clifford, Monty Schmitt
Drought conditions are occurring with more frequency, greater severity, and longer duration under climate change. Human water use compounds the effects of drought, further stressing California’s ecosystems, impacting farms, rural communities and urban water supplies. The Salmon and Steelhead Coalition developed a Drought Flows Monitor…
The Nature Conservancy, radbridge, Earth Economics
FEMA increasingly recognizes and emphasizes the role of nature-based solutions (NBS) for building community resilience to hazards like flood, wildfire, and drought, and the agency has made remarkable progress on policies and resources to support NBS in a relatively short period. However, anecdotally it remains…
Taylor-Burns, R., Heard, S., Beck, M. W.
There is growing evidence for the beneficial role that wetlands can play in reducing flood risk, but in many urban estuaries, coastal development has resulted in dramatic habitat loss and fragmentation. In the past several decades, marsh restoration has emerged as a core management objective…
Butterfield, H.S., J. Howard, Z. Principe, E. Inlander, S. Sweet, A. Craig, R. Mason, J. Knapp , M. Katkowski
For over 300 years, cattle and sheep have been grazed in California, from the Rancho era continuing to the present day. The Nature Conservancy has a long history in California and across the western United States in using cattle grazing for conservation purposes. In California…
Jasmine Lu, Emily E. Hamblen, Lara J. Brenner, Julie L. King, Bridgett M. VonHoldt, Alexandra L. DeCandia
Over 50% of federally threatened Santa Catalina Island foxes (Urocyon littoralis catalinae) develop life-threatening ceruminous gland tumors in their ear canals. Previous work suggests that tumors may result from a combination of ectoparasites, disruption of the host-associated microbiome, and host immunopathology. We found that in…
Wildfires in California, and across the western U.S., are increasing in frequency and severity, threatening both ecosystems and communities. Restoration—a combination of ecological thinning and prescribed fire—is one of the best tools to build forest resilience and prevent catastrophic wildfires, by reducing the buildup of…
The Oren Pollak Memorial Research Fund was established in 2000 in memory of Dr. Oren Pollak, a leading grassland ecologist and restoration pioneer, as well as an ardent champion and mentor for grassland ecology students. As The Nature Conservancy’s lead ecologist in California in the…
Scott Morrison, Brynn Pewtherer
The Nature Conservancy deploys science to help overcome major challenges facing people and nature. In today’s fast-paced world, turning threats to nature into opportunities for conservation requires agility. The Conservation Science Catalyst Fund enables our science team to mobilize quickly — and produce the information…
Naomi S. Fraga, Brian S. Cohen, Andy Zdon, Maura Palacios Mejia, Sophie S. Parker
This paper presents novel botanical inventories of 48 desert springs as part of the Mojave Springs Research Project. The authors assess plant species composition and richness within and between springs and evaluate how botanical diversity relates to physical and hydrological parameters. The results of…
Grace C. Wu, Ryan A. Jones, Emily Leslie, James H. Williams, Andrew Pascale, Erica Brand, Sophie Parker, Brian Cohen, Joseph Fargione, Julia Souder, Maya Batres, Mary G. Gleason, Michael H. Schindel, Charlotte K. Stanley
This paper presents the results of the Power of Place-West project. The authors combined energy modeling with ecosystem and wildlife habitat data to determine the costs and impacts associated with deploying clean energy infrastructure across 11 states in the American West. The results of…
Charles J. Maxwell, Robert M. Scheller, Kristen N. Wilson, Patricia N. Manley
The authors hypothesized that mimicking the historic fire-return interval, by matching it with the combined frequency of natural disturbances (wildfire) and management (i.e., thinning and prescribed fire), will maintain forest resilience despite a changing climate. To test our hypothesis, we deployed a forest landscape simulation model, LANDIS-II,…