CDFW Conservation Lecture Series Archive

California’s river breeding foothill yellow legged frog (Rana boylii), is in decline, especially in the southern part of its range and where it occurs near large dams. Several physically-based factors influenced by dam operations as well as natural variation in streamflow may impair the ability of populations to produce new recruits. To inform flow management that can reduce mortality agents, in association with engineer Scott McBain, Dr. Kupferberg developed a model to predict the hydrologic and thermal mechanics of breeding timing, embryonic and larval development. When applied to three different regulated rivers in California (Trinity, Tuolumne, and Alameda Creek), the model revealed cooler summer temperatures on tadpoles may have more profound impacts than spring flow fluctuation effects on clutches of eggs. 

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In the San Francisco Bay, CA a complicated situation continues to play out from the purposeful introduction of the Atlantic Spartina alterniflora, which hybridized with native California cordgrass, Spartina foliosa. The hybrids spread rapidly into the open mud where migratory shorebirds forage. This led to a large-scale herbicide campaign that is a success in saving shore bird habitat, but that also brought collateral damage to the endangered California clapper rail, which had apparently flourished in hybrid Spartina. The US Fish & Wildlife Service curtailed the herbicide campaign in 2011. The state of the situation is in flux as hybrid cordgrass is again spreading at the sites where spraying was curtailed, funding for the campaign is not assured, and the clapper rail is yet to recover over 2010 numbers. 

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Dr. Phil Leitner had his first encounter with Mohave ground squirrels in Inyo County back in 1979 and has spent a lot of time since then trying to get to know them better. This species was listed as rare under the California Endangered Species Act in 1971 and was then re-designated as threatened in 1984. Mohave ground squirrels are restricted to a small portion of the western Mojave Desert and have a well-deserved reputation for being hard to find and study. Dr. Leitner describes their annual cycle, food habits, reproduction, and dispersal as background to a discussion of conservation strategy. Projected climate change and renewable energy development may affect the western Mojave Desert in ways that will be challenging for this unique California animal. The Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan will be critical for its conservation. 

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The Townsend's big-eared bat is a candidate species under the California Endangered Species Act. Dr. Dave Johnston, an Associate Ecologist and Bat Biologist at H.T. Harvey & Associates has worked with bats since 1992. Dr. Johnston presents an overview of the life history of the species, population status, current threats because of fire suppression and mine closures, and discusses management and ongoing research. 

Photo: Townsend’s Big-Eared Bat – by Dr. Dave Johnston 

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Biologist, Jeff Alvarez, has been working with sympatric populations of California tiger salamanders and California red-legged frogs for nearly 20 years. These apparently disparate species have many similarities and differences, yet aquatic and upland management techniques that support one species appear to support the other. Since the range of red-legged frogs and tiger salamanders overlap over a large area in California, species' management can impact or benefit both species. Jeff will present a lecture that includes discussion about the benefits of grazing, silt and vegetation removal, ground squirrel management, as well as habitat associations, rate of sympatry, inter-annual variability in observed breeding, and more, time permitting. Video: California Red-Legged Frog - by Jeff Alvarez 

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Carson Jeffres, field and laboratory director for the UC Davis Center for Watershed Science, will discuss recent research on use of harvested rice fields as potential salmon nurseries. Frequently inundated large floodplains are functionally extinct in the Central Valley; many of the ecological benefits have been lost to riverine species. Since 2012 Jeffres has been studying whether flooded post-harvest rice fields can act as a surrogate for this lost habitat. Jeffres found that juvenile Chinook salmon on flooded rice fields grow at some of the fastest freshwater growth rates (.95mm/day) of juvenile salmon ever found in California. This talk will focus on what makes this surrogate floodplain productive and how inter-annual variation in weather dictates when and where conditions are suitable for the rearing juvenile Chinook salmon. 

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In 2001, white abalone became the first marine invertebrate to be federally listed as endangered, after intense over fishing in the 1970s severely depleted their population. Enhancement of the wild population through captive propagation was identified as the primary avenue for reversing the population's current trajectory toward extinction. In 2012, the Bodega Marine Laboratory celebrated the first instance of captive white abalone reproduction in nearly a decade, and small successes in captive reproduction have continued. Dr. Aquilino will discuss overcoming challenges in broodstock reproductive conditioning and increasing the survival of newly settled animals, which will help accelerate captive propagation and the recovery of wild white abalone populations. Video: White Abalone. Photo by Sammy Tillery 

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The Amargosa vole is an endangered species with the possibility of extinction without immediate and on-going recovery actions. The presenters discuss population dynamics, habitat selection, occupancy patterns, and relationship of water to the distribution of the vole's habitat. Video: Amargosa Vole. Photo by Dr. Janet Foley, UC Davis 

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The Amargosa vole is an endangered species with the possibility of extinction without immediate and on-going recovery actions. The presenters discuss population dynamics, habitat selection, occupancy patterns, and relationship of water to the distribution of the vole's habitat. Video: Amargosa Vole. Photo by Dr. Janet Foley, UC Davis 

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Dr. Ellis has been studying the ecology of aquatic species in northeastern California since 1990. She wrote the Shasta crayfish draft recovery plan for CDFW and assisted USFWS in the preparation of the final recovery plan for the Shasta crayfish. Dr. Ellis helped to develop a Safe Harbor Agreement for Shasta Crayfish. In her presentation, Dr. Ellis discusses the ecology of the species, threats, and management activities that encourage recovery of the species and restoration of its habitat. Video: Shasta Crayfish Lecture 

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