The latest issue of CDFW’s scientific journal, California Fish and Game, is now available online.
A bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) is featured on the cover of Volume 103, Issue 2. This is to honor the life of well-known wildlife biologist Dick Weaver, who passed away in February 2017 at the age of 91. Known by his friends and peers as “Mr. Bighorn,” Dick devoted much of his adult life to studying and managing bighorn sheep as well as other desert wildlife — and to inspiring and mentoring others who follow in his footsteps.
Not coincidentally, the latest issue also includes the results of a bighorn sheep study. CDFW Environmental Scientist Vernon Bleich and colleagues spent months documenting the mineral content of forage plants used by bighorn sheep at Panamint Range and Old Dad Peak. After measuring the concentrations of 11 minerals in nine plant species, the researchers discovered something surprising: although the same plant species occur in both areas, the mineral contents varied by location. The researchers attribute their findings to climatological differences between the two mountain ranges and to differences in substrate chemistry.
Other published studies in this issue focus on the California red-legged frog (Rana draytonii) and the coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch). Although both species have been extensively studied, these papers document new research methodologies that may improve the accuracy of future efforts to locate red-legged frog egg masses, and to track juvenile coho salmon.
As it has for the past 103 years, California Fish and Game continues to publish high-quality, peer-reviewed science that contributes to the understanding and conservation of California’s wildlife. We look forward to witnessing the contributions of the next installment.