Sarah C. Sawyer
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View article: Rapid Declines in Southern Sierra Nevada Fisher Habitat Driven by Drought and Wildfire
Rapid Declines in Southern Sierra Nevada Fisher Habitat Driven by Drought and Wildfire Open
Aim Forest disturbances are a natural ecological process, but climate and land‐use change are altering disturbance regimes at an unprecedented rate, posing significant threats to biological communities and the species of concern. Our aim w…
View article: Using bioacoustics to enhance the efficiency of spotted owl surveys and facilitate forest restoration
Using bioacoustics to enhance the efficiency of spotted owl surveys and facilitate forest restoration Open
The California spotted owl ( Strix occidentalis occidentalis ) is an older‐forest associated species that resides at the center of forest management planning in the Sierra Nevada and Southern California, USA, which are experiencing increas…
View article: Estimating population size for California spotted owls and barred owls across the Sierra Nevada ecosystem with bioacoustics
Estimating population size for California spotted owls and barred owls across the Sierra Nevada ecosystem with bioacoustics Open
Monitoring population size at ecosystem scales is difficult for most species of conservation concern. While assessing site occupancy at broad scales has proven feasible, rigorous tracking of changes in population size over time has not – e…
View article: Multi-trophic occupancy modeling connects temporal dynamics of woodpeckers and beetle sign following fire
Multi-trophic occupancy modeling connects temporal dynamics of woodpeckers and beetle sign following fire Open
In conifer forests of western North America, wildlife populations can change rapidly in the decade following wildfire as trees die and animals respond to concomitant resource pulses that occur across multiple trophic levels. In particular,…
View article: Breeding status shapes territoriality and vocalization patterns in spotted owls
Breeding status shapes territoriality and vocalization patterns in spotted owls Open
Vocal territory defense can vary within a species due to many factors such as sex and breeding status, influencing territory size and thus population density across a landscape. Therefore, understanding what influences variation in territo…
View article: Quantifying the capacity for assisted migration to achieve conservation and forestry goals under climate change
Quantifying the capacity for assisted migration to achieve conservation and forestry goals under climate change Open
Many tree species might be threatened with extinction because they cannot disperse or adapt quickly enough to keep pace with climate change. One potential, and potentially risky, strategy to mitigate this threat is assisted migration, the …
View article: Forest heterogeneity outweighs movement costs by enhancing hunting success and fitness in spotted owls
Forest heterogeneity outweighs movement costs by enhancing hunting success and fitness in spotted owls Open
Context The concepts of habitat fragmentation and heterogeneity are central to the conservation of biodiversity; yet understanding when landscapes transition from heterogenous to fragmented can challenge conservation in practice. Complex a…
View article: Author response for "Breeding status shapes territoriality and vocalization patterns in spotted owls"
Author response for "Breeding status shapes territoriality and vocalization patterns in spotted owls" Open
View article: Toward climate change refugia conservation at an ecoregion scale
Toward climate change refugia conservation at an ecoregion scale Open
Climate change uncertainty poses serious challenges to conservation efforts. One emerging conservation strategy is to identify and conserve climate change refugia: areas relatively buffered from contemporary climate change that enable pers…
View article: Noisy neighbors and reticent residents: Distinguishing resident from non-resident individuals to improve passive acoustic monitoring
Noisy neighbors and reticent residents: Distinguishing resident from non-resident individuals to improve passive acoustic monitoring Open
Passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) is an increasingly common method for studying populations of vocally active species. However, the detection of individuals not resident to a site may obfuscate inferences about occurrence and population ch…
View article: Elevational gradients strongly mediate habitat selection patterns in a nocturnal predator
Elevational gradients strongly mediate habitat selection patterns in a nocturnal predator Open
Mountain ecosystems contain strong elevational gradients in climate and vegetation that shape species distributions and the structure of animal communities. Nevertheless, studies of habitat selection for individual species rarely account f…
View article: Density dependence influences competition and hybridization at an invasion front
Density dependence influences competition and hybridization at an invasion front Open
Aim Landscape and climatic change are promoting range shifts, potentially leading to competition and hybridization between formerly isolated species. However, density‐dependent interactions can impede the timely identification of associate…
View article: Spotted owls and forest fire: Comment
Spotted owls and forest fire: Comment Open
Western North American forest ecosystems are experiencing rapid changes in disturbance regimes because of climate change and land use legacies (Littell et al. 2018). In many of these forests, the accumulation of surface and ladder fuels fr…
View article: Patterns of woodboring beetle activity following fires and bark beetle outbreaks in montane forests of California, USA
Patterns of woodboring beetle activity following fires and bark beetle outbreaks in montane forests of California, USA Open
Increasingly frequent and severe drought in the western United States has contributed to more frequent and severe wildfires, longer fire seasons, and more frequent bark beetle outbreaks that kill large numbers of trees. Climate change is e…
View article: Cross‐scale occupancy dynamics of a postfire specialist in response to variation across a fire regime
Cross‐scale occupancy dynamics of a postfire specialist in response to variation across a fire regime Open
Fire creates challenges and opportunities for wildlife through rapid destruction, modification and creation of habitat. Fire has spatially variable effects on landscapes; however, for species that benefit from the ephemeral resource patche…
View article: Linking knowledge to action: the role of boundary spanners in translating ecology
Linking knowledge to action: the role of boundary spanners in translating ecology Open
One of the most effective ways to foster the co‐production of ecological knowledge by producers and users, as well as encouraging dialogue between them, is to cultivate individuals or organizations working at and managing the boundary betw…
View article: Correction: Managing Climate Change Refugia for Climate Adaptation
Correction: Managing Climate Change Refugia for Climate Adaptation Open
[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0159909.].
View article: Managing Climate Change Refugia for Climate Adaptation
Managing Climate Change Refugia for Climate Adaptation Open
Refugia have long been studied from paleontological and biogeographical perspectives to understand how populations persisted during past periods of unfavorable climate. Recently, researchers have applied the idea to contemporary landscapes…
View article: Does wildlife resource selection accurately inform corridor conservation?
Does wildlife resource selection accurately inform corridor conservation? Open
Summary Evaluating landscape connectivity and identifying and protecting corridors for animal movement have become central challenges in applied ecology and conservation. Currently, resource selection analyses are widely used to focus corr…