Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units Program: Idaho
Education, Research and Technical Assistance for Managing Our Natural Resources

Idaho Project

Effectiveness of Forest Restoration Treatments on Demography of a Federally Listed Ground Squirrel

July 2012 - February 2023

Personnel

Participating Agencies

  • US Fish and Wildlife Service
  • US Forest Service
  • US Geological Survey
  • Idaho Department of Fish and Game

Fire suppression over the past century has caused widespread changes to the structure and function of coniferous forests in the western U.S. Forest restoration efforts to reverse these changes must ensure that restoration prescriptions will not adversely impact federally listed species. Northern Idaho Ground Squirrels are federally threatened and have a very small range in central Idaho. We are comparing the effects of 2 forest treatments on Northern Idaho Ground Squirrels : 1) mechanical thinning followed by a fall-season burn (past prescription used by USFS); and 2) no treatment (control). We are using a Before-After-Control-Impact (BACI) design with field sampling >5 years prior to treatment and for >4 years post-treatment. The project is a collaboration between USGS Idaho Cooperative Fish & Wildlife Research Unit, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Idaho Department of Fish and Game. The results will help determine whether thinning and fire treatments can be used to improve habitat suitability for Northern Idaho Ground Squirrels.

Research Publications Publication Date
Goldberg, A. R., C. J. Conway, and D. E. Biggins. 2020. Flea sharing among sympatric rodent hosts: implications for potential plague effects on a threatened sciurid. Ecosphere 11(2):e03033 2020-02-28
Goldberg, A.R., C. J. Conway, D. E. Biggins, G. Burak, and D. Evans Mack. 2018. Yersinia pestis, Fleas, Sylvatic Plague, and Persistence of a Federally Threatened Ground Squirrel. The Vector 12(1): 2-7 2018-03-31
Presentations Presentation Date
Goldberg, A. R., C. J. Conway, and D. Evans Mack. 2014. Why are Northern Idaho Ground Squirrels so Rare? Joint Annual Meeting of the Idaho Chapter of The Wildlife Society and the Northwest Section of The Wildlife Society, Boise, ID. 4 March 2014. 2014-03-04
Goldberg, A. R., C. J. Conway, D. Evans Mack, and E. Yensen. 2015. Why have populations of Northern Idaho Ground Squirrels declined? Annual Meeting of the Idaho Chapter of The Wildlife Society, Pocatello, ID. 10 Mar 2015. 2015-03-11
Goldberg, A. R., C. J. Conway, D. Evans Mack, G. Burak, and D. E. Biggins. 2016. Effects of sylvatic plague on Northern Idaho Ground Squirrels. Annual Meeting of the Idaho Chapter of The Wildlife Society, Coeur d' Alene, ID. 23 Feb 2016. 2016-02-25
Goldberg, A. R., C. J. Conway, D. Evans Mack, G. Burak, and D. E. Biggins. 2016. Effects of sylvatic plague on Northern Idaho Ground Squirrels. Annual Meeting of the Idaho Chapter of The Wildlife Society, Coeur d' Alene, ID. 23 Feb 2016. 2016-02-25
Goldberg, A.R., C. J. Conway, D. Evans Mack, G. Burak, and D.E. Biggins. 2017. Effects of sylvatic plague on northern Idaho ground squirrels. Annual Meeting of the American Society of Mammalogists. Moscow, ID. 22 Jun 2017. 2017-06-22
Goldberg, A.R., C. J. Conway, D. Evans Mack, G. Burak, and D.E. Biggins. 2017. Effects of sylvatic plague on northern Idaho ground squirrels. Annual Meeting of The Wildlife Society. Albuquerque, NM. 26 Sep 2017. 2017-09-26
Goldberg, A.R., C.J. Conway, D. Evans Mack, G. Burak, and D.E. Biggins. 2018. Effects of sylvatic plague on northern Idaho ground squirrels. Third Annual USFWS Science of the Service Symposium. Portland, OR. 17 Apr 2018. 2018-04-17
Goldberg, A.R., C.J. Conway, D. Evans-Mack, and G. Burak. 2017. Effects of microclimate change on Northern Idaho Ground Squirrel hibernation. Annual Meeting of the Idaho Chapter of The Wildlife Society, Boise, ID. 2 Mar 2017. 2017-03-02
Barbosa, S., K. Andrews, A. Goldberg, D. Singh-Gour, B. Bosworth, P. Hohenlohe, C. J. Conway, and L. Waits. 2019. Landscape genomics of adaptive differentiation in two sister species of Idaho Ground Squirrels. Joint Meeting of The Wildlife Society and the American Fisheries Society, Reno, NV. 1 Oct 2019. 2019-10-01
Barbosa, S., K. Andrews, A. Goldberg, D. Singh-Gour, B. Bosworth, P. Hohenlohe, C.J. Conway, and L. Waits. 2019. Landscape genomics of adaptive differentiation in two sister species of Idaho ground squirrels. Idaho Chapter of The Wildlife Society, Boise, ID. 21 Mar 2019. 2019-03-21
Garrett, M., S. Barbosa, K. R. Andrews, A. Goldberg, P. A. Hohenlohe, C. J. Conway, and L. Waits. 2020. Evaluating genetic diversity and distinctiveness of Northern and Southern Idaho ground squirrel populations using adaptive and neutral loci. Idaho Chapter of The Wildlife Society. Moscow, ID. 11 March 2020. 2020-03-11
Theses and Dissertations Publication Date
Goldberg, A.R. 2018. Diet, disease, and hibernation behavior of northern Idaho ground squirrels. Ph.D. Dissertation, Department of Fish and Wildlife Sciences, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID. Dec 2018. 2018-12-31