Iowa Staff Member
Dr. David Otis
Unit Leader
Phone: (515) 294 - 7639
Email: dotis@iastate.edu
Biography
Former Unit Leader, IA Coop F&W Research Unit B.S., 1971 M.S., 1974 Ph.D., Colorado State University, 1976 I retired in 2011 after 10 years as Unit Leader. In 2001, I returned to my home state of Iowa to become Unit Leader of the Iowa Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit at Iowa State University. This move represented the latest chapter in a long history of association with the Unit Program. I began my post-graduate school career in 1976 as a post-doctoral student in the Utah Cooperative Unit at Utah State University, and I was Leader of the South Carolina Unit at Clemson University for 10 years, 1991 - 2001. In the interim, during my years as a scientist with the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, I also spent a year as a visiting scientist in the New York Cooperative Unit at Cornell University. . A primary focus of my research career has been the development and evaluation of quantitative methods for application in field ecology. Much of this work has focused on estimation of population parameters using techniques such as mark-recapture, change-in-ratio, band recovery, and distance sampling. More recently, I have been interested in improvements to design and analysis of habitat selection studies, analysis of telemetry data, use of mark-recapture data for testing additive and compensatory mortality hypotheses in exploited species, and evaluation of surveillance sampling designs for wildlife disease. For the past 15 years, I have done personal research on the po...
| Research Publications | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| Thomson, D. L., M. J. Conroy, D. R. Anderson, K. P. Burnham, E. G. Cooch, C. M. Francis, J. D. Lebreton, M. S. Lindberg, B. J. T. Morgan, D. L. Otis, and G. C. White. 2009. Standardizing terminology and notation for the analysis of demographic processes in marked populations, pp 1099-1106 in Modeling Demographic Processes in Marked Populations, Environmental and Ecological Statistics 3. Thomson, D.L., E.G. Cooch, and M.J. Conroy (Eds.). Springer, New York, NY. | Publisher Website | April 2009 |
| Vogel, J., R. Koford, and D. Otis. 2011. Assessing the role of conspecific attraction in habitat restoration for Henslow’s sparrows in Iowa. Prairie Naturalist 43:23-28. | June 2011 |
| Taylor, C. E., Otis, D. L., Hill, H. E., Jr., and C. R. Ruth. 2000. Design and evaluation of mail surveys to estimate deer harvest parameters. Wildlife Society Bulletin 28:717-723. | December 2000 |
| Scott, D. P., J. B. Berdeen, D. L. Otis, and R. L. Fendrick. 2004. Harvest parameters of urban and rural morning doves in Ohio. Journal of Wildlife Management 68:694-700. | July 2004 |
| Sanders, F. J., R. Costa, and D. L. Otis. 2004. Use of modified artificial cavities to access red-cockaded woodpecker nests. Proceedings of the Red-cockaded Woodpecker Symposium IV: 453-458. | July 2005 |
| Potter, L. M., D. L. Otis, and T. R. Bogenschutz. 2011. Nest success of northern bobwhite on managed and unmanaged landscapes in southeast Iowa. Journal of Wildlife Management 75:46-52. | March 2011 |
| Peters, K. A., and D. L. Otis. 2007. Shorebird roost-site selection at two temporal scales is human disturbance a factor? Journal of Applied Ecology 44:196-209. | January 2007 |
| Peters, K. A., and D. L. Otis. 2007. Shorebird roost-site selection at two temporal scales is human disturbance a factor? Journal of Applied Ecology 44:196-209. | February 2007 |
| Peters, K. A., and D. L. Otis. 2006. Wading bird response to recreational boat traffic on a national wildlife refuge in South Carolina: Does flushing translate into site avoidance? Wildlife Society Bulletin 34:1383-1392. | December 2006 |
| Peters, K. A., and D L. Otis. 2005. Using the risk-disturbance hypothesis to assesseffects of human disturbance and predation risk on foraging American oystercatchers. Condor 107: 715-724. | August 2005 |
| Otis, D. L., and G. C. White. 2005. Evaluation of ultrastructure and random effects band recovery models for estimating relationships between survival and harvest rates in exploited populations. Animal Biodiversity and Conservation 27: 157 - 173. | February 2005 |
| Otis, D. L., and G. C. White. 2002. Re-analysis of a banding study totest effects of an experimental increase in bag limits of mourning doves. In Morgan, B. J. T. and Thomson, D. L., Eds. Statistical Analysis of Datafrom Marked Bird Populations. Journal of Applied Statistics 29, nos1-4. | May 2002 |
| Otis, D. L., J. H. Schulz, and D. P. Scott. 2008. Mourning dove (Zenaida macroura) harvest and population parameters derived from a national banding study. U. S. Department of Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, Biological Technical Publication FWS-BTP-R3010-2008. Washington, DC. | February 2008 |
| Otis, D. L. 2006. A mourning dove hunting regulation strategy based on annual harvest statistics and banding data. Journal of Wildlife Management 70:1302-1307. | November 2006 |
| Otis, D. L. 2004. Comparison of the distribution of mallard harvestin the Mississippi and Atlantic Flyways between periods of restrictive and liberal hunting regulations. Journal of Wildlife Management 68:351-359. | April 2004 |
| Otis, D. L. 2003. A framework for reproductive models of mourningdove populations. Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science 110:13-17. | July 2003 |
| Otis, D. L. 2002. Survival models for harvest management of mourning dove populations. Journal of Wildlife Management 66:1052-1064 | October 2002 |
| Otis, D. L. 2001. Quantitative training of wildlife graduate students. Wildlife Society Bulletin 29:1043-1049. | December 2001 |
| Otis, D. L. Mourning dove banding needs assessment. 2009. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Division of Migratory Bird Management, Population and Habitat Assessment Branch. Laurel, MD. | September 2009 |
| Nusser, S. M, W. R. Clark, D. L. Otis, and L. Huang. Sampling considerations for surveillance in wildlife populaitons. Journal of Wildlife Management 72:52-60. | January 2008 |
| Nelms, C. O., D. L. Otis, G. M. Linz, and W. J. Bleier. 1999. Use of cluster sampling to estimate breeding blackbird populations in North Dakota. Wildlife Society Bulletin 28:931-997. | November 1999 |
| Miller, D. A., C. M. Vleck and D. L. Otis. 2009. Individual variation in baseline and stress-induced prolactin and corticosterone levels predicts parental effort by nesting mourning doves. Hormones and Behavior 56:457-464. Functional Ecology | October 2009 |
| Miller, D. A. and D. L. Otis. 2010. Calibrating recruitment estimates for mourning doves from harvest age ratios. Journal of Wildlife Management 74:1070-1080. | July 2010 |
| Loda, J. L. and D. L. Otis 2009. Low prevalence of amphibian chytrid fungus (Batrachocytrium dendrobatis) in Northern Leopar Frog (Rana pipiens) populations of north-central Iowa, USA. Herpetological Review 40:428-431. | October 2009 |
| LeBlanc, D. E., and D. L. Otis. 2000. Preferences by mourning doves and two granivorous songbirds for selected seeds. Proceedings Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies 52:324-335. | January 2000 |
| Kinkead, K. E., and D. L. Otis. 2007. Estimating superpopulation size and annual breeding probability of breeding for pond breeding salamanders. Herpetelogica 63:151-162. | June 2007 |
| Kinkead, K. E., D. L. Otis, J. F. Townsend, and J. A. Fairey. 2002. The efficacy of tree shelters for oak regeneration on a wetland mitigation site. Ecological Restoration 20:208-209. | September 2002 |
| Kinkead, K. E., A. G. Abbott, and D. L. Otis. 2006. Genetic Variation among Ambystoma Breeding Populations on the Savannah River Site. Conservation Genetics 7: | June 2006 |
| Jordan, N. E., D. L. Otis, R. Costa, and S. A. Gauthreaux. 2004. Hatching failure and embryonic mortality within a red-cockaded woodpecker population in South Carolina. Proceedings of the Red-cockaded Woodpecker Symposium IV: 607 - 616. | July 2005 |
| Greenberg, C., D. L. Otis, and T. Waldrop. 2006. Response of wite-footed mice (Peromyscus leacopus) to fire and fire surrogate fuel reduction treatments in a southern Appalachian hardwood forest. Forest Ecology and Management 234:355-362. | October 2006 |
| Berdeen, J. B., and D. L. Otis. 2006. The influence of subcutaneous transmitter implants on the weight change and survival of mourning doves. Wildlife Society Bulletin 34:93-104. | May 2006 |
| Technical Publications | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| Samuel, M.D., Joly, D.O., Wild, M.A., Wright, S.D.,Otis, D.L., Werge, R.W., Miller, M.W. Surveillance strategies for detecting chronic wasting disease in free-ranging deer and elk: results of a CWD surveillance workshop. USGS National Wildlife Health Center Report. March, 2003. 40pp. | April 2005 |
| Otis, D. L., J. H. Schulz, D. A. Miller, R. Mirarchi, and T. Baskett. Mourning dove (Zenaida macroura). In The Birds of North America, No. 117. (A. Poole and F. Gill, Eds.). Philadelphia: The Academy of Natural Sciences; Washington, D.C.: The American Ornithologists Union. 19. | July 2008 |
| Otis, D. L. and H. Wickham. 2006. Evaluation of the Statistical Properties of Grand Canyon Humpback Chub Abundance and Trend Estimates Produced from ASMR and Alternative Mark-Recapture Models. Draft Final Report to USGS GCMRC. 50pp. | September 2006 |
| Otis, D. L. 2009. Mourning Dove Banding Needs Assessment. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Division of Migratory Bird Management. Laurel, MD. 22pp. | May 2009 |
| Mourning Dove National Strategic Harvest Management Plan. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. September, 2004. 15pp. | April 2005 |
| McDonald, L.L., T. R. Stanley, D. L. Otis, D. E. Biggins, J. L. Koprowski, and W. Ballard. 2010. Recommended methods for range-wide monitoring of prairie dogs in the UNited States. Draft USGS Special Scientific Report. | June 2010 |
| Koford, R.R., and D. L. Otis. 2008. Bird response to enhanced vegetation diversity in the Spring Run Complex. Progress Report, SWG project, to Iowa DNR. | July 2008 |
| Koford, R. R., and D. L. Otis. 2010. Bird Response to Enhanced Vegetation Diversity in the Spring Run Complex | September 2010 |
| Koford, R. R., and D. L. Otis. 2009. Bird Response to Enhanced Vegetation Diversity in the Spring Run Complex | July 2009 |
| Kitchell, J.F., Grimes, C., Lindley, S.T., Otis, D.L., Schwarz, C. Report to the Adaptive Management Work Group, Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive Management Program. An Independent Review of Ongoing and Proposed Scientific Methods to Assess the Status & Trends of the Grand Canyon Population of the Humpback Chub (Gila cypha). December, 2003. 21pp. | April 2005 |
| Cox, R.R., Jr., Eadie, J.M., Otis, D.L., Reinecke, K.J. Science-based allocation of resources for waterfowl conservation in the contiguous U.S.: implications for the Migratory Bird Conservation Fund. Report to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service MBCF Allocation Process (MAP) Team. May, 2004. 5pp. | April 2005 |
| Andres, B., J. Bart, M. Hack, D. Humberg, M. Koneff, H. Laskowski, J. Nichols, D. Otis, and J. Roberson. Monitoring Avian Conservation: Rationale, Design, and Coordination. Prepared by: The Coordinated Bird Monitoring Working Group of the International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies. September, 2004. 30pp. | April 2005 |
| Role and Organization | Individual | Start Date | End Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Wildlife Society - Secretary, Biometrics Working Group | Otis | September 2001 | September 2003 |
| The Wildlife Society - Member, Publications Awards Committee | Otis | September 2000 | September 2001 |
| The Wildlife Society - Member, 12th Annual Conference Committee | Otis | April 2004 | September 2005 |
| The Wildlife Society - Member | Otis | January 1980 | Present |
| The Wildlife Society - Iowa Chapter Representative | Otis | October 2004 | October 2006 |
| The Wildlife Society - Chair, 2010 Rusch Award Committee | Otis | Present | |
| Ecological Society of America - Member | Otis | January 1993 | Present |
| Biometric Society - Member | Otis | January 1972 | Present |