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DCP Funded Peer Reviewed Publications

DCP Funded Peer Reviewed Publications


DCP Authored Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles funded (in full or in part) by the Clark County Desert Conservation Program


Abella, S., Berry, K. and Ferrazzano, S., (2023), Techniques for Restoring Damaged Mojave and Western Sonoran Habitats, Including Those for Threatened Desert Tortoises and Joshua Trees, Desert Plants 39(2)

Harju, S. M., & Cambrin, S. M. (2019). Identifying habitat correlates of latent occupancy when apparent annual occupancy is confounded with availability for detection. Biological Conservation, 238, 108246.   

Harju, S. M., Cambrin, S. M., Averill‐Murray, R. C., Nafus, M., Field, K. J., & Allison, L. J. (2020). Using incidental mark‐encounter data to improve survival estimation. Ecology and Evolution, 10(1), 360-370.

Harju, S., Cambrin, S., & Jenkins, K. (2023). Mapping Low-Elevation Species Richness and Biodiversity in the Eastern Mojave Desert. Natural Areas Journal, 43(1), 53-61

Harju, S., & Cambrin, S. (2023). Designing a Long-term Occupancy Monitoring Plan for a Cryptic Reptile. Journal of Herpetology, 57(1), 20-26.

Harju, S.M., Cambrin, S.M., & Berg, J. (2024). Indirect impacts of a highway on movement behavioral states of a threatened tortoise and implications for landscape connectivity. Scientific Reports 14, 716


Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles funded (in full or in part) by the Clark County Desert Conservation Program

Brown, M. B., Schumacher, I. M., Klein, P. A., Harris, K., Correll, T., & Jacobson, E. R. (1994). Mycoplasma agassizii causes upper respiratory tract disease in the desert tortoise. Infection and immunity, 62(10), 4580-4586.

Crampton, L. H., Longland, W. S., Murphy, D. D., & Sedinger, J. S. (2011). Food abundance determines distribution and density of a frugivorous bird across seasons. Oikos, 120(1), 65-76.

Drake, K. K., Esque, T. C., Nussear, K. E., Defalco, L. A., Scoles‐Sciulla, S. J., Modlin, A. T., & Medica, P. A. (2015). Desert tortoise use of burned habitat in the eastern Mojave Desert. The Journal of Wildlife Management, 79(4), 618-629.

Dutcher, K.E., Nussear, K.E., Heaton, J.S., Esque, T.C., Vandergast, A.G. (2023). Move it or lose it: Predicated effects of culverts and population density on Mojave desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) connectivity. PLoS ONE 18(9): e0286820.

Field, K. J., Tracy, C. R., Medica, P. A., Marlow, R. W., & Corn, P. S. (2007). Return to the wild: translocation as a tool in conservation of the desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii). Biological Conservation, 136(2), 232-245.

Inman, R. D., Nussear, K. E., & Tracy, C. R. (2009). Detecting trends in desert tortoise population growth: elusive behavior inflates variance in estimates of population density. Endangered Species Research, 10, 295-304.

Jacobson, E. R., Brown, M. B., Schumacher, I. M., Collins, B. R., Harris, R. K., & Klein, P. A. (1995). Mycoplasmosis and the desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) in Las Vegas Valley, Nevada. Chelonian Conservation and Biology, 1(4), 279-284.

Mohammadpour, H. A., Tracy, C. R., Redelman, D., DuPre’, S. A., & Hunter, K. W. (2010). Flow cytometric method for quantifying viable Mycoplasma agassizii, an agent of upper respiratory tract disease in the desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii). Letters in applied microbiology, 50(4), 347-351.


Nussear, K. E., & Tracy, C. R. (2007). Can modeling improve estimation of desert tortoise population densities?. Ecological Applications, 17(2), 579-586.

Nussear, K. E., Esque, T. C., Haines, D. F., & Richard Tracy, C. (2007). Desert tortoise hibernation: temperatures, timing, and environment. Copeia, 2007(2), 378-386.

Parker, L. D., Campana, M. G., Quinta, J. D., Cypher, B., Rivera, I., Fleischer, R. C., ... & Maldonado, J. E. (2021). An efficient method for simultaneous species, individual, and sex identification via in-solution SNP capture from low-quality scat samples. Molecular Ecology Resources. 22, 1345-1361

Parker, L. D., Quinta, J. D., Rivera, I., Cypher, B. L., Kelly, E. C., Campana, M. G., ... & Maldonado, J. E. (2022). Genetic analyses are more sensitive than morphological inspection at detecting the presence of threatened Mojave desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) remains in canid scat and raven pellets. Conservation Science and Practice, 4(6), e12689.

Sandmeier, F. C., Tracy, C. R., Dupré, S., & Hunter, K. (2012). A trade-off between natural and acquired antibody production in a reptile: implications for long-term resistance to disease. Biology Open, 1(11), 1078-1082.

Schumacher, I. M., Brown, M. B., Jacobson, E. R., Collins, B. R., & Klein, P. A. (1993). Detection of antibodies to a pathogenic mycoplasma in desert tortoises (Gopherus agassizii) with upper respiratory tract disease. Journal of Clinical Microbiology, 31(6), 1454-1460.

Schumacher, I. M., Hardenbrook, D. B., Brown, M. B., Jacobson, E. R., & Klein, P. A. (1997). Relationship between clinical signs of upper respiratory tract disease and antibodies to Mycoplasma agassizii in desert tortoises from Nevada. Journal of Wildlife Diseases, 33(2), 261-266.

Scoles-Sciulla, S. J., DeFalco, L. A., & Esque, T. C. (2015). Contrasting long-term survival of two outplanted Mojave Desert perennials for post-fire revegetation. Arid Land Research and Management, 29(1), 110-124.

Stalker, J. B., J. L. Jones, and C. M. Gienger. (2021) Heloderma Suspectum (Gila Monster). Hibernation. Herpetological review 52(4) 858.

Stalker J.B., Jones J.L, Hromada S.J., Nussear K.E., Vandergast A.G., Wood D.A., Tracy C.R., and Gienger C.M.. (2023) Livin’ la vida local: philopatry results in consistent patterns of annual space use in a long-lived lizard. Journal of Zoology 321(4) 309-321.

Stosich, A., L. A. DeFalco, & S. J. Scoles-Sciulla. (2022). A review of Arctomecon californica (Papaveraceae) with a focus on the species’ potential for propagation and reintroduction and conservation needs. Monographs of the Western North American Naturalist 14:1–22

Tracy, C. R., Nussear, K. E., Esque, T. C., Dean-Bradley, K., Tracy, C. R., DeFalco, L. A., ... & Barber, A. M. (2006). The importance of physiological ecology in conservation biology. Integrative and Comparative Biology, 46(6), 1191-1205.

Young, M. H., Andrews, J. H., Caldwell, T. G., & Saylam, K. (2017). Airborne LiDAR and aerial imagery to assess potential burrow locations for the desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii). Remote Sensing, 9(5), 458.




The following peer-reviewed articles were also funded (in full or in part) by the Clark County Desert Conservation Program

DuPre, S.A., C.R. Tracy, F.C. Sandmeier, and K.W. Hunter. 2012.  A quantitative PCR method for assessing the presence of Pasteurella testudinis DNA in nasal lavage samples from the desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii). Journal of Microbiological Methods. 91, 3, 443-447. A quantitative PCR method for assessing the presence of Pasteurella testudinis DNA in nasal lavage samples from the desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) - ScienceDirect

Gearon, J.H. and M.H. Young, 2021. Geomorphic controls on shrub canopy volume and spacing of creosote bush in northern Mojave Desert, USA. Landscape Ecology 36, 527-547. Geomorphic controls on shrub canopy volume and spacing of creosote bush in northern Mojave Desert, USA | SpringerLink

Hagerty, B.E., and C.R. Tracy. 2010. Defining population structure for the Mojave desert tortoise. Conservation Genetics. 11, 1795-1807. Defining population structure for the Mojave desert tortoise | SpringerLink

Hagerty, B.E., K.E. Nussear, T.C. Esque and C.R. Tracy. 2011.  Making molehills out of mountains: landscape genetics of the Mojave desert tortoise. Landscape Ecology. 26, 267-280. 
Making molehills out of mountains: landscape genetics of the Mojave desert tortoise | SpringerLink






Hunter K.W., S.A. DuPre, T. Sharp, F. C. Sandmeier, and C.R. Tracy. 2008. Western blot can distinguish natural and acquired antibodies to Mycoplasma agassizii in the desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii). Journal of Microbiological Methods. 75, 3, 464-471.   Western blot can distinguish natural and acquired antibodies to Mycoplasma agassizii in the desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) - ScienceDirect

Sandmeier F.C., C.R. Tracy, B.E. Hagerty, S. DuPre, H. Mohammadpour, and K. Hunter Jr. 2013. Mycoplasmal Upper Respiratory Tract Disease Across the Range of the Threatened Mojave Desert Tortoise: Associations with Thermal Regime and Natural Antibodies. EcoHealth. 10, 63-71. Mycoplasmal Upper Respiratory Tract Disease Across the Range of the Threatened Mojave Desert Tortoise: Associations with Thermal Regime and Natural Antibodies | SpringerLink

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