Bruce L. Smith- PhD
- Researcher/Writer at Independent scientist
Bruce L. Smith
- PhD
- Researcher/Writer at Independent scientist
About
41
Publications
13,005
Reads
How we measure 'reads'
A 'read' is counted each time someone views a publication summary (such as the title, abstract, and list of authors), clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the full-text. Learn more
1,031
Citations
Introduction
Bruce Smith earned a PhD in zoology from the University of Wyoming and was a 30-year veteran wildlife manager and scientist of the US Fish and Wildlife Service. His research focused on population ecology of large mammals of the western United States, particularly ungulates. He now writes full-time to promote conservation of wildlife and wildlands. His books include nonfiction books of science, natural history, and outdoor adventure. He also writes children's novels with environmental themes.
Current institution
Independent scientist
Current position
- Researcher/Writer
Additional affiliations
February 1978 - March 1982
Position
- Wildlife biologist
Description
- Conducted habitat and wildlife population inventories and coordinated recovery of wildlife populations on the 2.2-million-acre Wind River Indian Reservation, Wyoming
May 1982 - March 2004
Position
- Management and research biologist
Description
- Responsible for wildlife and habitat management programs on the National Elk Refuge. Conducted research on elk population ecology in the Greater Yellowstone Area
Education
August 1988 - October 1994
University of Wyoming
Field of study
- Zoology and Physiology
March 1973 - March 1976
Publications
Publications (41)
We synthesized population survey and harvest data collected by Montana Fish, Wildlife and
Parks (MFWP) staff over the past 60 years for the state’s mountain goat (Oreamnos americanus)
populations. In addition, we surveyed 18 MFWP biologists who manage goats in Regions 1–5 to
learn more about the populations for which they have management responsibi...
Migratory behavior in ungulates has declined globally and understanding the causative factors (environmental change vs. human mediated) is needed to formulate effective management strategies. In the Jackson elk herd of northwest Wyoming, demographic differences between summer elk (Cervus elaphus) population segments have led to changes in migratory...
The American mountain goat is one of the most elusive and least familiar species of hoofed mammals in North America. Confined to the remote and rugged mountains of the western United States and Canada, these extraordinary mountaineers are seldom seen or encountered, even by those who patiently study them. Life on the Rocks offers an intimate portra...
Introduction
Certain species of animals capture our imagination. They possess esthetic, spiritual, cultural, utilitarian, or economic values to humans who have looked upon them with wonder or to plunder. Archeological evidence suggests this is true from the dawning of humankind. Like magnets, tarantulas and crocodiles, great white sharks and great...
Public concerns over large losses of wild ungulates to predators arise when restoring large carnivore species to former locations or population densities. During the 1990s, mountain lion (Felis concolor) and grizzly bear (Ursus arctos) numbers increased in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and gray wolves (Canis lupus) were reintroduced to the Greater Yellows...
Mountain goat (Oreamnos americanus) distributions in Montana include historic, native ranges as well as mountainous areas into which mountain goats have expanded from introductions to non-native habitat. We synthesized population survey and harvest data collected by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (MFWP) during 1960-2015 and received responses fro...
Stories from Afield: Adventures with Wild Things in Wild Places offers the outdoor enthusiast, wildlife lover, and hunter a selection of entertaining stories that immerse readers in both humorous and harrowing outdoor adventures and nature encounters. Each true story is based on the experiences of naturalist, sportsman, and wildlife biologist, Bruc...
On August 3, 2011, a federal court of appeals ruled on a case that challenged winter feeding of elk and bison on the National Elk Refuge (NER) in Jackson Hole, Wyo. For the first time, a court decision asserted that the refuge's century-old feeding program was contrary to its mission under the National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997...
1. Understanding the interaction among predators and between predation and climate is critical to understanding the mechanisms for compensatory mortality. We used data from 1999 radio-marked neonatal elk (Cervus elaphus) calves from 12 populations in the north-western United States to test for effects of predation on neonatal survival, and whether...
In the heart of Wyoming sprawls the ancient homeland of the Eastern Shoshone Indians, who were forced by the U.S. government to share a reservation in the Wind River basin and flanking mountain ranges with their historical enemy, the Northern Arapahos. Both tribes lost their sovereign, wide-ranging ways of life and economic dependence on decimated...
Abstract
During 1990–2000, I investigated patterns of fall migration and harvests of the Jackson elk herd. Specifically, I compared the timing of fall migration of the 2,500–4,500 elk (Cervus elaphus) that summered in Grand Teton National Park (GTNP) and wintered on the National Elk Refuge (NER) with elk that used other summer ranges by monitoring...
Public concerns over large losses of wild ungulates to predators arise when restoring large carnivore species to former locations or population densities. During the 1990s, mountain lion (Felis concolor) and grizzly bear (Ursus arctos) numbers increased in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and gray wolves (Canis lupus) were reintroduced to the Greater Yellows...
Abstract: The National Elk Refuge (NER) was established in 1912 to provide winter range for the Jackson Elk Herd. Supplemental feeding has resulted in high winter elk (Cervus elaphus) numbers (80-year mean = 7,714 on and adjacent to NER), and more recently high winter bison numbers (716 in 2004) on NER. We hypothesized that high ungulate numbers ha...
SUMMARY
By the turn of the 20th Century, the 15,000–20,000 elk that occupied Jackson Hole and surrounding mountain ranges faced competition from Euro-American settlers and their livestock for winter food and habitat, heavy losses during severe winters, and intense legal and illegal exploitation by settlers, market hunters, tusk hunters, and others...
We fit data on elk (Cervus elaphus) population size and composition, survival rates measured from their
first week of life, reported harvest, and local weather to a series of alternative population models of the elk herd
in Jackson, Wyoming, USA, for the period 1980–2002. Data were corrected for biases in aerial survey visibility, misclassification...
Wildlife managers routinely survey age and gender compositions of elk (Cervus elaphus) during winter to assess population demographics and to prescribe and evaluate harvest strategies. We measured precision of replicated field classifications of antlerless elk conducted during 1996-1999 on the National Elk Refuge, Wyoming. We found classification d...
Winter feeding of elk (Cervus elaphus) is a topic that has engendered a great deal of debate among wildlife biologists, policy makers, and the general public. The first institutional feeding of elk in North America occurred inJackson Hole, Wyoming, where several thousand elk are still fed during most winters at the National Elk Refuge. Winter feedi...
Elk (Cervus elaphus) that summer in Grand Teton National Park (GTNP) are part of the migratory Jackson elk herd and have been hunted in portions of GTNP since 1950 to control population size. Our purpose was to determine whether dispersal of juvenile elk from natal summer ranges (herd segments) contributed to limitation of population size and there...
ABSTRACT
Although clear-cutting has been demonstrated to be an effective means to regenerate aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.), stand replacement may be retarded under conditions of intense browsing of regeneration, such as that experienced near elk (Cervus elaphus) feedgrounds in northwestern Wyoming. We studied the effects of ungulate browsing o...
Correlates with antler size of 215 male elk (Cervus elaphus) that died during 5 winters on the National Elk Refuge, Wyoming, were investigated. The elk were 1.5--14.5 (X = 6.5, SE = 0.19) years old. Males with clinical infestations of scab mites (Psoroptes) had antlers with more points, greater beam circumference, and greater mass than males not af...
We developed 2 sightability models from summer helicopter surveys of radiocollared elk (Cervus elaphus) in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming. Significant variables (P < 0.05) included elk group size, activity, and percent vegetation cover for Model A, and elk group size and percent vegetation cover for Model B. We compared these 2 summer models an...
Elk (Cervus elaphus nelsoni) that summer in Grand Teton National Park (GTNP) are part of the migratory Jackson Elk Herd. They are fed in winter on the National Elk Refuge (NER) and have been hunted in portions of GTNP since 1950 to control population size. However, the number of elk in the Jackson Elk Herd has grown from about 8,000 in 1984 to >16,...
Expandable radiocollars, designed to monitor juvenile survival and movements, were placed on 132 neonatal elk (Cervus elaphus) in Yellowstone National Park during 1987-1990. A modified design of the same collar was placed on 164 neonates of the Jackson elk herd in northwest Wyoming during 1990-1992. One of the Yellowstone calves and 19 of the Jacks...
Early development of cervids has been correlated with juvenile survival and lifetime reproductive success. We investigated the contributions of elk (Cervus elaphus) densities, weather conditions, and supplemental feeding to birth weights, birthdates and weight gains of neonatal elk in northwest Wyoming during 1978-92. Male calves of free-ranging el...
We investigated sex bias at birth among 165 young elk (Cervus elaphus) born to freeranging,
supplementally fed females in northwestern Wyoming during 1990-1992. Sex
ratios of an additional 86 young born to females confined and supplementally fed in pastures
during 1978-1982 also were recorded. Sex ratios for cohorts of neonates were not
sex-biased....
During May and June of 1990–1992, 164 newborn elk (Cervus elaphus) of the Jackson elk herd in northwest Wyoming were captured, weighed, aged, and fitted with expandable radio collars. Calves were subsequently monitored twice daily to determine locations and causes of mortality. All neonatal mortality had occurred by 15 July and totaled 15%, 68% of...
Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wyoming, 1994. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 251-265).
Five out-of-season births of Rocky Mountain elk were documented over a 24 month period at the National Elk Refuge, Wyoming. One of four November neonates was radio-instrumented and subsequently died seven days later due to hypothermia. An April-born calf was killed by a coyote. Supplemental winter feeding of elk at the Refuge may increase the frequ...
From April 1978 to April 1982, 85 adult (≥2.7 years-old) elk Cervus elaphus nelsoni were captured and radio-collared on the National Elk Refuge in northwestern Wyoming. Relocations with biotelemetry showed that the radio-collared elk occupied four distinct summer ranges: 48% summered in Grand Teton National Park, 28% in Yellowstone National Park, 1...
Hides of nine elk, collected during the winter of 1986-1987 from the National Elk Refuge, Wyoming (USA) were examined for ectoparasites. Parasites recovered were mites, Psoroptes sp. (five elk); lice, Solenopotes ferrisi and Bovicola (Bovicola) longicornis (seven elk); and winter ticks, Dermacentor albipictus (nine elk). Three elk with severe scabi...
Septicemic pasteurellosis caused by Pasteurella multocida is believed responsible for the deaths of 48 elk (Cervus elaphus) on the National Elk Refuge near Jackson, Wyoming (USA) during 1986 and 1987. Clinical signs included depression and salivation; necropsy findings included congestion and petechial and ecchymotic hemorrhages in lymph nodes, dia...
During winter 1982-83, mortalities from the Jackson Hole elk herd, wintering on the National Elk Refuge, were located and biological data regarding age, sex and condition were recorded. A total of 170 mortalities occurred: 101 (59.4%) adult bulls, six (3.5%) spike bulls, 29 (17 .I%) cows, 29 (17 .I%) calves and five (2.9%) antlerless (either cows o...
Questions
Questions (2)
Neonatal elk predation paper attached.
I'm interested to learn of research efforts to document the changing climate's effects on and subsequent adaptations (phsiological and behavioral) of alpine species of animals: species that inhabit the arctic-alpine zone of North America's western mountain ranges (including the upper subalpine forests), and likewise in Eurasia and SA. I'm interested in learning of published work as well as in-progress studies. My primary interest is vertebrate species and how they are both directly and indirectly affected by changing climate patterns.
