The marbled murrelet (Brachyramphus marmoratus) is a federally threatened seabird that continues to decline throughout its range. Murrelets utilize late-successional and old growth coastal forest as nesting habitat, and forage in the marine environment. Murrelet adults invest heavily in raising a single young per year, and chicks are dependent on adults for all their nutrition during the 27- to 45-day nestling period. Rates of nestling growth and development are highly sensitive to food quality and quantity. We developed a nutritional model that examined the effects of missed feedings for murrelet chicks. Six dietary scenarios were developed to simulate murrelet chick feeding: a high-quality, intermediate, and low-quality diet, with one or two feedings missing from each diet. Five of the six scenarios resulted in insufficient energy for marbled murrelet chicks, with only the high-quality diet able to provide sufficient energy with one missed feeding. The intermediate and low-quality diets with missed feedings were not able to meet the metabolic requirements of the developing chick, and over time would likely result in growth stunting and starvation. Future conservation actions should focus on avoiding disruptive activities at places and times when adult murrelets are likely to be engaged in meal deliveries to chicks, and on improving forage conditions for murrelets.

Mazama pocket gophers Thomomys mazama act as ecosystem engineers and are keystone species on the remnant glacial prairies of the southern Puget Sound lowlands. Three subspecies of Mazama pocket gophers are regionally endemic to Thurston County, Washington, and were federally listed as threatened in 2014. We examined patterns of occupancy and habitat, and differences among subspecies for soil type preference. In total, 1,241 Mazama pocket gopher screening surveys, comprising approximately 4,654 hectares, resulted in 165 occupancy parcels. Pocket gophers were detected more often on parcels with more preferred soils than on less preferred soils, though there were differences in occupancy rates among subspecies. Soil type and availability can act as surrogates of gopher habitat availability. Such quantification of habitat availability and potential loss is important given the absence of population estimates. Therefore, the conservation of undeveloped lands with soils identified a priori as preferred is necessary for both the recovery and continued persistence of Mazama pocket gophers.

Estimating fish fecundity is important for developing accurate population models and informed management decisions. Fecundity can be determined by tedious, complete oocyte counts. Researchers save time by counting a subsample of oocytes, measuring the subsample and total ova volume and weight, and extrapolating to produce fecundity estimates using volumetric and gravimetric methods. Volumetrically- and gravimetrically-generated fecundity estimates from 70 brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis, range 143–356 mm) captured from Long Creek, Oregon, were compared to total oocyte counts to evaluate the accuracy and precision of each method. The average total oocyte count was 775 (SD ± 354.8). The mean difference between total oocyte count and extrapolated count based on the gravimetric method was 111.2 (SD ± 154.0) and 165.9 (SD ± 279.0) for the volumetric method. Gravimetric and volumetric fecundity estimates were closely correlated with total oocyte counts, although both were positively biased. Volumetric estimates were on average 1.100 times true fecundity (95% CI = 1.05, 1.15) and gravimetric estimates were 1.086 times true fecundity (95% CI = 1.05, 1.12).