Richard J Camp
Biography
Education:
M.S. 1995 Wildlife Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO
B.S. 1991 Wildlife Management, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
Specialty: Quantitative ecology; abundance and demographic modeling; avian ecology and conservation
Research Interests: Status and trend estimation; Bayesian inference; hierarchical modeling; point-process modeling
Personal Interests: Running, bicycling, beer brewing and family
Science and Products
Global Climate Change Impacts on Plants of Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park
Climate change is expected to alter the seasonal and annual patterns of rainfall and temperature in the Hawaiian Islands. Warming temperatures and altered precipitation patterns both impact ecological systems, but managing these impacts is difficult without detailed information on the magnitude and timing of these climate-related changes.
Pacific Island Bird Survey Design and Data Analysis
Abundance data are collected for bird populations throughout the Pacific Islands by numerous federal, state, university, and non-profit organizations. In order to ensure data are standardized and available to researchers throughout the region, interagency bird databases have been created and continue to be used. These databases contain more than a million compiled, proofed, and standardized...
Assessing the Potential Effects of Climate Change on Vegetation in Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park
Climate change in Hawaiʻi is expected to result in increasing temperatures and varying precipitation through the twenty-first century. Already, high elevation areas have experienced rapidly increasing temperatures and there has been an increase in the frequency of drought across the Islands. These climatic changes could have significant impacts on Hawaiʻi’s plants and animals. Changes in...
Hawaii Island biodiversity trends across time and space, 1977 and 2015
These are the datasets for the Hawaii Forest Bird Survey (HFBS) and the Hawaiian Biodiversity Trends Across Time and Space project that systematically characterized plant and bird communities. The HFBS sampled from transects spanning all major Hawaiian Islands except O‘ahu. This extensive dataset has now been organized into a database and associated geographic information system (GI
Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park Landbird Surveys 2015-2016
Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park was surveyed for landbirds and landbird habitat from February through April 2015 and February through April 2016. This information provides the second datum in the time-series of Pacific Island Network (PACN) monitoring for long-term trends in landbird distribution, density, and abundance (initial surveys conducted in 2010)....
Population density, distribution, and trends of landbirds in the National Park of American Samoa, Ta‘ū and Tutuila Units (2011–2018)
The National Park of American Samoa (NPSA) was surveyed for landbirds from June through July, 2018. Surveys were conducted using point-transect distance sampling methods to estimate bird densities. This information provides the second datum in the time-series of landbird monitoring for long-term trends in landbird distribution, density, and...
Judge, Seth; Camp, Richard J.; Vaivai, Visa; Hart, Patrick J. Using density surface models to estimate spatio-temporal changes in population densities and trend
Precise measures of population abundance and trend are needed for species conservation; these are most difficult to obtain for rare and rapidly changing populations. We compare uncertainty in densities estimated from spatio–temporal models with that from standard design‐based methods. Spatio–temporal models allow us to target priority areas where...
Camp, Richard J.; Miller, David L; Thomas, Len; Buckland, Steve T.; Kendall, Steve J. Large-scale tree mortality from Rapid Ohia Death negatively influences avifauna in lower Puna, Hawai‘i Island, USA
‘Ōhi’a lehua (Metrosideros polymorpha) is the principle tree species in forests across the Hawaiian Islands and provides critical foraging and nesting habitat for native passerines. Rapid Ohia Death (ROD), caused by the vascular wilt fungus Ceratocystis lukuohia and the canker pathogen C. huliohia, was first detected in the Puna...
Camp, Richard J.; Lapointe, Dennis; Hart, Patrick J.; Sedgwick, Daniel E; Canale, Lisa K 2017-2018 Palila abundance estimates and trend
The palila (Loxioides bailleui) population was surveyed annually from 1998–2018 on Mauna Kea Volcanoto determine abundance, population trend, and spatial distribution. In the latest surveys, the 2017population was estimated at 1,177−1,813 birds (point estimate: 1,461) and the 2018 population wasestimated at 778−1,420 (point estimate: 1,051). Only...
Genz, Ayesha S.; Brinck, Kevin W.; Camp, Richard J.; Banko, Paul C. Density estimation of sound-producing terrestrial animals using single automatic acoustic recorders and distance sampling
Obtaining accurate information on the distribution, density, and abundance of animals is an important first step toward their conservation. Methodological approaches using automatic acoustic recorders for species that communicate acoustically are gaining increased interest because of their advantages over traditional sampling methods. In this...
Sebastián-González, Esther; Camp, Richard J.; Tanimoto, Ann M.; Monteiro de Oliveira, Priscilla; Lima, Bruna Barreto; Marques, Tiago A.; Hart, Patrick J.
Potential impacts of projected climate change on vegetation-management strategies in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park
Climate change is expected to alter the seasonal and annual patterns of rainfall and temperature in the Hawaiian Islands. Land managers and other responsible agencies will need to know how plant-species habitats will change over the next century in order to manage these resources effectively. This issue is a major concern for resource managers at...
Camp, Richard J.; Berkowitz, S. Paul; Brink, Kevin W.; Jacobi, James D.; Loh, Rhonda; Price, Jonathan; Fortini, Lucas B. Potential impacts of projected climate change on vegetation management in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park
Climate change will likely alter the seasonal and annual patterns of rainfall and temperature in Hawai`i. This is a major concern for resource managers at Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park where intensely managed Special Ecological Areas (SEAs), focal sites for managing rare and endangered plants, may no longer provide suitable habitat under future...
Camp, Richard J.; Loh, Rhonda; Berkowitz, S. Paul; Brinck, Kevin W.; Jacobi, James D.; Price, Jonathan; McDaniel, Sierra; Fortini, Lucas B. Population estimates of the Endangered Hawaiʻi ʻĀkepa (Loxops coccineus) in different habitats on windward Mauna Loa
Endangered Hawai‘i ʻĀkepas (Loxops coccineus) are endemic to Hawai‘i island, where they occur in five spatially distinct populations. Data concerning the status and population trends of these unique Hawaiian honeycreepers are crucial for assessing the effectiveness of recovery and management actions. In 2016, we used point‐transect distance...
Judge, Seth W.; Camp, Richard J.; Hart, Patrick J.; Kichman, Scott T. Monitoring Hawaiian biodiversity: Pilot study to assess changes to forest birds and their habitat
Biological diversity, or biodiversity, is the variety and abundance of species in a defined area, and is one of the oldest and most basic descriptions of biological communities. Understanding how populations and communities are structured and change over space and time in response to internal and external forces is a management priority. Effective...
Gorresen, P. Marcos; Camp, Richard J.; Gaudioso, Jacqueline; Brinck, Kevin W.; Berkowitz, Paul; Jacobi, James D. No evidence of critical slowing down in two endangered Hawaiian honeycreepers
There is debate about the current population trends and predicted short-term fates of the endangered forest birds, Hawai`i Creeper (Loxops mana) and Hawai`i `Ākepa (L. coccineus). Using long-term population size estimates, some studies report forest bird populations as stable or increasing, while other studies report signs of population...
Rozek, Jessica C.; Camp, Richard J.; Reed, J. Michael Hawai`i forest bird monitoring database: Database dictionary
Between 1976 and 1981, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (now U.S. Geological Survey – Pacific Island Ecosystems Research Center [USGS-PIERC]) conducted systematic surveys of forest birds and plant communities on all the main Hawaiian Islands, except O‘ahu, as part of the Hawai‘i Forest Bird Surveys (HFBS). Results of this monumental effort have...
Camp, Richard J.; Genz, Ayesha Model-based approaches to deal with detectability: a comment on Hutto (2016)
In a recent paper, Hutto (2016a) challenges the need to account for detectability when interpreting data from point counts. A number of issues with model-based approaches to deal with detectability are presented, and an alternative suggested: surveying an area around each point over which detectability is assumed certain. The article contains a...
Marques, Tiago A.; Thomas, Len; Kéry, Marc; Buckland, Steve T.; Borchers, David L.; Rexstad, Eric; Fewster, Rachel M.; MacKenzie, Darryl I.; Royle, Andy; Guillera-Arroita, Gurutzeta; Handel, Colleen M.; Pavlacky, David C. ; Camp, Richard J.
Declining Bird Community on Kauai Island Reveals Threat of Changing Environmental Conditions
Kauai Island forest birds at tipping point toward extinction
Some Good News Amid Bad News, for Hawai`i’s Endangered Honeycreepers
Warming temperatures due to climate change are exposing endangered Hawaiian forest birds to greater risk of avian malaria. But new research led by the U.S. Geological Survey holds out some hope that the birds may be able to adapt.