UNRC Publications

UNRC scientists and their community scientist collaborators are constantly making new discoveries. They are identifying and describing new species and gathering information about their habitats that opens new windows into L.A. wildlife.
 

Community Science and Urban Nature Research  

Fisher, S. R., R. N. Fisher, and G. B. Pauly. 2022. Hidden in plain sight: Detecting invasive species when they are morphologically similar to native species. Frontiers in Conservation Science 3:846431. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcosc.2022.846431

Bell, K. C., B. J. Adams, B. V. Brown, W. B. Ludt, G. B. Pauly, A. J. Shultz, and J. E. Vendetti. 2021. Museums are critical infrastructure for studying urban biodiversity. BioScience 71:433.

Robinson, L. D., A. E. Miller, V. J. Burton, C. Herodotou, L. Higgins, G. R. M. Miller, A. N. Young, M. Ghadiri Khanaposhtani, A. I. Benavides Lahnstein, H. K.  Sanghera, R. F. Johnson, M. Aristeidou, H. L. Ballard, J. Jennewein, J. Lorke, S. Pratt-Taweh, J. Wardlaw, N. Ismail, G. B. Pauly, T. Papathoma, and R. D. Swanson. 2021. Key Findings: Enhancing youth learning through Community & Citizen Science - A guide for practitioners. http://oro.open.ac.uk/79245/

Putman, B. J., R. Williams, E. Li, and G. B. Pauly. 2021. The power of community science to quantify ecological interactions in cities. Scientific Reports 11:3069. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-82491-y

Clause, A. G., A. J. Celestian, and G. B. Pauly. 2021. Plastic ingestion by freshwater turtles: a review and call to action. Scientific Reports 11:5672. https://rdcu.be/chjsr

Aristeidou, M., Herodotou, C., Ballard, H., Young, A.N., Miller, A.E., Higgins, L., and Johnson, R.F. 2021. Exploring the participation of young citizen scientists in scientific research: The case of iNaturalist. PLoS ONE 16(1).  https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0245682

·        Shultz, A. J., B. J. Adams, K. C. Bell, W. B. Ludt, G. B. Pauly, J.E. Vendetti (last five authors listed alphabetically). 2021. Natural history collections are critical resources for contemporary and future studies of urban evolution. Evolutionary Applications. https://doi.org/10.1111/eva.13045

Pauly, G. B., B. V. Brown, and L. Bettison-Varga. 2020. Fostering community engagement with nature at the Natural History Museums of Los Angeles County. Pages 46–60 in Science and Actions for Species Protection: Noah’s Arks for the 21st Century. Pontifical Academy of Sciences. Scripta Varia 146.

Monroe, D. J., G. B. Pauly, T. R. Ruppert, and R. E. Espinoza. 2020. Historic and recent range expansion of the Mediterranean House Gecko (Hemidactylus turcicus) in the eastern USA. Herpetological Review 51:447–453.

Zellmer, A. J., E. Wood, T. Surasinghe, B. J. Putman, G. B. Pauly, S. Magle, J. Lewis, C. Kay, and M. Fidino. 2020. What can we learn from wildlife sightings during the COVID-19 global shutdown? Ecosphere 11(8): e03215  https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.3215

Ward-Fear, G., G. B. Pauly, J. E. Vendetti, and R. Shine. 2020. Authorship: Include citizen scientists. Nature 578: 363.  doi: 10.1038/d41586-020-00422-9

·       Vendetti, J. E., & Garland, R. 2019. Species name formation for zoologists: a pragmatic approach. Journal of Natural History 53(47-48): 2999–3018. https://doi.org/10.1080/00222933.2020.1754482

Ward-Fear, G., Pauly, G.B., Vendetti, J.E., and Shine, R. 2019. Authorship Protocols Must Change to Credit Citizen Scientists. Trends in Ecology and Evolution. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2019.10.007

Parker SS, Randall JM, Pauly GB, Li E, Brown BV, Cohen BS. 2019. Biodiversity Analysis in Los Angeles (BAILA). Unpublished report of The Nature Conservancy and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. Los Angeles, California. 57 pp. pdf

Li, E., S.S. Parker, G.B. Pauly, J.M. Randall, B.V. Brown, and B.S.Cohen. 2019. An urban biodiversity assessment framework that combines an urban habitat classification scheme and citizen science data. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. 17 July 2019. https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2019.00277

Parker, S. S., Pauly, G. B., Moore, J., Fraga, N. S., Knapp, J. J., Principe, Z., Brown, B. V., Randall, J. M., Cohen, B. S., and Wake, T. A. 2018. Adapting the Bioblitz to Meet Conservation Needs. Conservation Biology. 32:1007–1019. https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.13103

Spear, D. M., Pauly, G. B., and Kaiser, K. 2017. Citizen Science as a Tool for Augmenting Museum Collection Data from Urban Areas. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 5:86. https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2017.00086

Ballard, H. L., Robinson, L. D., Young, A. N., Pauly, G. B., Higgins, L. M., Johnson, R. F., and Tweddle, J. C. 2016. Contributions to conservation outcomes by natural history museum-led citizen science: Examining evidence and next steps. Biological Conservation https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2016.08.040

Hartop, E. and Brown, B. 2015. The Natural History Museum’s BioSCAN project: pioneers on the urban frontier of Los Angeles. WatershedWise. 15: 6-7.

Pauly, G. B. 2015. Documenting the rapidly changing biodiversity of the Los Angeles area through citizen science. WatershedWise 15(4):2–3.

Hartop, E. 2014. City scanners. Natural History. 122: 22-27

Higgins, L., and Hartop, E. 2014. Looking for nature in L.A. Boom: A Journal of California. 4: 122-128. link

Pauly, G. B. 2014. Citizen scientists helping to document non-native species. Eye on Invasives (California Department of Fish and Wildlife) 4:2. 

Pauly, G. B. 2014. Citizen scientists help study urban biodiversity. Open Spaces: Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy Newsletter 26(2).

Vendetti, J.E., Burnett, E., Carlton, L., Curran, A.T., Lee, C., Matsumoto, R., Mc Donnell, R., Reich, I. and Willadsen, O., 2018. The introduced terrestrial slugs Ambigolimax nyctelius (Bourguignat, 1861) and Ambigolimax valentianus (Férussac, 1821)(Gastropoda: Limacidae) in California, with a discussion of taxonomy, systematics, and discovery by citizen science. Journal of Natural History, pp.1-26.  https://doi.org/10.1080/00222933.2018.1536230

Vendetti, J.E., Lee, C. and LaFollette, P., and Citizen Science contributors to SLIME and BioSCAN. 2018. Five New Records of Introduced Terrestrial Gastropods in Southern California Discovered by Citizen Science. American Malacological Bulletin, 36(2), pp.232-248. https://doi.org/10.4003/006.036.0204

Amphibians and Reptiles

*community scientist author or co-author

Fisher, S. R., R. N. Fisher, and G. B. Pauly. 2022. Hidden in plain sight: Detecting invasive species when they are morphologically similar to native species. Frontiers in Conservation Science 3:846431. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcosc.2022.846431

Putman, B. J., R. Williams, E. Li, and G. B. Pauly. 2021. The power of community science to quantify ecological interactions in cities. Scientific Reports 11:3069. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-82491-y

Clause, A. G., A. J. Celestian, and G. B. Pauly. 2021. Plastic ingestion by freshwater turtles: a review and call to action. Scientific Reports 11:5672. https://rdcu.be/chjsr

Monroe, D. J., G. B. Pauly, T. R. Ruppert, and R. E. Espinoza. 2020. Historic and recent range expansion of the Mediterranean House Gecko (Hemidactylus turcicus) in the eastern USA. Herpetological Review 51:447–453.

Pauly, G. B., M. C. Shaulsky, A. J. Barley, S. Kennedy-Gold, S. Stewart, S. Keeney, and R. C. Thomson. 2020. Morphological change during rapid population expansion confounds leopard frog identifications in the southwestern United States. Copeia 108:299–308. https://doi.org/10.1643/CH-19-222

Putman, B. J., G. B. Pauly, and D. T. Blumstein. 2020. Urban invaders are not bold risk-takers: a study of three invasive lizards in Southern California. Current Zoology. https://doi.org/10.1093/cz/zoaa015

Esparza, J. E.*, and G. B. Pauly. 2020. Elgaria multicarinata (Southern Alligator Lizard). High Elevation Record. Herpetological Review 51:124.

Pauly, G. B., and P. D. Gavit*. 2019. Geographic distribution: USA, California, Los Angeles County: Trachylepis quinquetaeniata. Herpetological Review 50:103–104.

Pauly, G. B. and Delaney, K. S. 2017. Late-season reproduction in western toads (Bufo boreas). Bulletin of the Southern California Academy of Sciences 116(2): 147-151. https://doi.org/10.3160/soca-116-02-147-151.1

Putman, B. J., Drury, J. P., Blumstein, D. T., and Pauly, G. B. 2017. Fear no colors? Observer clothing color influences lizard escape behavior. PLoS ONE 12(8): e0182146. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0182146

Larson, G. C., Huntley, C.*, Pauly, G. B., Wolfmeyer, T., Singh, B., and Espinoza, R. E. 2015. Geographic distribution: USA, California, Ventura County: Hemidactylus turcicus (Mediterranean Gecko). Herpetological Review 46:59.

Pauly, G. B. and Borthwick, D. B. * 2015. Geographic distribution. Anolis carolinensis (Green Anole). Herpetological Review 46:567.

Pauly, G. B., Yoshida, G. S.*, and Worrell, R.* 2015. Geographic distribution. Hemidactylus garnotii (Indo-Pacific Gecko). Herpetological Review 46:569.

Pauly, G. B., Wells, A.*, Espinoza, M. H., Wake, T. A., and Espinoza, R. E. 2015. Geographic distribution. Hemidactylus turcicus (Mediterranean Gecko). Herpetological Review 46:59.

Bernstein, W. L.* and Bernstein, R. W.* 2013. Geographic distribution. Hemidactylus turcicus (Mediterranean Gecko). Herpetological Review 44:474.

Birds

Shultz, A. J., B. J. Adams, K. C. Bell, W. B. Ludt, G. B. Pauly, J.E. Vendetti (last five authors listed alphabetically). 2021. Natural history collections are critical resources for contemporary and future studies of urban evolution. Evolutionary Applications. https://doi.org/10.1111/eva.13045

Cooper, D.S., Shultz, A.J., Blumstein, D.T. 2020. Temporally separated data sets reveal similar traits of birds persisting in a US megacity. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution,  8, 251. https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2020.00251

 

Insects and Spiders

Kempf, J., B.J. Adams, and B.V. Brown. 2021. Urban spider diversity in Los Angeles assessed using a community science approach. Urban Naturalist. 40: 1-10.

Brown, B.V. and M.A. Wong. 2021. Identification of Megaselia (Diptera: Phoridae) species using wing vein landmarking. The Journal of Natural History. 54: 2513-2527. pdf

Brian V. Brown, J. E. Vendetti. 2020. Megaselia steptoeae (Diptera: Phoridae): specialists on smashed snails. Biodiversity Data Journal 8: e50943.  https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.8.e50943

Adams, Benjamin J., E. Li, C.A. Bahlai. E.K. Meineke, T.P. McGlynn and B.V. Brown. Local‐ and landscape‐scale variables shape insect diversity in an urban biodiversity hot spot. Ecological Applications, 04 February 2020.  https://doi.org/10.1002/eap.2089

Dalton de Souza Amorim, B.V. Brown. Urban Scatopsidae (Diptera) of Los Angeles, California, United States. Insect Systematics and Diversity, Volume 4, Issue 1, January 2020, 1. https://doi.org/10.1093/isd/ixaa001

McGlynn*, T.P. E.K. Meineke*, C.A. Bahlai, E. Li, E.A. Hartop, B.J. Adams, B.V. Brown. 2019. Temperature accounts for the biodiversity of a hyperdiverse group of insects in urban Los Angeles. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 256: 20191818.  (*equal authorship)  https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2019.1818

Brown, Brian V., Wong, Maria A., Hartop, Emily. 2019. A new white-spotted Megaselia Rondani (Diptera: Phoridae) from western North America. Biodiversity Data Journal 7: e34310 https://doi.org:10.3897/BDJ.7.e34310

Brown, B.V. 2018. After “the call”: a review of urban insect ecology trends from 2000–2017. pp. 4-17 in Hartop, E.A. and B.V. Brown (editors). pdf

Hartop, E.A. and B.V. Brown. 2018. Beyond pests: Biodiversity in the urban environment. International Congress of Entomology 25-30 September 2016, Orlando, Florida, USA. Zoosymposia 12:1-89. http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zoosymposia.12.1.2

Ganjisaffar, F.,  E. J. Talamas, M.C. Bon, L. Gonzalez, B.V. Brown, and T.M. Perring. 2018. Trissolcus hyalinipennis Rajmohana & Narendran (Hymenoptera, Scelionidae), a parasitoid of Bagrada hilaris (Burmeister) (Hemiptera, Pentatomidae), emerges in North America. Journal of Hymenoptera Research. 65: 111-130. https://doi.org/10.3897/jhr.65.25620 

Prudic, K.L., J.C. Oliver, B.V. Brown, and E.C. Long. 2018. Comparisons of Citizen Science Data-Gathering Approaches to Evaluate Urban Butterfly Diversity. Insects 2018, 9, 186. DOI: 10.3390/insects9040186

Hartop Emily A., E.C. Long, C. Bornstein, L. A. Gonzalez, B.V. Brown. Urban Nature Gardens at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County attract “wildlife spectacle” of insect pollinators. Zoosymposia 2018. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zoosymposia.12.1.5

Emily A. Hartop, L.A. Gonzalez, B.V. Brown. 2018. Backyard Biodiversity: Unraveling life histories of the new fly species discovered by the BioSCAN Project proves harder than first assumed. Journal of Negative Results. pdf

Brown, B.V. & E. A. Hartop. 2017. Mystery mushroom malingerers: Megaselia marquezi Hartop et al.2014 (Diptera: Phoridae). Biodiversity Data Journal. 5: e15052.

Hartop, E. A., Brown, B. V., and Disney, R. H. L. 2016. Flies from L.A., The Sequel: A further twelve new species of Megaselia (Diptera: Phoridae) from the BioSCAN Project in Los Angeles (California, USA).  Biodiversity Data Journal 4.e7756 https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.4.e7756 

Hartop, E. A., Wong, M. A., and Eiseman, C. S. 2016. A new species of Megaselia Rondani (Diptera: Phoridae) from the BioSCAN Project in Los Angeles, California, with clarification of confused type series for two other species. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 118(1):93-100. https://doi.org/10.4289/0013-8797.118.1.93

Brown, B.V., and Hartop, E. A. 2016. Big data from tiny flies: patterns revealed from over 42,000 phorid flies (Insecta: Diptera: Phoridae) collected over one year in Los Angeles, California, USA. Urban Ecosystems. pdf

Grimaldi, D., Ginsberg, P. S., Thayer, L., McEvey, S., Hauser, M., Turelli, M, and Brown, B. 2015. Strange Little Flies in the Big City: Exotic Flower-Breeding Drosophilidae (Diptera) in Urban Los Angeles. PLoS ONE 10(4): e0122575. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0122575

Eiseman, C.S. and Hartop, E.A. 2015. A new species of Megaselia Rondani (Diptera: Phoridae) reared from a Macrodiplosis kieffer (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) gall on black oak. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 117(4):463-466. https://doi.org/10.4289/0013-8797.117.4.463

Hartop, E. A., Brown, B. V., and Disney, R. H. L. 2015. Opportunity in our Ignorance: Urban Biodiversity Study Reveals 30 New Species and One New Nearctic Record for Megaselia (Diptera: Phoridae) in Los Angeles (California, USA).  Zootaxa 3941 (4): 451–484. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3941.4.1 

Brown, B.V., and Hartop, E. A.. 2014. Recognition of Megaselia arizonensis (Malloch, 1912) (Diptera: Phoridae), a common North American fly. Contributions in Science 522: 45-49. pdf

Snails and Slugs

Brian V. Brown, J. E. Vendetti. 2020. Megaselia steptoeae (Diptera: Phoridae): specialists on smashed snails. Biodiversity Data Journal 8: e50943.  https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.8.e50943

Geiger, D.L, Groves, L.T., and Vendetti, J.E. (Editors) 2019. James H. McLean Memorial Volume Zoosymposia 13: 014–043. http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zoosymposia.13.1.2

Vendetti, J.E., Lee, C. and LaFollette, P. and citizen science participants in SLIME* and BioSCAN.* 2018. Five new records of introduced terrestrial gastropods in southern California discovered by Citizen Science. American Malacological Bulletin 36(2): 232­–248. https://doi.org/10.4003/006.036.0204

Vendetti, J.E., Burnett, E.,* Carlton, L., Curran, A.T., Lee, C.,* Matsumoto, R., Mc Donnell, R., Reich, I., and O. Willadsen.* 2018. The introduced terrestrial slugs Ambigolimax nyctelius (Bourguignat, 1861) and Ambigolimax valentianus (Férussac, 1821) (Gastropoda: Limacidae) in California, with a discussion of taxonomy, systematics, and discovery by citizen science. Journal of Natural History. https://doi.org/10.1080/00222933.2018.1536230