DeStefano, Stephen
Research Professor and USGS Massachusetts Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit Leader
Phone: 413-545-4889
Room 329 Holdsworth
Email: sdestef sdestef(at)nrc.umass.edu
Personal Website: http://www.people.umass.edu/sdestef/
Primary interests
As a member of the Cooperative Research Unit program and Unit Leader for the Massachusetts Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Dr. DeStefano directs a program of research, education, and service focused on fish and wildlife ecology, habitat relationships, and conservation biology and management, in cooperation with several agencies and organizations. His research interests are broadly defined by wildlife biology and terrestrial ecology, with the underlying focus and common themes of population ecology (demography, population dynamics, survival analysis), wildlife-habitat relationships (response to vegetation structure, use-availability analyses, correlation to population demography), the influence of anthropogenic factors (urban-suburban development, disturbance) on wildlife populations, and the science and management of game populations and "overabundant" wildlife. These topics have numerous implications for ecological research and wildlife management, especially as they relate to conservation biology, recovery of endangered species, human-wildlife interactions, and the impact of human activities on wildlife populations.
Current Projects
- Survival and cause-specific mortality in beavers in Massachusetts .
- Ecology and management of beavers along a suburban -rural gradient.
- Avian use of beaver meadows in central Massachusetts.
- Impacts of predation on beach-nesting birds by striped skunks.
- Movements and landscape pattern use by moose in s. New England.
- Influence of disturbance on breeding common loons.
- Population estimation and distribution of ruffed grouse in Massachusetts .
- Gull ecology and movements in relation to large reservoirs.
- Nocturnal behavior of whooping and sandhill cranes in Florida .
- Suburban wildlife ecology and management.
Selected Recent Publications
Fayer, R., M. Santin, T. Kaur, S. DeStefano, and K. Koenen. In review. Prevalence of Microsporidia , Cryptosporidium , and Giardia in beavers ( Castor canadensis ) in Massachusetts . Journal of Wildlife Diseases.
Nishida, C. A., S. DeStefano, C. W. Boal, and R. J. Hobbs. In review . Breeding ecology of Swainson’s Hawks in agricultural, desertscrub, and grassland communities of southeastern Arizona . Journal of Raptor Research.
Allison, N. L., and S. DeStefano. 2006 . Equipment and techniques for nocturnal wildlife studies. Wildlife Society Bulletin 34: in press.
DeStefano, S., K. K. G. Koenen, C. M. Henner, and J. Strules. 2006. The transition to independence in subadult beavers ( Castor canadensis ) in an unexploited, exponentially growing population. Journal of Zoology 269:434-441.
DeStefano, S., M. T. McGrath, S. M. Desimone, and S. K. Daw. 2006. Ecology and habitat of breeding northern goshawks in the inland Pacific Northwest : a summary of research in the 1990s. Studies in Avian Biology 31:76-85.
Hobbs , R. J., S. DeStefano, and W. L. Halvorson. 2006. Breeding biology and nest-site selection of red-tailed hawks in an altered desert grassland. Journal of Raptor Research 40:38-45.
Rogers, A. S., S. DeStefano, and M. F. Ingraldi. 2006. Diet, prey delivery rates, and prey biomass of northern goshawks in east-central Arizona . Studies in Avian Biology 31:221-229.
Andersen, D. A., S. DeStefano, M. I. Goldstein, K. Titus, C. Crocker-Bedford, J. J. Keane, R. G. Anthony, and R. N. Rosenfield. 2005. Technical review of the status of northern goshawks in the western United States . Journal of Raptor Research 39:192-209.
DeStefano, S. 2005. A review of the status and distribution of northern goshawks in New England . Journal of Raptor Research 39:324-332.
DeStefano, S., and R. D. Deblinger. 2005. Wildlife as valuable natural resources versus intolerable pests: a suburban wildlife management model. Urban Ecosystems 8:177-188.
DeStefano, S., R. D. Deblinger, and C. Miller. 2005. Suburban wildlife: lessons, challenges, and opportunities. Urban Ecosystems 8:131-136.
DeStefano, S., and E. A. Johnson. 2005. Species that benefit from sprawl. Pages 206-235 in E. A. Johnson and M. W. Klemens, eds. Nature in fragments, the legacy of sprawl. Columbia University Press, New York .
Desimone, S. M., and S. DeStefano. 2005. Temporal patterns of northern goshawk nest area occupancy and habitat: a retrospective analysis. J. Raptor Research 39:299-312.
Gaughan, C. R., and S. DeStefano. 2005. Quantifying edge and assessing effects of suburban development on white-tailed deer movement patterns. Urban Ecosystems 8:189-200.
Jordan, C. N., T. Kaur, K. Koenen, S. DeStefano, A. M. Zajac, and D. S. Lindsay. 2005. Prevalence of agglutinating antibodies to Toxoplasma gondii and Sarcocystis neurona in beavers ( Castor canadensis ) from Massachusetts . Journal of Parasitology 91:210-211.
Koenen, K., S. DeStefano, C. Henner, and T. Beroldi. 2005. From the field: capturing beavers in box traps. Wildlife Society Bulletin 33:1153-1159.
Rogers, A. S., S. DeStefano, and M. F. Ingraldi. 2005. Quantifying northern goshawk diets using remote cameras and observations from blinds. Journal of Raptor Research 39:303-309.
