Research Teams

Dona Horan, Fisheries Biologist  
email: dhoran[at]fs.fed.us

Education

• B.S. Wildlife Management, University of California, Berkeley
• M.S. Fisheries Management, Utah State University

Research Interests/Background

My research interests include life history studies of Idaho’s native trout and the effects of fire, climate change and introduced species on their distribution and persistence.  I have been involved in small-scale studies such as trying to determine the timing of movement of individual adfluvial bull trout, as well as large-scale studies looking at the effects of climate change on salmonids across the western U.S.  I’m fascinated by the range of tools that are available to study these issues:  from analyzing otoliths using microchemistry to modeling habitat change using GIS.  I especially enjoy the collaborative work we do with other USFS offices, Fish and Game agencies, universities, and non-governmental groups.

Projects

• Stream and Temperature Modeling

• NorWeST - Stream Temperature Regional Database and Model

• Intraspecific diversity in cutthroat trout and bull trout at subbasin scales

• Bull trout population structure, demography, and persistence

• Morphometric variation as an element of phenotypic diversity in interior salmonids

Publications

Isaak, D. J.; Wollrab, S.; Horan, D.; Chandler, G. 2011. Climate change effects on stream and river temperatures across the northwest U.S. from 1980-2009 and implications for salmonid fishes. Climatic Change. 113: 499-524.

Isaak, D. J.; D. Horan, and S. Wollrab. 2011. A visual guide to permanently installing temperature sensors in streams using underwater epoxy. Updated 04/15/2013 (http://www.fs.fed.us/rm/boise/AWAE/projects/stream_temperature.shtml/)

Wenger, Seth J.; Isaak, Daniel J.; Luce, Charlie; Neville, Helen M.; Fausch, Kurt D.; Dunham, Jason B.; Dauwalter, Daniel C.; Young, Michael K.; Elsner, Marketa M.; Rieman, Bruce E.; Hamlet, Alan F.; Williams, Jack E. 2011. Flow regime, temperature, and biotic interactions drive differential declines of trout species under climate change. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS). 108(34): 14175-14180.

Isaak, D.J., and D.L. Horan. 2011. An assessment of underwater epoxies for permanently installing temperature sensors in mountain streams. North American Journal of Fisheries Management 31:134-137.

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Downs, C.C., D. Horan, E. Morgan-Harris, and R. Jakubowski.  2006.  Spawning demographics and juvenile dispersal of an adfluvial bull trout population in Trestle Creek, Idaho.  North American Journal of Fisheries Management 26:190-200.

Horan, D. L. 1996. Effects of habitat degradation on Colorado River cutthroat trout populations in Uinta mountain streams. M.S. thesis, Utah State University, Logan.  

Horan, D.L., J.L. Kershner, C.P. Hawkins, and T.A. Crowl. 2000. Effects of habitat area and complexity on Colorado River cutthroat trout density in Uinta Mountain streams. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 129:1250-1263.  

Isaak, Daniel J.; Luce, Charles H.; Rieman, Bruce E.; Nagel, David E.; Peterson, Erin E.; Horan, Dona L.; Parkes, Sharon; Chandler, Gwynne L. 2010. Effects of climate change and wildfire on stream temperatures and salmonid thermal habitat in a mountain river network. Ecological Applications. 20(5): 1350-1371.

Kershner, J. L., C. M. Bischoff, and D. L. Horan. 1997. Population, habitat, and genetic characteristics of Colorado River cutthroat trout in wilderness and non-wilderness stream sections in the Uinta Mountains of Utah and Wyoming. North American Journal of Fisheries Management 17:1134-1143.

Rieman, D.E., Isaak, D., Adams, S., Horan, D., Nagel, D., Luce, C., and D. Myers. 2007.  Anticipated climate warming effects on bull trout habitats and populations across the Interior Columbia River Basin. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society.   136:1552-1565.

Wells, B.K., B.E. Rieman, J.L. Clayton, D.L., Horan and C.M. Jones.  2003.  Relationships between water, otolith, and scale chemistries of westslope cutthroat trout from the Coeur d'Alene River, Idaho:  the potential application of hard-part chemistry to describe movements in fresh water. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society.  132:409-424.