Clinton W. Epps

Postdoctoral Researcher

Office: Room 8, Mulford Hall
buzzard@nature.berkeley.edu
Phone/Fax: 510-643-3918
Mailing address: 137 Mulford Hall #3114 University of California
Berkeley, CA 94720-3114
Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley, Dec. 2004
B.A. Rice University, May 1997

Starting July 2008, I will be an assistant professor in the Dept. of Fisheries and Wildlife, Oregon State University.

Research Interests

Clinton Epps My general research interests include the study of dispersal and connectivity, fragmented populations, metapopulation dynamics, effects of climate change, and the application of population genetics to estimating dispersal and other population parameters. I am currently a National Science Foundation International Research Fellow affiliated with UC Berkeley and Sokoine University of Agriculture, Morogoro, Tanzania. I am estimating current and historical levels of connectivity between protected areas for large mammals in Tanzania, East Africa, by sampling tracks and sign in corridor areas and protected areas. I am using non-invasively collected dung samples to measuring gene flow between protected areas for seven ungulate species. Other current research includes:

  1. Developing models of bighorn sheep dispersal that consider topography, distance, and barriers.
  2. Investigating the implication of movement barriers for a variety of wildlife populations in the United States.
  3. Characterizing dispersal and genetic diversity for island populations of sitatunga antelope (Tragalephus spekei) in Rubondo National Park, Tanzania.

My dissertation research examined the effects of climate variation and climate change on population extinction rates, diet quality, and genetic diversity of desert bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis nelsoni) in the Mojave and Sonoran Desert regions of California. I also examined the role of distance, fenced highways, canals, and developed areas in determining levels of gene flow, genetic diversity, and recolonization of desert bighorn sheep populations.

Curriculum Vitae Link

Publications

Brashares, J. S., C. W. Epps, L. R. Prugh, & C. J. Stoner. In press. Ecological and conservation implications of mesopredator release. In J. Terborgh & M. Soule, eds. Trophic Cascades. Island Press.

Epps, C. W., J. D. Wehausen, V. C. Bleich, S. G. Torres, and J. S. Brashares. 2007. Optimizing dispersal and corridor models using landscape genetics. Journal of Applied Ecology 44:714-724. PDF

Ramey II, R. R., J. D. Wehausen, H.-P. Liu, C. W. Epps, and L. M. Carpenter. How King et al. (2006) define an “evolutionarily distinct” subspecies: a response. Molecular Ecology 16:3518-3521.

Epps, C. W., P. J. Palsbøll, J. D. Wehausen, G. K. Roderick, and D. R. McCullough. 2006. Elevation and connectivity define genetic refugia for mountain sheep as climate warms. Molecular Ecology (fast track) 15:4295-4302 PDF

1Epps, C. W., P. J. Palsbøll, J. D. Wehausen, G. K. Roderick, R. R. Ramey II, and D. R. McCullough. 2005. Highways block gene flow and cause a rapid decline in genetic diversity of desert bighorn sheep. Ecology Letters 8:1029-1038. PDF

2Epps, C. W., D. R. McCullough, J. D. Wehausen, V. C. Bleich, and J. R. Rechel. 2004. Effects of climate change on population persistence of desert-dwelling mountain sheep in California. Conservation Biology 18:102-113. PDF

Epps, C. W., J. D. Wehausen, V. C. Bleich, and S. G. Torres. 2005. Status of bighorn sheep in California. Desert Bighorn Council Transactions 47(2003):20-35. PDF

Epps, C. W., J. D. Wehausen, P. J. Palsbøll, and D. R. McCullough. 2005. Using genetic methods to describe and infer recent colonizations by desert bighorn sheep. Pp. 51-62 in Goerrissen, J., and J. M. Andre, editors. Symposium Proceedings for the Sweeney Granite Mountains Desert Research Center 1978-2003; A Quarter Century of Research and Teaching. PDF

Wehausen, J. D., R. R. Ramey II, and C. W. Epps. 2004. Experiments in DNA extraction and PCR amplification from bighorn sheep feces: the importance of DNA extraction method. Journal of Heredity 95:503-509. PDF

Ramey II, R. R., H.-P. Liu, C. W. Epps, J. D. Wehausen, and L. M. Carpenter. 2005. Genetic relatedness of the Preble’s meadow jumping mouse (Zapus hudsonius preblei) to nearby subspecies of Z. hudsonius as inferred from variation in cranial morphology, mitochondrial DNA, and microsatellite data: implications for taxonomy and conservation. Animal Conservation 8:329-346. PDF

1Featured in Conservation Biology in Practice 7(1):10-11; American Museum of Natural History 11-21-05 Science Bulletin “Highways block bighorn sheep” at http://sciencebulletins.amnh.org/bio/s/bighorn.20051121/ Big Horn

2Featured in “Climate warming shakes up species”, BioScience 54(8): 722-729; “Mystery of the missing megafauna”, Berkeley Science Review 5(2):30-40.

Dissertation

Epps, C.W. 2004. Population processes in a changing climate: extinction, dispersal, and metapopulation dynamics of desert bighorn sheep in California. Ph.D. dissertation, Dale R. McCullough, advisor. PDF

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