The Urban Wildlands Group

The Urban Wildlands Group is dedicated to the conservation of species, habitats, and ecological processes in urban and urbanizing areas.

Travis Longcore, Ph.D.

Current Positions

Science Director, The Urban Wildlands Group

Associate Professor (Research), University of Southern California, Spatial Sciences Institute and Lecturer, University of Southern California School of Architecture

Associate Adjunct Professor, UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability

Research Themes and Publications

Ecological Light Pollution

Longcore, T., C. Rich, P. Mineau, B. MacDonald, D. Bert, L. M. Sullivan, E. Mutrie, S. A. Gauthreaux Jr., M. L. Avery, R. L. Crawford, A. M. Manville II, E. R. Travis, and D. Drake. 2013. Avian mortality at communication towers in the United States and Canada: which species, how many, and where? Biological Conservation 158:410-419.

Longcore, T., C. Rich, P. Mineau, B. MacDonald, D. Bert, L. M. Sullivan, E. Mutrie, S. A. Gauthreaux Jr., M. L. Avery, R. L. Crawford, A. M. Manville II, E. R. Travis, and D. Drake 2012. An estimate of avian mortality at communication towers in the United States and Canada. PLoS ONE 7(4):e34025.

 

Rodrigues, P., C. Aubrecht, A. Gil, T. Longcore, and C. Elvidge. 2012. Remote sensing to map influence of light pollution on Cory's shearwater in São Miguel Island, Azores Archipelago. European Journal of Wildlife Research 58:147-155.

Longcore, T., and C. Rich. 2010. Light pollution and ecosystems. ActionBioscience.org original article.

Aubrecht, C. M. Stojan-Dolar, A. de Sherbinin, M. Jaiteh, T. Longcore, and C. Elvidge. 2010. Lighting governance for protected areas and beyond – Identifying the urgent need for sustainable management of artificial light at night. Earthzine.

Longcore, T. 2010. Sensory ecology: night lights alter reproductive behavior of blue tits [invited Dispatch]. Current Biology 20(20):R893-R895.

Aubrecht, C., C. Elvidge, T. Longcore, C. Rich, J. Safran, A. Strong, M. Eakin, K. E. Baugh, B. Tuttle, P. J. Hayes, A. T. Howard, and E. H. Erwin. 2008. A global inventory of development, gas flaring, and fishing proximity to coral reefs. Geocarto International 23(6):467-479. (Press release in English, Spanish, Korean; coverage in Conservation Magazine online, and Oceanography).

Aubrecht, C., C. D. Elvidge, D. Ziskin, T. Longcore, and C. Rich. 2008. “When the lights stay on” – A novel approach to assessing human impact on the environment. Earthzine.

Longcore, T., C. Rich, and S. A. Gauthreaux, Jr. 2008. Height, guy wires, and steady-burning lights increase hazard of communication towers to nocturnal migrants: a review and meta-analysis. Auk 125(2):486–493.

Elvidge, C.D., P. Cinzano, J. Arvesen, P. Sutton, C. Small, R. Nemani, T. Longcore, C. Rich, J. Weeks, and S. Ebener. 2007. The Nightsat mission concept. International Journal of Remote Sensing 28(12):2645–2670.

Longcore, T., and C. Rich. 2007. Lights out! For nature. Pp. 165–171 in C. Marín and J. Jafari (eds.), StarLight: a common heritage. StarLight Initiative La Palma Biosphere Reserve, Instituto De Astrofísica De Canarias, Government of The Canary Islands, Spanish Ministry of The Environment, UNESCO - MaB., Canary Islands, Spain.

Rich, C. and T. Longcore. (eds.). 2006. Ecological consequences of artificial night lighting. Island Press, Washington, D.C.

Nightingale, B., T. Longcore, and C. A. Simenstad. 2006. Artificial night lighting and fishes. Pages 257–276 in C. Rich and T. Longcore (eds.). Ecological consequences of artificial night lighting. Island Press, Washington, D.C.

Rich, C., and T. Longcore. 2006. Introduction. Pages 1–13 in C. Rich and T. Longcore (eds.). Ecological consequences of artificial night lighting. Island Press, Washington, D.C.

Longcore, T., and C. Rich. 2006. Synthesis. Pages 413–430 in C. Rich and T. Longcore (eds.). Ecological consequences of artificial night lighting. Island Press, Washington, D.C.

Longcore, T., and C. Rich. 2004. Ecological light pollution. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 2(4):191–198.

Historical Ecology

Dark, S., E. D. Stein, D. Bram, J. Osuna, J. Monteferante, T. Longcore, R. Grossinger, and E. Beller. 2011. Historical ecology of the Ballona Creek watershed. Southern California Coastal Water Research Project Technical Publication No. 671. 75 pp.

Beller, E. E., R. M. Grossinger, M. N. Salomon, S. J. Dark, E. D. Stein, B. K. Orr, P. W. Downs, T. R. Longcore, G. C. Coffman, A. A. Whipple, R. A. Askevold, B. Stanford, and J. R. Beagle. Historical ecology of the lower Santa Clara River, Ventura River, and Oxnard Plain: an analysis of terrestrial, riverine, and coastal habitats. Prepared for the State Coastal Conservancy. A report of SFEI’s Historical Ecology Program, SFEI Publication #641, San Francisco Estuary Institute, Oakland, CA (2011). 273 pp.

Jacobs, D., E. S. Stein, and T. Longcore. Classification of California estuaries based on natural closure patterns: Templates for restoration and management. Southern California Coastal Water Research Project Technical Publication No. 619a. 50 pp. (August 2010, updated August 2011).

 

Stein, E. D., S. Dark, T. Longcore, R. Grossinger, N. Hall, and M. Beland. 2010. Historical ecology as a tool for assessing landscape change and informing wetland restoration priorities. Wetlands 30(3):589-601.

Stein, E.D., S. Dark, T. Longcore, N. Hall, M. Beland, R. Grossinger, J. Casanova, and M. Sutula. Historical ecology and landscape change of the San Gabriel River and floodplain. Southern California Coastal Water Research Project Technical Report #499, Los Angeles, 101 pp. + appendices (2007).

Longcore, T., and C. Rich. 1998. 419 acres: UCLA's natural history. 1. Land use, 2. Biological homogenization, 3. Island biogeography. Poster series and display presented at California's Biodiversity Crisis: The Loss of Nature in an Urbanizing World (UCLA, October 1998).

Mattoni, R., T. Longcore, J. George and C. Rich. 1997. The Los Angeles Coastal Prairie and its vernal pools. Presented at 2nd Interface Between Ecology and Land Development in California (Occidental College, Los Angeles, California, April 18-19). (pdf)

Mattoni, R. and T. R. Longcore. 1997. The Los Angeles Coastal Prairie, a vanished community. Crossosoma 23(2):71–102.

Endangered Species Conservation and Monitoring

MacDonald, B., T. Longcore, and S. Dark. 2010. Habitat mapping for western snowy plover in central California. The Urban Wildlands Group, Los Angeles. 129 pp.

Longcore, T., C. S. Lam, P. Kobernus, E. Polk, and J. P. Wilson. 2010. Extracting useful data from imperfect monitoring schemes: endangered butterflies at San Bruno Mountain, San Mateo County, California (1982–2000) and implications for habitat management. Journal of Insect Conservation 14(4):335-346.

Longcore, T., and C. Rich. 2008. Invertebrate conservation at the gates of hell. Wings: Essays on Invertebrate Conservation.

 

Jump, P., T. Longcore, and C. Rich. 2006. Ecology and distribution of a newly discovered population of the federally threatened Euproserpinus euterpe (Sphingidae). Journal of the Lepidopterists’ Society 60(1):41–50.

Longcore, T., R. Mattoni, and A. Mattoni. 2005. Salvage of pupae as a mitigation measure for impacts to endangered butterfly habitat. Journal of the Lepidopterists’ Society 59(2):116–117.

Longcore, T., C. S. Lam, and J. P. Wilson. 2004. Analysis of butterfly survey data and methodology from San Bruno Mountain Habitat Conservation Plan (1982–2000) 1. Status and trends. Los Angeles, CA, University of Southern California GIS Research Laboratory Technical Report No. 1.

Longcore, T. 2004. Analysis of butterfly survey data and methodology from San Bruno Mountain Habitat Conservation Plan (1982–2000) 2. Survey Methodology. Los Angeles, CA, University of Southern California GIS Research Laboratory Technical Report No. 2.

Longcore, T., R. Mattoni, C. Zonneveld, and J. Bruggeman. 2003. INsect Count Analyzer: a tool to assess responses of butterflies to habitat restoration. Ecological Restoration 21(1):60–61. See http://www.urbanwildlands.org/INCA/.

Mattoni, R., T. Longcore, Z. Krenova, and A. Lipman. 2003. Mass rearing of the endangered Palos Verdes blue butterfly (Glaucopsyche lygdamus palosverdesensis: Lycaedindae). Journal of Research on the Lepidoptera 37:55–67.

Zonneveld, C., T. Longcore, and C. Mulder. 2003. Optimal schemes to detect the presence of insect species. Conservation Biology 17(2):476–487.

Mattoni, R., T. Longcore, C. Zonneveld, and V. Novotny. 2001. Analysis of transect counts to monitor population size in endangered insects: the case of the El Segundo blue butterfly, Euphilotes bernardino allyni. Journal of Insect Conservation 5(3):197–206.

Lipman, A., T. Longcore, R. Mattoni, and Y. Zhang. 1999. Habitat evaluation and reintroduction planning for the endangered Palos Verdes blue butterfly. UCLA Department of Geography. Final Technical Report ot California Department of Fish and Game. 44 pp.

Mattoni, R., G. F. Pratt, T. R. Longcore, J. F. Emmel and J. N. George. 1997. The endangered quino checkerspot butterfly, Euphydryas editha quino (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae). Journal of Research on the Lepidoptera 34:99–118.

Longcore, T. 1997. The endangered Delhi Sand Dunes. Western Tanager 63(8):1-2.

Urban Bioresource Management

Newell, J. P., M. Seymour, T. Yee, J. Renteria, T. Longcore, and J. R. Wolch. 2013. Green alleys: planning for a sustainable urban infrastructure? Cities 31:144-155.

Longcore, T. 2012. No-kill movement means death for birds. Bird Calls 16(3):3

Wolch, J. R., T. Longcore, and J. P. Wilson. 2012. Unpaving paradise: the Green Visions Plan. Pages 230–239 in D. Sloane (ed.). Planning Los Angeles. APA Planners Press.

Bartos, M., S. Dao, D. Douk, S. Falzone, E. Gumerlock, S. Hoekstra, K. Kelly-Reif, D. Mori, C. Tang, C. Vasquez, J. Ward, S. Young, A. Morzillo, S.P.D. Riley, and T. Longcore. 2012. Use of anticoagulant rodenticides in single-family neighborhoods along an urban-wildland interface in California. Cities and the Environment 4(1):art12.

Longcore, T., C. Rich, and L. M. Sullivan. 2009. Critical assessment of claims regarding management of feral cats by trap–neuter–return. Conservation Biology 23(4):887-894.

Longcore, T., C. Rich, and D. Müller-Schwarze. 2007. Management by assertion: beavers and songbirds at Lake Skinner (Riverside County, California). Environmental Management 39:460–471.

Longcore, T. 2006. Prioritizing multiple-benefit watershed projects: dollars or sense? Watershed Wise 10(2):6–7.

Longcore, T. 2006. Ecological effects of fuel management practices around residential development [sidebar]. Pages 527–528 in N. G. Sugihara, J. W. van Wagtendonk, K. E. Shaffer, J. Fites-Kaufman, and A. E. Thode (eds.), Fire in California’s ecosystems. University of California Press, Berkeley.

Longcore, T., C. Li, and J. P. Wilson. 2004. Applicability of CITYgreen urban ecosystem analysis software to a dense urban neighborhood. Urban Geography 25(2):173–186.

Longcore, T.. 2003. Ecological effects of fuel modification on arthropods and other wildlife in an urbanizing wildland. Pp. 111–117 in Galley, K.E.M., R.C. Klinger, and N.G. Suguihara (eds.). Proceedings of Fire Conference 2000: The First National Congress on Fire Ecology, Prevention, and Management. Miscellaneous Publication No. 13, Tall Timbers Research Station, Tallahassee, Florida.

 

Ecological Restoration

Longcore, T. 2003. Terrestrial arthropods as indicators of restoration success in coastal sage scrub (California, U.S.A.). Restoration Ecology 11(4):397–409.

Mattoni, R., T. Longcore, and V. Novotny. 2000. Arthropod monitoring for fine-scale habitat analysis: a case study of the El Segundo sand dunes. Environmental Management 25(4):445-452.

Longcore, T., R. Mattoni, G. Pratt, and C. Rich. 2000. On the perils of ecological restoration: lessons from the El Segundo blue butterfly. Pp. 281-286 in Keeley, J., M. Baer-Keeley, and C. J. Fotheringham, eds. 2nd Interface Between Ecology and Land Development in California, U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 00-62, Sacramento, CA.

Current and Former Students

I work with students in three programs: 1) the B.S. in Environmental Science at UCLA during the capstone senior practicum, 2) as a thesis advisor or committee member for students pursuing an M.S. in Geographic Information Science and Technology at USC, and 3) in studio and as a directed design research/thesis advisor for students in the M. Landscape Arch. at USC. Some of the students I have advised include:

Christopher Arntz (M.L.Arch., USC), currently at Van Atta and Associates, Santa Barbara, California
James Lively, (M.L.Arch., USC), currently co-owner of Primary Petals, Los Angeles, California
Su Jin Lee (Ph.D., Geography, USC), now teaching at Spatial Sciences Institute, Los Angeles, California
Brian Kearns (M.S., GIST, USC), now Ph.D. student at Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas
Caroline Jablonicky (M.S., GIST, USC), pursuing Ph.D.
Kirstie Ruppert (B.S., Environemntal Science, UCLA), pursuing M.S. in zoology
Kaitlin Kelly-Reif (B.S., Environmental Science, UCLA), pursuing M.S.P.H./Ph.D. in epidemiology at UNC
Stephanie Falzone (B.S., Environmental Science, UCLA), PRBO Conservation Science

Education

Ph.D., Geography, University of California, Los Angeles, December 1999. Dissertation Co-Chairs Melissa Savage, Richard Ambrose.

Dissertation: Terrestrial Arthropods as Indicators of Restoration Success in Coastal Sage Scrub. Part I, Part II, Part III.

M.A., Geography, University of California, Los Angeles, September 1995. Thesis Chair Michael Curry.

Thesis: Risk, Place, and Technology: Siting a Radioactive Waste Dump in California's Ward Valley.

H.B.A., Geography, University of Delaware, June 1993. Thesis Chair Peter Rees.

Thesis: Information Technology and World City Restructuring: The Case of New York City's Financial District (pdf). Published as: Longcore, T. R., and P. W. Rees. 1996. Information technology and downtown restructuring: the case of New York City's financial district. Urban Geography 17(3):354–372.