Conservation Science at The Nature Conservancy

People

Jon Hoekstra
Senior Scientist, Global Priorities group

Contact Information
Washington Field Office
217 Pine Street, Suite 1100
Seattle, WA 98101

Phone: (206) 343-4344 ext. 324
E-mail: jhoekstra@tnc.org

Brief Biography
As part of TNC’s Global Priorities Group, Jonathan is working to develop quantitative methods for assessing the status of biological communities and ecosystems and for evaluating the relative importance of multiple threats to biodiversity in order to better inform large-scale conservation priorities. Jonathan earned his Ph.D in Zoology from the University of Washington where his research focused on how local variation in habitat quality influences population and evolutionary dynamics. Other research interests include understanding how populations and communities are affected by landscape-scale patterns of habitat modification, and how science is applied during implementation of the Endangered Species Act. Jonathan has coauthored more than a dozen scientific publications reporting his research.

Education
Ph.D. Zoology. University of Washington, Seattle, WA. 2001.
The role of habitat quality in shaping evolutionary dynamics, population dynamics, and conservation planning.
M.S. Biological Sciences. Stanford University, Stanford, CA. 1993.
Effects of selective timber harvest practices on soil arthropod diversity and abundance in coast redwood forests.
B.S. with distinction. Biological Sciences. Stanford University, Stanford, CA. 1992.

Previous Professional Experience
Research Associate. Northwest Fisheries Science Center, NOAA Fisheries, Seattle, WA. 2001 - 2003.
Instructor - Conservation Biology. University of Washington, Seattle, WA. 2001 - 2002.
Endangered Species Biologist. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Ventura, CA. 1994-1995.

Selected Publications
Clark, J. A., J. M. Hoekstra, P. D. Boersma, and P. Kareiva. 2002. Improving U.S. Endangered Species Act recovery plans: key findings and recommendations of the SCB recovery plan project. Conservation Biology 16:1510-1519.

Hoekstra, J. M., J. A. Clark, W. F. Fagan, and P. D. Boersma. 2002. A comprehensive review of Endangered Species Act recovery plans. Ecological Applications 12:630-640.

Hoekstra, J. M., W. F. Fagan, and J. E. Bradley. 2002. A critical role for critical habitat in the recovery planning process? Not yet. Ecological Applications 12:701-707.

Harvey, E., J. M. Hoekstra, R. J. O'Connor, and W. F. Fagan. 2002. Recovery plan revisions: progress or just process? Ecological Applications 12:682-689.

Boersma, P. D., P. Kareiva, W. F. Fagan, J. A. Clark, and J. M. Hoekstra. 2001. How good are endangered species recovery plans? BioScience 51:643-649.

Hoekstra, H. E., J. M. Hoekstra, D. Berrigan, S. N. Vignieri, A. Hoang, C. E. Hill, P. Beerli, and J. G. Kingsolver. 2001. Strength and tempo of directional selection in the wild. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 98:9157-9160.

Harding, E. K., E. E. Crone, B. D. Elderd, J. M. Hoekstra, A. J. McKerrow, J. D. Perrine, J. Regetz, L. J. Rissler, A. G. Stanley, E. L. Walters, and NCEAS HCP Working Group. 2001. Habitat Conservation Planning: The Science of Compromise. Conservation Biology 15:488-500.

Hoekstra, H. and J. M. Hoekstra. 2001. The evolution of novel genotypes: the role of mutation, selection and meiotic drive in maintaining XY females. Evolution 55:190-197.

Kingsolver, J. G., H. E. Hoekstra, J. M. Hoekstra, D. Berrigan, S. N. Vignieri, C. E. Hill, A. Hoang, P. Gibert, and P. Beerli. 2001. The strength of phenotypic selection in natural populations. The American Naturalist 157:245-261.

Feder, M. E., T. L. Karr, W. Yang, J. M. Hoekstra, and A. C. James. 1999. Interaction of Drosophila and its endosymbiont Wolbachia: natural heat shock and the overcoming of sexual incompatibility. American Zoologist 39:363-373.

Hoekstra, J. M. 1998. Conserving Orthoptera in the wild: lessons from Trimerotropis infantilis. Journal of Insect Conservation 2:179-185.

Hoekstra, J. M., R. T. Bell, A. E. Launer, and D. D. Murphy. 1995. Soil arthropod abundance in coast redwood forest: effect of selective timber harvest. Environmental Entomology
24:246-252.

Launer, A. E., D. D. Murphy, J. M. Hoekstra, and H. R. Sparrow. 1992. The endangered Myrtle's silverspot butterfly: present status and initial conservation planning. Journal of Research on the Lepidoptera 31:132-146.

Research Interests
As an ecologist and conservation biologist, I am broadly interested in understanding how human activities affect natural systems, and how scientific information - and uncertainty - can be translated into practical and effective conservation actions. I am currently collaborating with TNC and academic scientists to develop quantitative methods for assessing and monitoring the status of ecosystems. The goal of this research is to develop biologically meaningful metrics that reveal changes over time - to detect human impacts and evaluate the success of conservation actions - and that allow for comparisons among ecosystems - to inform large-scale conservation priorities. Before joining TNC, I pursued analyses designed to estimate the relative importance of habitat condition, dams, harvest and hatchery production on salmon populations across the Pacific Northwest. The products of this research are helping regional decision-makers develop biologically justified recovery priorities for endangered Pacific salmon. I am also keenly interested in understanding how ecological dynamics are influenced by landscape-scale and local-scale patterns of habitat variation. For example, I have demonstrated how local-scale habitat heterogeneity can reduce the susceptibility of insect populations to climate-induced extinction. Such insights are critical if we hope to predict how the juxtaposition of habitat reserves and surrounding land-uses may influence population and community viability.