Dr. Jim Estes Publications
Kenner, M. C., J. A. Estes, M. T. Tinker, J. L. Bodkin, R. K. Cowen, C. Harrold, B. B. Hatfield, M. Novak, A. Rassweiler, and D. C. Reed. (in press) A multi-decade time series of kelp forest community structure at San Nicolas Island, California. Ecology.
Tinker M.T., Guimarães P.R., Novak M., Marquitti F.M.D., L. B.J., Staedler M., Bentall G. & J.A. Estes. 2012. Structure and mechanism of diet specialization: testing models of individual variation in resource use with sea otters. Ecology Letters 15(5) 475-483.
Kim SL, Tinker MT, Estes JA, Koch PL. 2012. Ontogenetic and Among-Individual Variation in Foraging Strategies of Northeast Pacific White Sharks Based on Stable Isotope Analysis. PLoS ONE 7(9):
e45068. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0045068
Estes, J.A., J. Terborgh, J. S. Brashares, M.E. Power, J. Berger, W. J. Bond, S. R. Carpenter, T. Essington, R. D. Holt, J. B.C. Jackson, R. J. Marquis, L. Oksanen, T. Oksanen, R. T. Paine, E. K. Pikitch, W. J. Ripple, S. A. Sandin, M. Scheffer, T. W. Schoener, J. B. Shurin, A. R.E. Sinclair, M. E. Soulé, R. Virtanen, and D. A. Wardle. 2011. Trophic downgrading of planet earth. Science 333:301-306
Watson, J. and J.A. Estes. 2011. Stability, resilience, and phase shifts in kelp forest communities along the west coast of Vancouver Island, Canada. Ecological Monographs 81:215-239.
Hatfield, B.B., J.A. Ames, J.A. Estes, M.T. Tinker, E.B. Johnson, M.M. Staedler, and M.D. Harris. 2011. Sea otter mortality in fish and shellfish traps: estimating potential impacts and exploring possible solutions. Endangered Species Research 13:219-229.
Novak, M., J.T. Wootton, D.F. Doak, M. Emmerson, J.A. Estes, and M.T. Tinker. 2011. Predicting community responses to perturbations in the face of imperfect knowledge and network complexity. Ecology 92:836-846.
Estes, J.A. 2010. The Aleutian archipelago: addressing the functional importance of carnivory through variation in space and time. Pp. 155-176 in. I. Billicks and M. Price (eds). The Ecology of Place. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
Terborgh and J.A. Estes, eds. 2010. Trophic Cascades: Predators, Prey, and the Changing Dynamics of Nature. Island Press, Washington DC 464p.—PDF not available
Estes, J.A., C.H. Peterson, and R. Steneck. 2010. Some effects of apex predators in higher-latitude coastal oceans. Pp. 37-53 in J. Terborgh and J.A. Estes, eds. Trophic Cascades: Predators, Prey, and the Changing Dynamics of Nature. Island Press, Washington DC 464p.—PDF not available
Jessup, D.A., C. Kreuder-Johnson, J.A. Estes, D. Carlson-Bremer, W.M. Jarmin, S. Reese, E. Dodd, M.T. Tinker, and M.H. Ziccardi. 2010. Persistent organic pollutants in the blood of free ranging sea otters (Enhydra lutris sp.) in Alaska and California. Journal of Wildlife Diseases 46(4):1-20.
Newsome, S.D., G.B. Bentall, M.T. Tinker, O.T. Oftedal, K. Ralls, M.L. Fogel, and J.A. Estes. 2010. Variation in δ13C and δ15N diet-vibrissae trophic discrimination factors in a wild population of California sea otters (Enhydra lutris nereis). Ecological Applications 20:744-752.
Estes, J.A., M.T. Tinker, and J.L. Bodkin. 2010. Using ecological function to develop recovery criteria for depleted species: Sea otters and kelp forests in the Aleutian Archipelago. Conservation Biology 24(3): 852-860
Estes, J.A., D.F. Doak, A.M. Springer, and T.M. Williams. 2009. Causes and consequences of marine mammal population declines in southwest Alaska: a food web perspective. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society 364:1647-1658.
Estes, J.A., D.F. Doak, A.M. Springer, T.M. Williams, and G.B. van Vliet. 2009. Trend data do support the sequential nature of pinniped and sea otter declines in the North Pacific, but does it really matter? Marine Mammal Science 25:748-754.
Miles, A.K., M.A. Ricca, R.G. Anthony, and J.A. Estes. 2009. Organochlorine contaminants in fishes from coastal waters west of Amukta Pass, Aleutian Islands, Alaska, USA. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 28:1643-1654.
Estes, J.A., J. L. Bodkin, and M. Ben-David. Marine Otters. 2009. Pp. 807-816 in W.F. Perrin, B. Würsig and J.G.M. Thewissen (eds.). Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals. Elsivier, Amsterdam.—PDF not available
Estes, J.A. 2009. Ecological Effects of Marine Mammals. Pp. 357-361 in W.F. Perrin, B. Würsig and J.G.M. Thewissen (eds.). Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals. Elsivier, Amsterdam.—PDF not available
Tinker, M. T., M. Mangel, and J. A. Estes. 2009 Learning to be different: acquired skills, social learning, frequency dependence and environmental variation can cause behaviorally-mediated foraging specializations. Evolutionary Ecology Research, 11: 841-869.
Newsome, S.D., M.T. Tinker, D.H. Monson, O.T. Oftedal, K. Ralls, M. Staedler, M.L. Fogel, and J.A. Estes. 2009. Using stable isotopes to investigate individual diet specialization in California sea otters (Enhydra lutris nereis). Ecology 90: 961-974.
Johnson, C.K., Tinker, M.T., Estes, J.A., Conrad, P.A., Staedler, M., Miller, M.A., Jessup, D.A. and Mazet, J.A.K. 2009. Prey choice and habitat use drive sea otter pathogen exposure in a resource-limited coastal system. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 106(7):2242-2247.
Estes, J.A. 2008. Kelp forest food webs in the Aleutian archipelago. Pp. 29-49 In, T. R. McClahanan and G.M. Branch (eds.) Food webs and the dynamics of marine reefs. Oxford University Press, New York.—PDF not available
Anthony, R.G., J.A. Estes, M. A. Ricca, A. K. Miles, and E. D. Forsman. 2008. Bald eagles and sea otters in the Aleutian archipelago: indirect effects of trophic cascades. Ecology 89:2725-2735
Tinker, M. T., D. F. Doak, and J. A. Estes. 2008. Using demography and movement behavior to predict range expansion of the southern sea otter. Ecological Applications 18(7) 1781-1794.
Tinker, M.T., Bentall, G.B., and J.A. Estes. 2008. Food limitation leads to behavioral diversification and dietary specialization in sea otters. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 105(2):560-565.
Doak, D.F., J.A. Estes, B.S. Halpern, U. Jacob, D.R. Lindberg, J.R. Lovvorn, D.H. Monson, M.T. Tinker, et al. 2008. Understanding and predicting ecological dynamics: are major surprises inevitable? Ecology 89:952-961.
Estes, J.A. 2007. Sea otter. pp. 503-506 In, M.W. Denny and S.D. Gaines (eds.). Encyclopedia of Tidepools. University of California Press, Berkeley. –PDF not available
Halfar, J., R. Steneck, B. Schöne, G.W.K. Moore, M. Joachimski, A. Kronz, J. Fietzke, and J. Estes. 2007. Coralline alga reveals first marine record of subarctic North Pacific climate change. Geophysical Research Letters 34:7702-7707.—PDF not available
Jessup, D.A., M.A. Miller, C. Kreuder-Johnson, P. Conrad, M.T. Tinker, J.A. Estes and J.A.K. Mazet. 2007. One Health, One Medicine: Sea Otters in a Dirty Ocean. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 231(11): 1648-1652
Tinker, M.T., D.P. Costa, J.A. Estes and N. Wieringa. 2007. Individual dietary specialization and dive behaviour in the California sea otter: using archival time-depth data to detect alternative foraging strategies. Deep Sea Research II 54:330-342
Erlandson, J.M., M.H. Graham, B.J. Borque, D. Corbett, J.A. Estes, and R.S. Steneck. 2007. The kelp highway hypothesis: marine ecology, the coastal migration theory, and the peopling of the Americas. Journal of Coastal and Island Archaeology 2:161-174.
Tinker, M.T., D.F. Doak, J.A. Estes, B.B. Hatfield, M.M. Staedler, and J.L. Bodkin. 2006. Incorporating diverse data and realistic complexity into demographic estimation procedures: a case study using the California sea otter, Enhydra lutris nereis. Ecological Applications 16:2293-2312.
Laidre, K.L., J.A. Estes, M.T. Tinker, J. Bodkin, D. Monson and K. Schneider. 2006. Patterns of growth and body condition in sea otters from the Aleutian archipelago before and after the recent population decline. Journal of Animal Ecology 75: 978 989.
Edwards, M.S. and J.A. Estes. 2006. Catastrophe, recovery and range limitation in Northeast Pacific kelp forests: a large-scale perspective. Marine Ecology Progress Series 320:79-87.
Donlan, C.J., J. Berger, C.E. Brock, J.H. Brock, D.A. Burney, J.A. Estes, D. Foreman, P.S. Martin, G.W. Roemer, F.A. Smith, M.E. Soulé, and H.W. Greene. 2006. Pleistocene rewilding: an optimistic vision for 21st Century conservation. American Naturalist 168:660-681
Croll, D.A., J.L. Maron, J.A. Estes, E.M. Danner, and G.V. Byrd. 2005. Introduced predators transform subarctic islands from grassland to tundra. Science 307:1959-1961.
Reisewitz, S.E., J.A. Estes, and S.A. Simenstad. 2005. Indirect food web interactions: sea otters and kelp forest fishes in the Aleutian archipelago. Oecologia 146: 623-631.
Estes, J.A., D.R. Lindberg, and C. Wray. 2005. Evolution of large body size in abalones (Haliotis): patterns and implications. Paleobiology 31:591-606.
Maron, J.L., J.A. Estes, D.A. Croll, E.M. Danner, S.C. Elmendorf, and S.L. Buckelew. 2006. An introduced predator alters Aleutian Island plant communities by thwarting nutrient subsidies. Ecological Monographs 76:3-24.
Estes, J.A., M.T. Tinker, A.M. Doroff and D.M. Burn. 2005. Continuing sea otter population declines in the Aleutian Archipelego. Marine Mammal Science 21:169–172.
Gerber, L.R., M.T. Tinker, J.A. Estes, D.F. Doak and D. Jessup. 2004. Mortality sensitivity in life-stage simulation analysis: A case study of southern sea otters. Ecological Applications 14:1554–1565.
Estes, J.A., E.M. Danner, D.F. Doak, B. Konar, A.M. Springer, P.D. Steinberg, M.T. Tinker, and T.M. Williams. 2003. Complex trophic interactions in kelp forest ecosystems. Bulletin of Marine Science, 74: 621-638.
Burn, D.M., A.M. Doroff and M.T. Tinker. 2003. Carrying Capacity and pre-decline abundance of sea otters (Enhydra lutris kenyoni) in the Aleutian Islands. Northwestern Naturalist 84(3): 145-148
Doroff, A.M., J.A. Estes, M.T. Tinker, D.M. Burn and T.J. Evans. 2003. Sea otter population declines in the Aleutian Archipelago. Journal of Mammalogy, 84(1): 55-64
Estes, J.A., M.L. Riedman, M.M. Staedler, M.T. Tinker, B.E. Lyon. 2003. Individual variation in prey selection by sea otters: patterns, causes, and implications. Journal of Animal Ecology, 72(1): 144-155
Estes, J.A., M.T. Tinker, T.M. Williams, D.F. Doak. 1998. Killer whale predation on sea otters links oceanic and nearshore ecosystems. Science 282: 473-476
Estes, J.A., D.F. Doak, J.R. Bodkin, R.J. Jameson, D. Monson, J. Watt, M.T. Tinker. 1996. Comparative Demography of Sea Otter Populations. Endangered Species Update 13(12): 11-13
Professional Technical Reports:
Tinker, M. T., et al., 2013. “Sea Otter Population Biology at Big Sur and Monterey California: Investigating the Consequences of Resource Abundance and Anthropogenic Stressors for Sea Otter Recovery”. Final Report to California Coastal Conservancy and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. University of California Santa Cruz, CA. 242 pages
Estes, J.A. The Aleutian archipelago: addressing the functional importance of carnivory through variation in space and time. In. I. Billicks and M. Price (eds). The Ecology of Place. University of Chicago Press (2010).—PDF not available
Watson, J. and J.A. Estes. Stability, resilience, and phase shifts in kelp forest communities along the west coast of Vancouver Island, Canada. Ecological Monographs.
Estes, J.A., J.L. Bodkin and M.T. Tinker. 2010. “Threatened southwest Alaska sea otter stock: delineating the causes and constraints to recovery of a keystone predator in the North Pacific Ocean”. NPRB Project 717 Final Report
Tinker, M. T., J. A. Estes, K. Ralls, T. M. Williams, D. Jessup, and D. P. Costa. 2006. Population Dynamics and Biology of the California Sea Otter (Enhydra lutris nereis) at the Southern End of its Range. MMS OCS Study DRAFT
REPORT. Page 351. MMS Cooperative Agreement Number 14-35-0001-31063. Coastal Research Center,
Marine Science Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, California.
Tinker, M.T., Estes, J.A., Doak, D.F. 2000. Development of a spatially explicit population model to assess potential population impacts associated with translocation of sea otters from south of Pt. Conception. Final Report for Friends of the Sea Otter, October, 2000. Monterey, California.
Estes, J.A., Konar, B., Tinker, M.T. 1998. Sea Otter Population Biology and Subtidal Community Ecology at Shemya Island, Alaska. Final Report for Department of Defense Legacy Project Number 9401280 & 9510014
Tinker, M.T., Estes, J.A. 1997. Summary Report on Sea Otter Captures for Blood Contaminant Analysis and Collection of Population Data in the Western Aleutian Islands, 1997. Summary Report to the Navy, U.C. Santa Cruz, CA.
Tinker, M.T., Estes, J.A. 1996. The population ecology of sea otters at Adak Island, Alaska. Final Report to the Navy, Contract # N68711-94-LT-4026, U.C. Santa Cruz, CA.
