Eric Danner, Ph.D.

Program Lead, Biophysical Ecology

Eric Danner is an ecologist with research focused on multidisciplinary projects on salmon bioenergetics, hydrology, water temperature modeling, and decision support tools for water management in California’s Central Valley.

Selected Publications

Hendrix, Noble, Ann-Marie K. Osterback, Sara John, Miles Daniels, Eva Dusek Jennings, Eric Danner, and Steve Lindley. 2024. Life cycle modeling framework for Chinook salmon spawning in the Sacramento River. U.S. Department of Commerce, NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-SWFSC-696 (42 p.).
https://doi.org/10.1029/2023WR035077

Michel, C.J., M.E. Daniels, and E.M. Danner. 2023. Discharge-mediated temperature management in a large regulated river, with implications for management of endangered fish. Water Resources Research 59(9):e2023WR035077 (18 p.).
https://doi.org/10.25923/sj1b-xs90

Sridharan, Vamsi Krishna, Doug Jackson, Andrew M. Hein, Russell W. Perry, Adam C. Pope, Noble Hendrix, Eric M. Danner, and Steven T. Lindley. 2023. Simulating the migration dynamics of juvenile salmonids through rivers and estuaries using a hydrodynamically driven enhanced particle tracking model. Ecological Modelling 482:110393 (27 p.).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2023.110393

Dudley, Peter N., Sara N. John, Miles E. Daniels, and Eric M. Danner. 2022. Using decades of spawning data and hydraulic models to construct a temperature-dependent resource selection function for management of an endangered salmonid. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Science 79(1):73-81.
https://doi.org/10.1139/cjfas-2021-0022

Lo, Vanessa K., Benjamin T. Martin, Eric M. Danner, Dennis E. Cocherell, Joseph J. Cech Jr., and Nann A. Fangue. 2022. The effect of temperature on specific dynamic action of juvenile fall-run Chinook salmon, Oncorhynchus tshawytscha. Conservation Physiology 10(1):coac067 (12 p.).
https://doi.org/10.1093/conphys/coac067

Michel, Cyril J., Jeremy J. Notch, Flora Cordoleani, Arnold J. Ammann, and Eric M. Danner. 2021. Nonlinear survival of imperiled fish informs managed flows in a highly modified river. Ecosphere 12(5):e03498 (20 p.).
https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.3498

Martin, Benjamin T., Peter N. Dudley, Neosha S. Kashef, David M. Stafford, William J. Reeder, Daniele Tonina, Annelise M. Del Rio, J. Scott Foott, and Eric M. Danner. 2020. The biophysical basis of thermal tolerance in fish eggs. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 287(1937):20201550 (9 p.).
https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2020.1550

Daniels, Miles E., and Eric M. Danner. 2020. The drivers of river temperatures below a large dam. Water Resources Research 56(5):e2019WR026751 (15 p.).
https://doi.org/10.1029/2019WR026751

Zarri, Liam J., Eric M. Danner, Miles E. Daniels, and Eric P. Palkovacs. 2019. Managing hydropower dam releases for water users and imperiled fishes with contrasting thermal habitat requirements. Journal of Applied Ecology 56(11):2423-2430.
https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.13478

Friedman, Whitney R., Benjamin T. Martin, Brian K. Wells, Pete Warzybok, Cyril J. Michel, Eric M. Danner, and Steven T. Lindley. 2019. Modeling composite effects of marine and freshwater processes on migratory species. Ecosphere 10(7):e02743 (21 p.).
https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.2743

Hamda, Natnael T., Benjamin Martin, Jamilynn B. Poletto, Dennis E. Cocherell, Nann A. Fangue, Joel Van Eenennaam, Ethan A. Mora, and Eric Danner. 2019. Applying a simplified energy-budget model to explore the effects of temperature and food availability on the life history of green sturgeon (Acipenser medirostris). Ecological Modelling 395:1-10.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2019.01.005

Poletto, Jamilynn B., Benjamin Martin, Eric Danner, Sarah E. Baird, Dennis E. Cocherell, Natnael Hamda, Joseph J. Cech Jr., and Nann A. Fangue. 2018. Assessment of multiple stressors on the growth of larval green sturgeon Acipenser medirostris: implications for recruitment of early life-history stages. Journal of Fish Biology 93(5):952-960.
https://doi.org/10.1111/jfb.13805

Daniels, Miles E., Vamsi K. Sridharan, Sara N. John, and Eric M. Danner. 2018. Calibration and validation of linked water temperature models for the Shasta Reservoir and the Sacramento River from 2000 to 2015. NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-SWFSC-597. 60 p.
https://doi.org/10.7289/V5/TM-SWFSC-597

Brewitt, Kimberly S., Eric M. Danner, and Jonathan W. Moore. 2017. Hot eats and cool creeks: juvenile Pacific salmonids use mainstem prey while in thermal refuges. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 74(10):1588-1602.
https://doi.org/10.1139/cjfas-2016-0395

Martin, Benjamin T., Ron Heintz, Eric M. Danner, and Roger M. Nisbet. 2017. Integrating lipid storage into general representations of fish energetics. Journal of Animal Ecology 86(4):812-825.
https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.12667

Martin, Benjamin T., Andrew Pike, Sara N. John, Natnael Hamda, Jason Roberts, Steven T. Lindley, and Eric M. Danner. 2017. Phenomenological vs. biophysical models of thermal stress in aquatic eggs. Ecology Letters 20(1):50-59.
https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.12705

Holsman, Kirstin, and Eric Danner. 2016. Numerical integration of temperature-dependent functions in bioenergetics models to avoid overestimation of fish growth. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 145(2):334-347.
https://doi.org/10.1080/00028487.2015.1094129

Martin, B.T., R.M. Nisbet, A. Pike, C.J. Michel, and E.M. Danner. 2015. Sport science for salmon and other species: ecological consequences of metabolic power constraints. Ecology Letters 18(6):535-544.
https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.12433

Brewitt, Kim S., and Eric M. Danner. 2014. Spatio-temporal temperature variation influences juvenile steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) use of thermal refuges. Ecosphere 5(7):art.92 (26 p.).
https://doi.org/10.1890/ES14-00036.1

Caldwell, Jason, Balaji Rajagopalan, and Eric Danner. 2015. Statistical modeling of daily water temperature attributes on the Sacramento River. Journal of Hydrologic Engineering 20(5): art. 04014065 (12 p.).
https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)HE.1943-5584.0001023

Pike, Andrew, Eric Danner, David Boughton, Forrest Melton, Rama Nemani, Balaji Rajagopalan, and Steve Lindley. 2013. Forecasting river temperatures in real time using a stochastic dynamics approach. Water Resources Research 49(9):5168-5182.
https://doi.org/10.1002/wrcr.20389

Zabin, Chela J., Eric M. Danner, Erin P. Baumgartner, David Spafford, Kathy Ann Miller, and John S. Pearse. 2013. A comparison of intertidal species richness and composition between Central California and Oahu, Hawaii. Marine Ecology 34(2):131-156.
https://doi.org/10.1111/maec.12007

Danner, Eric M., Forrest S. Melton, Andrew Pike, Hirofumi Hashimoto, Andrew Michaelis, Balaji Rajagopalan, Jason Caldwell, Lynn DeWitt, Steven Lindley, and Ramakrishna R. Nemani. 2012. River temperature forecasting: a coupled-modeling framework for management of river habitat. IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing 5(6):1752-1760.
https://doi.org/10.1109/JSTARS.2012.2229968

Danner, Eric M., Matthew J. Kauffman, and Robert L. Brownell Jr. 2006. Industrial whaling in the North Pacific Ocean 1952-1978: spatial patterns of harvest and decline. In: James A. Estes et al. (eds.), Whales, whaling, and ocean ecosystems, p. 134-144. University of California Press.
https://doi.org/10.1525/california/9780520248847.003.0011

Springer, Alan M., Gus B. van Vliet, John F. Pieatt, and Eric M. Danner. 2006. Whales and whaling in the North Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea: oceanographic insights and ecosystem impacts. In: James A. Estes et al. (eds.), Whales, whaling, and ocean ecosystems, p. 245-261. University of California Press.
https://doi.org/10.1525/california/9780520248847.003.0019

Maron, John L., James A. Estes, Donald A. Croll, Eric M. Danner, Sarah C. Elmendorg, and Stacey L. Buckelew. 2006. An introduced predator alters Aleutian Island plant communities by thwarting nutrient subsidies. Ecological Monographs 76(1):3-24.
https://doi.org/10.1890/05-0496

Croll, D.A., J.L. Maron, J.A. Estes, E.M. Danner, and G.V. Byrd. 2005. Introducted predators transform subarctic islands from grassland to tundra. Science 307(5717):1959-1961.
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1108485

Estes, J.A., E.M. Danner, D.F. Doak, B. Konar, A.M. Springer, P.D. Steinberg, M.T. Tinker, and T.M. Williams. 2004. Complex trophic interactions in kelp forest ecosystems. Bulletin of Marine Science 74(3):621-638.
Available on ResearchGate

Springer, A.M., J.A. Estes, G.B. van Vliet, T.M. Williams, D.F. Doak, E.M. Danner, K.A. Forney, and B. Pfister. 2003. Sequential megafaunal collapse in the North Pacific Ocean: An ongoing legacy of industrial whaling? Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 100(21):12223-12228.
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1635156100

Pearse, J.S., E. Danner, L. Watson, and C. Zabin. 1999. Stability and flux in the rocky intertidal (abstract). American Zoologist 39(5):35A.
https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/39.5.2