Ralph W Tingley, III, PhD
I am a biologist at the Great Lakes Science Center in Ann Arbor, MI.
I am responsible for the annual assessment of Lake Michigan prey fish populations. I also lead research focused on trophic ecology, recruitment bottlenecks, and habitat use of ecologically and culturally important fishes of the Great Lakes. I am particularly interested in spatial and temporal heterogeneity in fish habitat use within the Great Lakes and connected waters.
Professional Experience
September 2020 – present. Biologist, USGS Great Lakes Science Center, Ann Arbor, Michigan
May 2017 – August 2020. Post-doctoral researcher, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri.
January 2017 – May 2017. Instructor – Statistics for Ecologists, The Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan.
June 2010 – December 2016. Graduate Research Associate, The Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan.
September 2007 – May 2010. Graduate Research Associate, The Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan.
Education and Certifications
Ph.D. 2017. Michigan State University; Fisheries and Wildlife Biology, East Lansing, MI.
M.S. 2010. Michigan State University; Fisheries and Wildlife Biology, East Lansing, MI.
B.S. 2007. University of Connecticut; Natural Resource Management - Fisheries, Storrs, CT.
Science and Products
Science pages by this scientist
Webinar: Turning Ecological Stream Classifications into Actionable Science
View this webinar to learn about stream classification efforts in Hawai'i.
Data releases by this scientist
Lake Michigan juvenile lake trout diets 2015-2017, 2019-2022
These data consist of juvenile lake trout biological and diet information collected from USGS bottom trawl, beam trawl, and gillnet surveys in Lake Michigan from 2015-2017 and 2019-2022. All prey were identified, enumerated and weighed. Only fish prey and Mysis had lengths measured.
Fish and Climate Change (FiCli) Database: Informing climate change adaptation and management actions for freshwater fishes
Inland fishes provide important ecosystem services to communities worldwide and are especially vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Fish respond to climate change in diverse and nuanced ways, which creates challenges for practitioners of fish conservation, climate change adaptation, and management. Although climate change is known to affect fish globally, a comprehensive online, public dat
Hawaii Waterfalls Linked to the National Hydrography Dataset
This dataset contains information about waterfall locations and estimated waterfall heights on five of the main Hawaiian Islands including Kauai, Oahu, Maui, Molokai, and Hawaii. Initial spatial information was gathered from the National Hydrography Dataset (NHD), Geographic Names Information System (GNIS), the Hawaii Statewide GIS Program, and the World Waterfall Database. Where image quality per
National Fish Habitat Partnership (NFHP) 2015 Human Disturbance Data for Hawaii
This CSV file contains landscape factors representing anthropogenic disturbances to stream habitats summarized within local and network stream catchments as well as the downstream main channel catchment perennial and intermittent stream reaches of the five main islands of Hawai'i. The source datasets compiled and attributed to spatial units were identified as being: (1) meaningful for assessing fl
National Fish Habitat Partnership (NFHP) 2015 Cumulative Habitat Condition Scores and Disturbance Indices for Hawaii Linked to Catchments of the Hawai'i Fish Habitat Partnership Stream Layer
This shapefile contains cumulative fish habitat condition index (HCI) scores and specific disturbance indices for local and network stream catchments as well as the downstream main channel catchment of perennial and intermittent streams reaches of the five main island of Hawaii. In this dataset indices are linked to the Hawaii Fish Habitat Partnership (HFHP) stream layer (Tingley et al. in prep) w
Publications by this scientist
Spatial distribution and diet of Lake Michigan juvenile lake trout
Most studies of Lake Michigan lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) have focused on adults, with scant attention to juveniles (<400 mm). We explored the spatial distribution and diet of juvenile lake trout using U.S. Geological Survey September bottom trawl data (2015–2022) and stomach content information opportunistically collected since 2012 by various agencies using multiple gear types. Most juveni
Authors
Benjamin Scott Leonhardt, Ralph W. Tingley, Charles P. Madenjian, Lynn M. Ogilvie, Brian Roth, Jory L. Jonas, Jason B. Smith
Subindicator: Native Prey Fish Diversity
No abstract available.
Authors
Brian C. Weidel, Mark Vinson, Darryl W. Hondorp, Ralph W. Tingley, Joseph Schmitt
Reducing uncertainty in climate change responses of inland fishes: A decision-path approach
Climate change will continue to be an important consideration for conservation practitioners. However, uncertainty in identifying appropriate management strategies, particularly for understudied species and regions, constrains the implementation of science-based solutions and adaptation strategies. Here, we share a decision-path approach to reduce uncertainty in climate change responses of inland
Authors
Abigail Lynch, Bonnie Myers, Jesse P. Wong, Cindy Chu, Ralph W. Tingley, Jeffrey A. Falke, Thomas J. Kwak, Craig Paukert, Trevor J. Krabbenhoft
Societal values of inland fishes
a.Aim: To demonstrate the societal values of inland fishes through nine services provided by inland fishes. Each service is defined, key stakeholders identified, and threats enumerated. Diverse case studies (geography, taxonomy, fishery-type) provide examples to highlight the societal values around the world.b.Main concepts: Nine societal services of inland fishes – 1. Livelihoods and subsistence
Authors
Abigail Lynch, Robert I. Arthur, Claudio Baigun, Julie E. Claussen, Külli Kangur, Aaron A. Koning, Karen J. Murchie, Bonnie Myers, Gretchen L. Stokes, Ralph William Tingley, So-Jung Youn
A Resist-Accept-Direct decision-support tool for walleye Sander vitreus (Mitchill) management in Wisconsin
Large-scale modelling and prediction provide insight into general influences of climate change on inland recreational fisheries; however, small-scale dynamics and local expertise will be key in developing explicit goals for managing recreational fisheries as the climate changes. The resist-accept-direct (RAD) framework encompasses the entire decision space managers consider when addressing climate
Authors
Colin J. Dassow, Alex W. Latzka, Abigail Lynch, Greg G. Sass, Ralph W. Tingley, Craig Paukert
A landscape approach for identifying potential reestablishment sites for extirpated stream fishes: an example with Arctic grayling (Thymallus arcticus) in Michigan
Habitat degradation combined with climate change increases the threat of extinction for stream fishes. In response to these threats, efforts to reestablish species within formerly occupied streams or translocation to suitable areas may be effective conservation strategies. In the absence of historic species presence data, identifying locations where suitable habitat exists across many fluvial habi
Authors
Ralph William Tingley, Dana M. Infante, Emily M. Dean, Douglas W. Schemske, Arthur R. Cooper, Jared Ross, Wesley Daniel
Status and trends of pelagic and benthic prey fish populations in Lake Michigan, 2021
Lake wide acoustic (AC) and bottom trawl (BT) surveys are conducted annually to generate indices of pelagic and benthic prey fish densities in Lake Michigan. The BT survey has been conducted each fall since 1973 using 12-m trawls at depths ranging from 9 to 110 m and includes 70 fixed locations distributed across seven transects; this survey estimates densities of seven prey fish species [i.e., al
Authors
David Warner, Ralph W. Tingley, Charles P. Madenjian, Benjamin A. Turschak, Dale Hanson
Status and trends of pelagic and benthic prey fish populations in Lake Michigan, 2020
Lakewide acoustic (AC) and bottom trawl (BT) surveys are conducted annually to generate indices of pelagic and benthic prey fish densities in Lake Michigan. The BT survey had been conducted each fall from 1973 through 2019 using 12-m trawls at depths ranging from 9 to 110 m and included 70 fixed locations distributed across seven transects; this survey estimates densities of seven prey fish speci
Authors
Ralph William Tingley, David Bunnell, David Warner, Charles P. Madenjian, Patricia Dieter
Identifying candidate reference reaches to assess the physical and biological integrity of wadeable streams in different ecoregions and among stream sizes
Efforts to quantify disturbances to aquatic systems often use landscape-level metrics, presumably linked to ecological integrity, but fewer studies have directly linked ecological integrity to instream habitat, and applied these results to unsampled stream reaches throughout a landscape. We developed a flexible, quantitative approach that characterizes stream impairment across a landscape and iden
Authors
Craig Paukert, Ethan R. Kleeklamp, Ralph William Tingley
News about this scientist
Science and Products
Science pages by this scientist
Webinar: Turning Ecological Stream Classifications into Actionable Science
View this webinar to learn about stream classification efforts in Hawai'i.
Data releases by this scientist
Lake Michigan juvenile lake trout diets 2015-2017, 2019-2022
These data consist of juvenile lake trout biological and diet information collected from USGS bottom trawl, beam trawl, and gillnet surveys in Lake Michigan from 2015-2017 and 2019-2022. All prey were identified, enumerated and weighed. Only fish prey and Mysis had lengths measured.
Fish and Climate Change (FiCli) Database: Informing climate change adaptation and management actions for freshwater fishes
Inland fishes provide important ecosystem services to communities worldwide and are especially vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Fish respond to climate change in diverse and nuanced ways, which creates challenges for practitioners of fish conservation, climate change adaptation, and management. Although climate change is known to affect fish globally, a comprehensive online, public dat
Hawaii Waterfalls Linked to the National Hydrography Dataset
This dataset contains information about waterfall locations and estimated waterfall heights on five of the main Hawaiian Islands including Kauai, Oahu, Maui, Molokai, and Hawaii. Initial spatial information was gathered from the National Hydrography Dataset (NHD), Geographic Names Information System (GNIS), the Hawaii Statewide GIS Program, and the World Waterfall Database. Where image quality per
National Fish Habitat Partnership (NFHP) 2015 Human Disturbance Data for Hawaii
This CSV file contains landscape factors representing anthropogenic disturbances to stream habitats summarized within local and network stream catchments as well as the downstream main channel catchment perennial and intermittent stream reaches of the five main islands of Hawai'i. The source datasets compiled and attributed to spatial units were identified as being: (1) meaningful for assessing fl
National Fish Habitat Partnership (NFHP) 2015 Cumulative Habitat Condition Scores and Disturbance Indices for Hawaii Linked to Catchments of the Hawai'i Fish Habitat Partnership Stream Layer
This shapefile contains cumulative fish habitat condition index (HCI) scores and specific disturbance indices for local and network stream catchments as well as the downstream main channel catchment of perennial and intermittent streams reaches of the five main island of Hawaii. In this dataset indices are linked to the Hawaii Fish Habitat Partnership (HFHP) stream layer (Tingley et al. in prep) w
Publications by this scientist
Spatial distribution and diet of Lake Michigan juvenile lake trout
Most studies of Lake Michigan lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) have focused on adults, with scant attention to juveniles (<400 mm). We explored the spatial distribution and diet of juvenile lake trout using U.S. Geological Survey September bottom trawl data (2015–2022) and stomach content information opportunistically collected since 2012 by various agencies using multiple gear types. Most juveni
Authors
Benjamin Scott Leonhardt, Ralph W. Tingley, Charles P. Madenjian, Lynn M. Ogilvie, Brian Roth, Jory L. Jonas, Jason B. Smith
Subindicator: Native Prey Fish Diversity
No abstract available.
Authors
Brian C. Weidel, Mark Vinson, Darryl W. Hondorp, Ralph W. Tingley, Joseph Schmitt
Reducing uncertainty in climate change responses of inland fishes: A decision-path approach
Climate change will continue to be an important consideration for conservation practitioners. However, uncertainty in identifying appropriate management strategies, particularly for understudied species and regions, constrains the implementation of science-based solutions and adaptation strategies. Here, we share a decision-path approach to reduce uncertainty in climate change responses of inland
Authors
Abigail Lynch, Bonnie Myers, Jesse P. Wong, Cindy Chu, Ralph W. Tingley, Jeffrey A. Falke, Thomas J. Kwak, Craig Paukert, Trevor J. Krabbenhoft
Societal values of inland fishes
a.Aim: To demonstrate the societal values of inland fishes through nine services provided by inland fishes. Each service is defined, key stakeholders identified, and threats enumerated. Diverse case studies (geography, taxonomy, fishery-type) provide examples to highlight the societal values around the world.b.Main concepts: Nine societal services of inland fishes – 1. Livelihoods and subsistence
Authors
Abigail Lynch, Robert I. Arthur, Claudio Baigun, Julie E. Claussen, Külli Kangur, Aaron A. Koning, Karen J. Murchie, Bonnie Myers, Gretchen L. Stokes, Ralph William Tingley, So-Jung Youn
A Resist-Accept-Direct decision-support tool for walleye Sander vitreus (Mitchill) management in Wisconsin
Large-scale modelling and prediction provide insight into general influences of climate change on inland recreational fisheries; however, small-scale dynamics and local expertise will be key in developing explicit goals for managing recreational fisheries as the climate changes. The resist-accept-direct (RAD) framework encompasses the entire decision space managers consider when addressing climate
Authors
Colin J. Dassow, Alex W. Latzka, Abigail Lynch, Greg G. Sass, Ralph W. Tingley, Craig Paukert
A landscape approach for identifying potential reestablishment sites for extirpated stream fishes: an example with Arctic grayling (Thymallus arcticus) in Michigan
Habitat degradation combined with climate change increases the threat of extinction for stream fishes. In response to these threats, efforts to reestablish species within formerly occupied streams or translocation to suitable areas may be effective conservation strategies. In the absence of historic species presence data, identifying locations where suitable habitat exists across many fluvial habi
Authors
Ralph William Tingley, Dana M. Infante, Emily M. Dean, Douglas W. Schemske, Arthur R. Cooper, Jared Ross, Wesley Daniel
Status and trends of pelagic and benthic prey fish populations in Lake Michigan, 2021
Lake wide acoustic (AC) and bottom trawl (BT) surveys are conducted annually to generate indices of pelagic and benthic prey fish densities in Lake Michigan. The BT survey has been conducted each fall since 1973 using 12-m trawls at depths ranging from 9 to 110 m and includes 70 fixed locations distributed across seven transects; this survey estimates densities of seven prey fish species [i.e., al
Authors
David Warner, Ralph W. Tingley, Charles P. Madenjian, Benjamin A. Turschak, Dale Hanson
Status and trends of pelagic and benthic prey fish populations in Lake Michigan, 2020
Lakewide acoustic (AC) and bottom trawl (BT) surveys are conducted annually to generate indices of pelagic and benthic prey fish densities in Lake Michigan. The BT survey had been conducted each fall from 1973 through 2019 using 12-m trawls at depths ranging from 9 to 110 m and included 70 fixed locations distributed across seven transects; this survey estimates densities of seven prey fish speci
Authors
Ralph William Tingley, David Bunnell, David Warner, Charles P. Madenjian, Patricia Dieter
Identifying candidate reference reaches to assess the physical and biological integrity of wadeable streams in different ecoregions and among stream sizes
Efforts to quantify disturbances to aquatic systems often use landscape-level metrics, presumably linked to ecological integrity, but fewer studies have directly linked ecological integrity to instream habitat, and applied these results to unsampled stream reaches throughout a landscape. We developed a flexible, quantitative approach that characterizes stream impairment across a landscape and iden
Authors
Craig Paukert, Ethan R. Kleeklamp, Ralph William Tingley
News about this scientist