Thomas Stanley, Ph.D.
Biography
Tom Stanley is a Research Wildlife Biologist at the Fort Collins Science Center. He received a Ph.D. in Wildlife Biology in 1997 from Colorado State University; a M.S. in Zoology in 1986 from Ohio State University, and a B.S. in Conservation in 1982 from Kent State University. Tom's research interests lie at the interface between wildlife biology, statistics and mathematics, and much of his research involves modeling and estimation of demographic parameters for wild vertebrate populations.
Recent Accomplishments
Education
- Ph.D. Wildlife Biology, Colorado State University, 1997
- M.S. Zoology, Ohio State University, 1986
- B.S. Conservation, Kent State University, 1982
Professional Studies/Experience
- 1992-present, Wildlife Research Biologist, USGS Fort Collins Science Center, Fort Collins, Colorado, Species and Habitat
- 1987-1992, Wildlife Research Biologist, USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Laurel, Maryland, Environmental Contaminants Research Branch
- 1985-1987, Research Technician, Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine, Baltimore Maryland, Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Physiology
- 1983-1985, Research/Teaching Associate, Ohio State University, Department of Zoology, Columbus, Ohio
- 1981-1984, Research Intern, Ohio Division of Wildlife, Olentangy Wildlife Experiment Station, Delaware, Ohio
Mentorship/Outreach
Professional societies/affiliations/committees/editorial boards
- The Wildlife Society, 1987 - present
- Ecological Society of America, 1991 - present
Honors, awards, recognition, elected offices
Scientific/Oral Presentations, Abstracts
Science and Products
Quantitative and Statistical Research Collaboration
Mathematical and statistical models are powerful research tools that play several important roles in conceptualizing and understanding the structure and dynamics of complicated ecological systems, including developing mechanistic hypotheses pertaining to ecological systems, designing studies that elucidate ecosystem structure and function, and extracting information from data.
Changes in capture rates and body size among vertebrate species occupying an insular urban habitat reserve
Long‐term ecological monitoring provides valuable and objective scientific information to inform management and decision‐making. In this article, we analyze 22 years of herpetofauna monitoring data from the Point Loma Ecological Conservation Area (PLECA), an insular urban reserve near San Diego, CA. Our analysis showed that counts of individuals...
Stanley, Thomas; Clark, Rulon W.; Fisher, Robert N.; Rochester, Carlton J.; Root, Stephanie A; Lombardo, Keith J; Ostermann-Kelm, Stacey D Brightness of the night sky affects loggerhead (Caretta caretta) sea turtle hatchling misorientation but not nest site selection
Sea turtles in the Gulf of Mexico, which are listed as either threatened or endangered under the US Endangered Species Act, face numerous threats from many sources but are particularly susceptible to the effects of light pollution on nesting beaches. Light pollution affects the distribution, density, and placement of nests on beaches, and disrupts...
Stanley, Thomas; White, Jeremy; Teel, Susan; Nicholas, Mark El Niño/Southern Oscillation-driven rainfall pulse amplifies predation by owls on seabirds via apparent competition with mice
Most approaches for assessing species vulnerability to climate change have focused on direct impacts via abiotic changes rather than indirect impacts mediated by changes in species interactions. Changes in rainfall regimes may influence species interactions from the bottom-up by increasing primary productivity in arid environments, but...
Thomsen, Sarah K.; Mazurkiewicz, David M.; Stanley, Thomas R.; Green, David J. Comparison of estimators for monitoring long-term population trends in deer mice, Peromyscus maniculatus, on the California Channel Islands
Capture-recapture methods are commonly used to estimate abundance and density of wild animal populations. Although a variety of sophisticated analytical techniques are available to evaluate capture-recapture data, vertebrate monitoring programs often lack the resources (e.g., time, personnel, and/or analytical expertise) to apply these methods. As...
Schwemm, Catherin A.; Drost, Charles A.; Orrock, John L.; Coonan, Timothy J.; Stanley, Thomas R. Sea turtles, light pollution, and citizen science: A preliminary report
Sea turtles are an important ecological resource for Gulf Islands National Seashore’s (Gulf Islands) waters and shorelines. Regionally, sea turtles face anthropogenic threats from situations such as entanglement in fishing gear and ingestion of marine debris, as well as possible changes in sex ratios due to increasing temperatures related to human...
Afford, Heather; Teel, Susan; Nicholas, Mark; Stanley, Thomas R.; White, Jeremy The influence of food abundance, food dispersion and habitat structure on territory selection and size of an Afrotropical terrestrial insectivore
Most tropical insectivorous birds, unlike their temperate counterparts, hold and defend a feeding and breeding territory year-around. However, our understanding of ecological factors influencing territory selection and size in tropical insectivores is limited. Here we examine three prominent hypotheses relating food abundance, food dispersion (...
Stanley, Thomas R.; Newmark, William D. A plan for the North American Bat Monitoring Program (NABat)
The purpose of the North American Bat Monitoring Program (NABat) is to create a continent-wide program to monitor bats at local to rangewide scales that will provide reliable data to promote effective conservation decisionmaking and the long-term viability of bat populations across the continent. This is an international, multiagency program. Four...
Loeb, Susan C.; Rodhouse, Thomas J.; Ellison, Laura E.; Lausen, Cori L.; Reichard, Jonathan D.; Irvine, Kathryn M.; Ingersoll, Thomas E.; Coleman, Jeremy T. H.; Thogmartin, Wayne E.; Sauer, John R.; Francis, Charles M.; Bayless, Mylea L.; Stanley, Thomas R.; Johnson, Douglas H. Daily nest survival rates of Gunnison Sage-Grouse (Centrocercus minimus): assessing local- and landscape-scale drivers
The Gunnison Sage-Grouse (Centrocercus minimus) is a species of conservation concern and is a candidate for listing under the U.S. Endangered Species Act because of substantial declines in populations from historic levels. It is thought that loss, fragmentation, and deterioration of sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) habitat have contributed to the...
Stanley, Thomas R.; Aldridge, Cameron L.; Joanne Saher; Theresa Childers Associations of wintering birds with habitat in semidesert and plains grasslands in Arizona
We studied associations with winter habitat for seven species of birds, one species-group (eastern and western meadowlarks combined), and total sparrows at seven sites in the semidesert and plains grasslands of southeastern Arizona from 1999–2001, sampling with mist-nets and survey-transects. We measured structure and composition of...
Ruth, Janet M.; Stanley, Thomas R.; Gordon, Caleb E. Variability in seroprevalence of rabies virus neutralizing antibodies and associated factors in a Colorado population of big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus)
In 2001–2005 we sampled permanently marked big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus) at summer roosts in buildings at Fort Collins, Colorado, for rabies virus neutralizing antibodies (RVNA). Seroprevalence was higher in adult females (17.9%, n = 2,332) than males (9.4%, n = 128; P = 0.007) or volant juveniles (10.2%, n = 738; P<0.0001). Seroprevalence...
O’Shea, Thomas J.; Bowen, Richard A.; Stanley, Thomas R.; Shankar, Vidya; Rupprecht, Charles E. Native plant recovery in study plots after fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) control on Santa Cruz Island
Santa Cruz Island is the largest of the California Channel Islands and supports a diverse and unique flora which includes 9 federally listed species. Sheep, cattle, and pigs, introduced to the island in the mid-1800s, disturbed the soil, browsed native vegetation, and facilitated the spread of exotic invasive plants. Recent removal of introduced...
Power, Paula; Stanley, Thomas R.; Cowan, Clark; Robertson, James R. Response of brown-headed cowbirds and three host species to thinning treatments in low-elevation ponderosa pine forests along the northern Colorado Front Range
Thinning ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) forests to achieve desired ecological conditions remains a priority in the North American west. In addition to reducing the risk of high-severity wildfires in unwanted areas, stand thinning may increase wildlife and plant diversity and provide increased opportunity for seedling recruitment. We initiated...
Keeley, W.H.; Germaine, Stephen S.; Stanley, Thomas R.; Spaulding, Sarah A.; Wanner, C.E.Pre-USGS Publications
CloseTest
CloseTest is a Windows program for testing capture-recapture data