Wayne E Thogmartin, Ph.D.
I am a quantitative ecologist conducting scholarly research at the intersection of animal ecology, spatial analyses, and statistics. My interests are in population ecology for animals declining in abundance, asking new questions of multiple, combined data sets to gain novel insight into the dynamics of animal populations, and translating science into guidance for practical management decisions.
Biography
PhD, Zoology, SOUTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY, May, 2002
MS, Zoology, UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS, May, 1998
BA, Ecology / Behavior / Evolution, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO, June, 1990
2014 to the present Research Ecologist, US Geological Survey, Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center, La Crosse, Wisconsin 54603
2002 to 2014 Research Statistician (Biology), US Geological Survey, Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center, La Crosse, Wisconsin 54603
1995 Wildlife Biologist, United States Forest Service, Forestry Sciences Lab (Central California spotted owl surveyor)
1994 Wildlife Biologist 1, Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife (Puget Sound salmon gillnet monitoring supervisor)
1994 Scientific Technician 1, Washington State Department of Natural Resources (North Cascades spotted owl surveyor)
1993 Scientific Technician 1, Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife (Puget Sound salmon gillnet monitor)
1992 to 1993 Domestic Groundfish Observer, Arctic Observers Corporation (defunct), Seattle, WA (Bering Sea groundfish observer)
1992 Fish and Wildlife Technician III, Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission (Columbia River salmon gillnet monitor)
1991 to 1992 Zoologist, National Marine Fisheries Service (observer debriefer, observers returning from trips aboard high-seas driftnet vessels operating in the north Pacific out of Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea)
1990 to 1991 Foreign High Seas Driftnet Observer, Frank Orth & Associates (Pacific high-seas driftnet observer, aboard Taiwanese high-seas driftnet vessels)
Science and Products
TrendPowerTool: A web lookup tool for estimating the statistical power of a monitoring program to detect population trends
A simulation-based power analysis can be used to estimate the sample sizes needed for a successful monitoring program, but requires technical expertise and sometimes extensive computing resources. We developed a web-based lookup app, called TrendPowerTool, to provide guidance for ecological monitoring programs when resources are not...
Decision-support tool for managing endangered species in the face of uncertainty
Along the Santa Clara River in California, populations of the federally and state-listed Least Bell's Vireo (Vireo bellii pusillus) are recovering from near extirpation. Habitat protection and restoration, as well as reducing brood parasitism by Brown-headed Cowbirds (...
Monarch Conservation Planning Tools
Monarch Conservation Science Partnership Online Map Viewer
Desktop Monarch Conservation Planning Tools
Jason Rohweder, Wayne E. Thogmartin
U.S. Geological Survey, Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center
Bat Research
White-nose syndrome (WNS) caused by the fungal pathogen Pseudogymnoascus destructans (Pd) has decimated hibernating bat populations across North America since it emerged 10 years ago in New York. As Pd has spread across North America, infection dynamics and mortality from WNS have varied among species and across sites. The mechanisms behind vulnerability of species across the current...
Integrating colony counts with NABat acoustic data to reveal the true impacts of White-Nose Syndrome on northern long-eared bats
Research collaboration: Brian Reichert (FORT), Wayne Thogmartin (UMESC), Winifred Frick (Bat Conservation International), Tina Cheng (Bat Conservation International)
The northern long-eared bat...
A continental-scale study of acoustic phenology to improve population monitoring and inform management of hibernating bats
Research collaboration: Winifred Frick (Bat Conservation International), Theodore Weller (U.S. Forest Service), Wayne Thogmartin (UMESC), Craig Willis (University of Winnipeg), and Brian Reichert (FORT...
Developing online integrated data visualization tools for WNS and NABat
Research collaboration: Brian Reichert (FORT), Anne Ballmann (NWHC), Jeremy Coleman (USFWS), Paul Cryan (FORT), Wayne Thogmartin (UMESC), and Katherine Irvine...
Modeling the response of cave hibernating Myotis species to white-nose syndrome mitigation tactics
Research collaboration: Robin Russell (NWHC), Tonie Rocke (NWHC), Wayne Thogmartin (UMESC), Evan Grant (PWRC)
White-nose syndrome is a fungal disease devastating cave-hibernating bat species (Myotis spp.) in the eastern...
Quantifying vulnerability of bat species to White-nose Syndrome across North America
Research collaboration: Winifred Frick (Bat Conservation International), Brian Reichert (FORT), Theodore Weller (US Forest Service), Wayne Thogmartin (UMESC) and the North American Bat Colony Count...
Monarch Conservation Science Partnership Map Viewer and Tools
This web mapping application is a repository for data and tools that support the Monarch Conservation Science Partnership.
Species Distributional Modeling and Spatial Patterns in Genetic Introgression: the Case of Golden-winged Warblers and Blue-winged Warblers
The Golden-winged Warbler (Vermivora chrysoptera) is a species of considerable conservation concern in North America, primarily due to widespread population declines attributable to habitat loss (Confer et al. 1992, Buehler et al. ) and displacement by the Blue-winged Warbler (V. pinus) in areas of sympatry (Gill 1980, 2004; Will 1986). Recent research highlighted an important mechanism in...
Dynamic Occupancy Models: Improving our Understanding of Animal Populations and Survey Techniques using Computer Simulations
Humans often look at wild places and guess animals are either abundant because they see large numbers of animals or animals are limited because they observe low numbers or little sign of activity. In reality, our estimates of animal numbers may be limited because of our inability to accurately detect animals and predict habitat occupancy or persistence over different seasons. Scientists and...
Bridging the research-implementation gap in avian conservation with translational ecology
The recognized gap between research and implementation in avian conservation can be overcome with translational ecology, an intentional approach in which science producers and users from multiple disciplines work collaboratively to co-develop and deliver ecological research that addresses management and conservation issues. Avian conservation...
Saunders, Sarah P.; Wu, Joanna X.; Gow, Elizabeth A.; Adams, Evan A.; Bateman, Brooke L.; Bayard, Trina; Beilke, Stephanie; Dayer, Ashley A.; Fournier, Auriel M.V.; Fox, Kara; Hamilton, Christoper; Heglund, Patricia J.; Lerman, Susannah B.; Michel, Nicole L.; Paxton, Eben H.; Şekercioğlu, Çağan H.; Smith, Melanie A.; Thogmartin, Wayne E.; Woodrey, Mark S; van Riper, Charles TrendPowerTool: A lookup tool for estimating the statistical power of a monitoring program to detect population trends
A simulation-based power analysis can be used to estimate the sample sizes needed for a successful monitoring program, but requires technical expertise and sometimes extensive computing resources. We developed a web-based lookup app, called TrendPowerTool (https://www.usgs.gov/apps/TrendPowerTool/), to provide guidance for ecological monitoring...
Weiser, Emily L.; Diffendorfer, James E.; Lopez-Hoffman, Laura; Semmens, Darius J.; Thogmartin, Wayne E.
Summary of available data from the monarch overwintering colonies in central Mexico, 1976–1991
Historical estimates of the area occupied by overwintering Danaus plexippus (monarchs) in central Mexico (between winters of 1976 and 1991) were published in García-Serrano and others (2004) and more recently in Mawdsley and others (2020). Our primary objectives were to identify the specific data that informed those estimates and, importantly,...
Zylstra, Erin R; Thogmartin, Wayne E.; Ramirez, M. Isabel; Zipkin, Elise F. NABat: A top-down, bottom-up solution to collaborative continental-scale monitoring
Collaborative monitoring over broad scales and levels of ecological organization can inform conservation efforts necessary to address the contemporary biodiversity crisis. An important challenge to collaborative monitoring is motivating local engagement with enough buy-in from stakeholders while providing adequate top-down direction for scientific...
Reichert, Brian E.; Bayless, Mylea L.; Cheng, Tina L.; Coleman, Jeremy T.H.; Francis, Charles M.; Frick, Winifred F.; Gotthold, Benjamin; Irvine, Kathryn; Lausen, Cori; Li, Han; Loeb, Susan C.; Reichard, Jonathan D.; Rodhouse, Thomas J.; Segers, Jordi L.; Siemers, Jeremy; Thogmartin, Wayne E.; Weller, Theodore Quantifying the contribution of habitats and pathways to a spatially structured population facing environmental change
The consequences of environmental disturbance and management are difficult to quantify for spatially structured populations because changes in one location carry through to other areas as a result of species movement. We develop a metric, G, for measuring the contribution of a habitat or pathway to network-wide population growth rate in the...
Sample, Christine; Bieri, Joanna A.; Allen, Benjamin L. ; Dementieva, Yulia; Carson, Alyssa; Higgins, Connor; Piatt, Sadie; Qiu, Shirley; Stafford, Summer; Mattsson, Brady J.; Semmens, Darius J.; Diffendorfer, James E.; Thogmartin, Wayne E. At the end of the road: Lessons learned from comparing model- and design-based approaches to estimate population sizes of boreal birds in Alberta, Canada
Estimating population abundance is a challenging task complicated by the amount, type, and quality of available data. Conservationists have relied on design-based estimates from Partners in Flight (PIF), which primarily uses roadside data from the North American Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) to estimate populations sizes. However, the BBS was not...
Solymos, Peter; Toms, Judith D; Matsuoka, Steven M.; Cumming, Steven G.; Barker, Nicole K. S.; Thogmartin, Wayne E.; Stralberg, Diana; Crosby, Andrew D.; Denes, Francisco V; Hache, Samuel; Mahon, C Lisa; Schmiegelow, Fiona K A; Bayne, Erin M. Evidence for a growing population of eastern migratory monarch butterflies is currently insufficient
The eastern migratory population of monarch butterflies has experienced a multi-decadal decline, but a recent increase in abundance (to 6.05 ha in winter 2018) has led some observers to question whether the population has reversed its long-standing decline and embarked on a trajectory of increasing abundance. We examined this possibility through...
Thogmartin, Wayne E.; Szymanski, Jennifer A; Weiser, Emily L. Challenges for leveraging citizen science to support statistically robust monitoring programs
Large samples and long time series are often needed for effective broad-scale monitoring of status and trends in wild populations. Obtaining those sample sizes can be more feasible when volunteers contribute to the dataset, but volunteer-selected sites are not always representative of a population. Previous work to account for biased site...
Weiser, Emily L.; Diffendorfer, James E.; Lopez-Hoffman, Laura; Semmens, Darius J.; Thogmartin, Wayne E. Recovery planning in a dynamic system: Integrating uncertainty into a decision support tool for an endangered songbird
Along the Santa Clara River in California, populations of the federally and state-listed Least Bell's Vireo (Vireo bellii pusillus) are recovering from near extirpation. Habitat protection and restoration, as well as controlling rates of brood parasitism, are thought to be the primary drivers of this recovery. Continuing successful management of...
Stanton, J.C.; Marek, Jenny; Hall, Linnea S.; Kus, Barbara E.; Alvarado, Allison; Orr, Bruce K.; Morrissette, Eric; Riege, Laura; Thogmartin, Wayne E. Recovery planning in a dynamic system: Integrating uncertainty into a decision support tool for an endangered songbird
Along the Santa Clara River in California, populations of the federally and state-listed Least Bell's Vireo (Vireo bellii pusillus) are recovering from near extirpation. Habitat protection and restoration, as well as controlling rates of brood parasitism, are thought to be the primary drivers of this recovery. Continuing successful management of...
Stanton, Jessica; Marek, Jenny; Hall, Linnea S.; Kus, Barbara E.; Alvarado, Allison; Orr, Bruce K.; Morrissette, Eric; Riege, Laura; Thogmartin, Wayne E. Is the timing, pace and success of the monarch migration associated with sun angle?
A basic question concerning the monarch butterfly’s fall migration is which monarchs succeed in reaching overwintering sites in Mexico, which fail—and why. We document the timing and pace of the fall migration, ask whether the sun’s position in the sky is associated with the pace of the migration, and whether timing affects success in completing...
Taylor, Orley R.; Lovett, James P; Gibo, David L; Weiser, Emily L.; Thogmartin, Wayne E.; Semmens, Darius J.; Diffendorfer, James E.; Pleasants, John M.; Pecoraro, Samuel; Grundel, Ralph Quantifying source and sink habitats and pathways in spatially structured populations: A generalized modelling approach
The ability to classify habitats and movement pathways as sources or sinks is an important part of the decision making process for the conservation of spatially structured populations. Diverse approaches have been used to quantify the importance of habitats and pathways in a spatial network, however these approaches have been limited by a lack of...
Diffendorfer, James E.; Sample, Christine; Beiri, Joanna A; Allen, Benjamin L. ; Dementieva, Yulia; Carson, Alyssa; Higgins, Connar; Piatt, Sadie; Qiu, Shirley; Stafford, Summer; Mattsson, Brady J.; Semmens, Darius J.; Thogmartin, Wayne E.
Friday's Findings - November 20 2020
Imperilment and Recovery of the Monarch Butterfly
Date: November 20, 2020 from 2-2:30 p.m. eastern time
Speaker: Wayne Thogmartin, USGS-Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center
...