Avian ecology, wildlife biology, conservation biology

My research strives to improve species conservation and monitoring programs, and the management of protected areas, through a better understanding of wildlife habitat relationships and sampling methods.  Central to that research has been the application of ecological principles to the conservation of rare, endangered, or declining species and their habitats.  Recent research has been directed toward the conservation of Neotropical migratory landbirds, including studies of the stopover ecology of birds during migration and breeding birds in southern Appalachian forests, and the conservation of marine birds, including the endangered Hawaiian Petrel, Black-capped Petrels in the Dominican Republic, and American Oystercatchers on the Outer Banks of North Carolina.  Research is focused in three broad areas:  (1) understanding the ecological factors that constrain species diversity and abundance, (2) modeling wildlife habitat relationships at the population and landscape level, and (3) improving wildlife population sampling methods.

Simons, T. R., K. H. Pollock, J. M. Wettroth, M. W. Alldredge, K. Pacifici, and J. Brewster. 2009 Sources of measurement error, misclassification error, and bias in auditory avian point count data. pp. 237-254 in D.L. Thomson et al. (eds.), Modeling Demographic Processes in Marked Populations, Environmental and Ecological Statistics 3, Springer Science and Business Media.

Pacifici, K., T.R. Simons, and K.H. Pollock.  2008.  Effects of vegetation and background noise on the detection process in auditory avian point count surveys.  The Auk 125: 600-607.

Alldredge, M.W., Pacifici, K., T.R. Simons, and K.H. Pollock.  2008.  A field evaluation of the effectiveness of distance sampling and double independent observers to estimate detection probability in aural avian point counts.  Journal of Applied Ecology 45: 1349-1356.

Webster, R. A., Pollock, K. H., and Simons, T. R. 2008.  Bayesian spatial modeling of point transect data from bird surveys.  Journal of Agricultural, Biological and Environmental Statistics (13): 121-139.

Alldredge, M.W. T.R. Simons, K.H. Pollock, and K. Pacifici.  2007.  A Field Evaluation of the Time-of-detection method to estimate population size for Aural Avian Point Counts.  Avian Ecology and Conservation 2 (2):13.

Simons, T.R., M.W. Alldredge, and K.H. Pollock.  2007.  Experimental analysis of the auditory detection process on avian point counts.  The Auk 124: 986-999.

Alldredge, M.W., T.R. Simons, and K.H. Pollock.  2007.  An experimental evaluation of distance measurement error in avian point count surveys.  Journal of Wildlife Management 71: 2759-2766.

Alldredge, M.W., K.H. Pollock, T.R. Simons, J.A. Collazo, and S.A. Shriner  2007.  Time of detection method for estimating abundance from point count surveys.  The Auk 124:653-664.
Alldredge, M.W., T.R. Simons, and K.H. Pollock.  2007.  Factors affecting aural detections of songbirds.  Ecological Applications 17:948-955.

Alldredge, M.W., K.H. Pollock, T.R. Simons, and S.A. Shriner.  2007.  Multiple species analysis of point count data: a more parsimonious modeling framework.  Journal of Applied Ecology.44: 281-290.

Podolsky, A.L., T.R. Simons, and J.A. Collazo.  2007.  Modeling population growth of the Ovenbird in the southern Appalachians.  The Auk 124: 1359-1372.

Alldredge, M.W., K.H. Pollock, and T.R. Simons.  2006.  Estimating detection probabilities from multiple-observer point counts.  The Auk 123: 1172-1182.

McGowan, C.P. and T.R. Simons.  2006.  Effects of human disturbance on the incubation behavior of American Oystercatchers.  Wilson Bulletin 118: 485-493.

Simons, T.R., S.A. Shriner, and G.L. Farnsworth.  2006.  Comparison of breeding bird and vegetation communities in primary and secondary forests of Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  Biological Conservation 129: 302-311.

McGowan, C.P., T.R. Simons, W. Golder, and J. Cordes.  2005 A comparison of American Oystercatcher reproductive success on barrier beach and river island habitats in coastal North Carolina.  Waterbirds 28: 150-155.

Hyde, E.J., and T.R. Simons.  In 2004.  Sampling Salamanders in Great Smoky Mountains National Park: What are we really sampling?  In: Status and Conservation of US Amphibians (M.J. Lannoo ed.).  University of Iowa Press.

Simons, T.R., F.R. Moore, and S.A. Gauthreaux.  2004.  Mist netting trans-Gulf migrants at coastal stopover sites: the influence of spatial and temporal variability on capture data.  In: The use of mist nets to monitor bird populations, (C.J. Ralph et al. eds.).  Studies in Avian Biology.

Bailey, L. L., T. R. Simons, and K. H. Pollock.  2004.  Estimating site occupancy and species detection probability parameters for terrestrial salamanders. Ecological Applications 14: 692-702. 

Bailey, L. L., T. R. Simons, and K. H. Pollock.  2004.  Estimating detectability parameters for plethodon salamanders using the robust capture-recapture design. Journal of Wildlife Management 68: 1-13. 

Bailey, L. L., T. R. Simons, and K. H. Pollock.  2004.  Spatial and temporal variation in detection probability of plethodon salamanders using the robust capture-recapture design. Journal of Wildlife Management 68: 14-24. 

Lichstein, J.W., T.R. Simons, S.A Shriner, and K.E. Franzreb.  2002.  Spatial autocorrelation and autoregressive models in ecology.  Ecological Monographs.  72(3): 445-463.

Lichstein, J.W., T.R. Simons, and K.E. Franzreb.  2002.  Landscape effects on breeding songbird abundance in managed forests.  Ecological Applications 12(13): 836-857.

Farnsworth, G. L., K. H. Pollock, J. L. Nichols, T. R. Simons, J. E. Hines, and J. R. Sauer.  2002.  A removal model for estimating detection probabilities from point count surveys.  The Auk 119: 414-425.
Pollock, K.H., J.D. Nichols, T.R. Simons, G.L. Farnsworth, L.L. Bailey, and J.R. Sauer.  2002.  Large scale wildlife monitoring studies: statistical methods for design and analysis.  Environmetrics 13: 105-119.
Shriner, S.A., and T.R. Simons.  2002.  Modeling habitat associations of breeding birds in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  Chapter 47 In: Predicting Species Occurrences: Issues of Scale and Accuracy (J.M. Scott et al. eds.).  Island Press.
Pearson, S.M., and T.R. Simons.  2002.  Spatial analysis of stopover habitats of Neotropical migratory birds.  Chapter 52 In: Predicting Species Occurrences: Issues of Scale and Accuracy (J.M. Scott et al. eds.).  Island Press.
Farnsworth, G.L. and T.R. Simons.  2001.  How many baskets?  Clutch sizes that maximize annual fecundity of multiple- brooded birds.  The Auk 118: 973-982.
Davis, M.B., T.R. Simons, M.J. Groom, J.L. Weaver, and J.R. Cordes.  2001.  American Oystercatcher Reproductive Success on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, and Status of Atlantic Coast and Florida Populations.  Waterbirds 24:195-202.
Hyde, E.J. and T.R. Simons.  2001.  Sampling Plethodontid salamanders: sources of variability.  Journal of Wildlife Management 65:624-632.
Simons, T.R., G.L. Farnsworth, and S.A. Shriner.  2000.  Evaluating Great Smoky Mountains National Park as a population source for the Wood Thrush.  Conservation Biology 14:1133-1144.
Simons, T.R., S.A. Pearson, and F.R. Moore.  2000.  Application of spatial models to the stopover ecology of trans-Gulf migrants.  Studies in Avian Biology 20:4-14.
Farnsworth, G.L. and T.R. Simons.  2000.  Observation of Wood Thrush nest predators in a large contiguous forest.  Wilson Bulletin 112:82-87.
Farnsworth, G.L., K.C. Weeks, and T.R. Simons.  2000.  Validating the assumptions of the Mayfield Method.  Journal of Field Ornithology 71:658-664.
Farnsworth, G.L. and T.R. Simons.  1999.  Factors affecting nesting success of Wood Thrushes in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.The Auk 116: 1075-1082.
Simons, T.R., S.K. Sherrod, M.W. Collopy, and M.A. Jenkins.  1998.  Restoring the Bald Eagle.  Chapter 23 In: Exploring Ecology and Its Applications (P.M. Kareiva ed.).  Sigma Xi, Research Triangle Park, NC.
Simons, T.R. and C.N. Hodges.  1998.  The Dark-rumped Petrel (Pterdroma phaeopygia).  The Birds of North America, No. 345 (A. Poole, and F. Gill, Eds.). The Birds of North America Inc., Philadelphia, PA.

Simons, T.R., K.N. Rabenold, D.A. Buehler, J. Collazo, and K.E. Franzreb.  1998.  The role of indicator species: Neotropical migratory song birds.  Chapter 9, pp. 187 - 208 In: Ecosystem management for sustainability: principles and practices illustrated by the Southern Appalachian Man and Biosphere Cooperative (J. Peine, ed.).  CRC Press.

Moore, F. R., S. A. Gauthreaux, Jr., P. Kerlinger, and T. R. Simons.  1995.  Habitat requirements during migration: Important link in conservation. In: Ecology and Management of Neotropical Migratory Birds: A Synthesis and Review of Critical Issues (T. E. Martin and D. M. Finch, Eds.). Oxford University Press.

Moore, F.R., and T.R. Simons.  1992.  Habitat suitability and the stopover ecology of Neotropical passerine migrants. In: Ecology and Conservation of Neotropical Migrant Landbirds (D. Johnston et al. Eds.) Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C.

Holler, N.R., D.W. Mason, R.M. Dawson, T.R. Simons, and M.C. Wooten.  1989.  Re-establishment of the Perdido Key beach mouse (Peromyscus polionotus trissyllepsis) on Gulf Islands National Seashore.  Conservation Biology 3:397-404.

Simons, T.R. and C.W. Whittow.  1989.  A seabird in the house of the sun.  Natural History, March 1989:50-53.