Tad Theimer and the Theimer Lab Group

Bruce Hungate and Tad Theimer as Charles Darwin and Abraham Lincoln February 2009

in "Abraham and Charles" a play celebrating the 200th anniversary of the birth of these two iconic figures.

Courses

BIO478 Wildlife Management

BIO528 Mammalogy

BIO223 Vertebrate Biology

BIO527 Ornithology

BIO300 Vertebrate Museum Techniques

Research

I study behavior and ecology of vertebrates, mainly birds and mammals, though reptiles and amphibians sneak in occasionally. Currently my students and I are involved in several collaborative projects, including studies of southwestern willow flycatchers (in collaboration with USGS and SWCA), yellow-billed cuckoos (in collaboration with USGS), and elk and antelope interactions with highways (in collaboration with AZGFD), among others.

Selected Publications

Theimer, T. C. and C. A. Gehring. 2008. Variation in tree seedling and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal spore responses to the exclusion of terrestrial vertebrates: implications for how vertebrates structure tropical communities In W Carson and S. Schnitzer, eds. Tropical Forest Community Ecology. Blackwell Publ pp 294-307

Theimer, T. C. and C. A. Gehring. 2007. Incorporating mycorrhizas into the seed dispersal paradigm. In: Frugivory and Seed Dispersal in a Changing World. A. Dennis, R. Green, D. Westcott and E. Schupp, eds. CABI Press.pp 463-478

Theimer, T.C. 2005. Rodent seed dispersers as conditional mutualists. Pp. 283-296 In: Seed Fate, P.-M. Forget, J. E. Lambert, P. E. Hulme and S. B. Vander Wall, eds, CABI Press.  PDF

Connell, J. H., I. Debski, C. A. Gehring, L. Goldwasser, P. T. Green, K. E. Harms, P. Juniper, and T. C. Theimer. 2004. Dynamics of seedling recruitment in an Australian tropical rainforest. Pages 486-506 in E. Bermingham, C. W. Dick, and C. Moritz (eds). Tropical Rain Forests: Past, Present and Future, University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London.

Theimer, T. C. 2004. Nocturnal rodent diversity and abundance in pinyon-juniper woodlands on contrasting soil types. In The Colorado Plateau, Cultural, Biological and Physical Research, C. Van Riper and K Cole, eds. University of Arizona Press, Tucson

Theimer, T.C. 2003. Intraspecific variation in seed size affects scatterhoarding behaviour of an Australian tropical rain forest rodent. JOURNAL OF TROPICAL ECOLOGY 19:95- 98.   PDF

Gehring, C. A., J. Wolff and T. C. Theimer. 2002. Terrestrial vertebrates increase fungal spore abundance and diversity and the mycorrhizal innoculum potential of a rainforest soil. ECOLOGY LETTERS 5:1-9.  PDF

Theimer, T.C. 2001. Seed scatterhoarding by white-tailed rats: consequences for seedling recruitment by an Australian rain forest tree. JOURNAL OF TROPICAL ECOLOGY 17:177-189.

Theimer, T. C. and C.A. Gehring. 1999. Effects of a litter-disturbing bird on tree seedling germination and survival in an Australian tropical rain forest. JOURNAL OF TROPICAL ECOLOGY 15:737-749.  PDF

Theimer, T.C. and P. Keim. 1998. Phylogenetic relationships of the peccaries based on cytochrome b DNA sequences. JOURNAL OF MAMMALOGY. 79:566-572.

Theimer, T.C. and P. Keim. 1994. Geographic patterns of mtDNA variation in Arizona collared peccaries. JOURNAL OF MAMMALOGY 75:121-128.   PDF

Deban, S. M., J.C. O’Reilly and T.C. Theimer. 1994. Mechanism of defensive inflation in the chuckwalla, Sauromalus obesus. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL ZOOLOGY 270.:451-459

Theimer, T.C. and G.C. Bateman. 1992. Patterns of prickly-pear herbivory by wild collared peccaries. JOURNAL OF WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT 56:234-240.

Rogers, C.M., T.C. Theimer, V. Nolan, Jr. and E.D. Ketterson. 1989. Does dominance determine how far Dark-eyed Juncos, Junco hyemalis, migrate into their winter range? ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR 37:498-506.  PDF

Theimer, T.C. 1987. The effect of seed dispersion on the foraging success of dominant and subordinate Dark-eyed Juncos. ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR. 35:1883-1890.

Co-authored with Graduate Students

Weissinger, M. L., T. C. Theimer, D. L. Bergman and T. J. Deliberto. 2009. Nightly and seasonal movements, seasonal home range and focal location photo-monitoring of urban striped skunks (Mephitis mephitis): implications for rabies transmission. J WILDLIFE DISEASES 45: 388-397  PDF

Nowak, E. M., T. C. Theimer and G.W. Schuett. 2008. Functional and numerical responses of predators: where do vipers fit in the traditional paradigms? BIOLOGICAL REVIEWS 83:601-620   PDF

Durst, S. L., T. C. Theimer, E. H. Paxton, and M. K. Sogge. 2008. Age, habitat, and yearly variation in the diet of a generalist insectivore, the SouthwesternWillow Flycatcher. CONDOR 110:514-525.  PDF

Durst, S. L., T. C. Theimer, E. H. Paxton, and M. K. Sogge. 2008. Temporal variation in the arthropod community of desert riparian habitats with varying amounts of saltcedar (Tamarix ramosissima.) J. ARID ENVIRONMENTS 72:1644-1653.  PDF

Gagnon, J. W., T.C. Theimer, N. L. Dodd, and R. E. Schweinsberg. (2007) Effects of traffic volume on elk distribution and highway crossings in Arizona. J. WILDL. MANAGE. 71:2318-2323  PDF

Gagnon, J. W., T.C. Theimer, N. L. Dodd, A. L. Manzo and R. E. Schweinsberg. (2007) Effects of traffic volume on elk use of wildlife underpasses in Arizona. J. WILDL. MANAGE.71:2324-2328.  PDF

Paxton, K. A, C. van Riper III, T. C. Theimer, and E. H. Paxton. 2007. Spatial and temporal migration patterns of Wilson’s Warbler in the southwestern United States revealed by stable isotopes. AUK 124:162-175  PDF

Covert, K. A., W. M. Block and T. C. Theimer. 2007. Hairy woodpecker winter roost characteristics in burned ponderosa pine forest WILSON JOURNAL OF ORNITHOLOGY 119: 43-52.   PDF

Pearson, T, M. J. Whitfield, T. C. Theimer and P. Keim. 2006. Polygyny and extra-pair paternity in a population of Southwest Willow Flycatchers. CONDOR 108:571-578.  PDF

Tuttle, S. R., C. L. Chambers, and T.C. Theimer. 2006. Effects of modified livestock water troughs on bat use in northern Arizona. WILDLIFE SOCIETY BULLETIN 34:602-608.  PDF

Covert, K. A., W. M. Block and T. C. Theimer. 2006. Effects of wildfire age and severity on hairy woodpecker winter ecology. JOURNAL OF WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT 70:1379-1392.  PDF

Pearson, K. M. & T.C. Theimer. 2004. Seed caching and pilfering by two species of Peromyscus: implications for pinyon pine establishment. OECOLOGIA 141:76-83.  PDF

Mock, K. E., T. C. Theimer, O.E. Rhodes, Jr., D.L. Greenberg and P. Keim. 2002. Genetic variation across the historical range of the wild turkey. MOLECULAR ECOLOGY 11:643-657.  PDF

Mock, K. E., T.C. Theimer, B. F. Wakeling, O.E. Rhodes, Jr., D.L. Greenberg and P. Keim. 2001. Verifying the origins of a reintroduced population of Gould’s wild turkey. JOURNAL OF WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT 65:871-879.

Co-authored with Undergraduate Students

Martin, S. L., Theimer, T. C. and P. Z. Fule’. 2006. Ponderosa pine restoration and turkey roost site use in northern Arizona. WILDLIFE SOCIETY BULLETIN  PDF

Loeser, M. R., S. D. Mezulis, T. D. Sisk, and T. C. Theimer. 2005. Five years of cattle removal has little effect on forb abundance or hiding over for pronghorn in northern Arizona. RANGELAND ECOL. MANAGE. 58:234-238.  PDF

Davis, J. R. and T. C. Theimer. 2003. Increased lesser earless lizard abundance on Gunnison’s prairie dog colonies and short term response to artificial prairie dog burrows. AMERICAN MIDLAND NATURALIST: 150:282-290.  PDF