Dr. Mike Wimberly of SDSU is a spatial ecologist with a primary research emphasis on the development and application of geospatial models and analysis techniques. He is particularly interested in developing tools and methodologies that can be used to address public health and natural resource management issues. Dr. Wimberly is currently the principal investigator on an NIH-funded grant that is applying regional land cover and climate databases along with novel spatial modeling techniques to map the causal agents of two emerging tickborne zoonoses. These maps will facilitate improved disease surveillance, and the underlying models will provide information on links between these diseases and global change.

His research also addressed the use of remotely sensed data and geospatial models in forest ecosystem assessments. Current work includes developing and testing predictive spatial models of tree species, fuels, and other forest ecosystem characteristics. He is also developing a regional model of land-cover dynamics that incorporates fire occurrences, vegetation responses, climate change, and fuel management treatments. Dr. Wimberly received a Ph.D. in ecology from Oregon State University, a M.S. in quantitative resource management from the University of Washington, and a B.S. in environmental science from the University of Virginia.

Selected Publications:

Wimberly, M. C. In Press. Species dynamics in disturbed landscapes: when does a shifting habitat mosaic enhance connectivity? Landscape Ecology

Reilly, M. J., M. C. Wimberly, and C. L. Newell. In Press. Wildfire effects on plant species richness at multiple spatial scales in forest communities of the southern Appalachians. Journal of Ecology.

Yabsley, M. J., M. C. Wimberly, D. E. Stallknecht, S. E. Little, and W. R. Davidson. 2005. Spatial analysis of the distribution of Ehrlichia chaffeensis, causative agent of human monocytotropic enrlichiosis, across a multi-state region. American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 72: 840-850.

Wimberly, M. C., and J. L. Ohmann. 2004. A multi-scale assessment of human and environmental constraints on forest land cover change on the Oregon (USA) Coast Range. Landscape Ecology 19: 631-646.

Wimberly, M. C. 2004. Fire and forest landscapes in the Georgia Piedmont: An assessment of spatial modeling assumptions. Ecological Modelling 180: 41-56.

Wimberly, M. C. 2002. Spatial simulation of historical landscape patterns in coastal forests of the Pacific Northwest. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 32: 1316-1328.

Wimberly, M. C., and T. A. Spies. 2002. Landscape- vs. gap-scale controls on the abundance of a fire-sensitive, late-successional tree species. Ecosystems 5: 232-243.

Wimberly, M. C., and T. A. Spies. 2001. Influences of environment and disturbance on forest patterns in coastal Oregon watersheds. Ecology 82: 1443-1459.

Wimberly, M. C., Spies, T. A., Long, C. J., and C. Whitlock. 2000. Simulating Historical Variability in the Amount of Old Forests in the Oregon Coast Range. Conservation Biology 14: 167-180.

Fig. 2. Canopy fuel loadings for the Sierra Nevada derived from a Gradient Nearest-Neighbor (GNN) model that integrates forest inventory plots, Landsat imagery, and GIS data layers. Areas with higher canopy bulk density have a higher hazard of active crown fire.

Fig. 3. Wind-driven fire patterns generated by the LaDS (Landscape Dynamics Simulator) model. This model simulates the effects of fire on vegetation dynamics as well as the effects of fuels and environmental heterogeneity on fire spread and effects.