John F. Weishampel

Professor of Biology
Department of Biology
University of Central Florida
Orlando, FL 32816-2368

Office - Room 102B Biological Sciences (Office Hours)
Phone - (407) - 823-6634
Fax - (407) - 823-5769

My primary research interest is in the field of landscape ecology, i.e., how landscape pattern influences ecological processes and biodiversity. Using simulation models coupled with field observations, I explore how the interplay between abiotic conditions (e.g., habitat structure, natural and anthropogenic disturbance regimes) and biotic processes (e.g., competition, dispersal, growth, succession) governs the behavior of plants and animals at landscape scales. One emphasis of my research is to use models, interfaced with remote sensing (from satellite and airborne instruments) and geographic information systems (GIS), to explore spatial properties of ecological systems to better understand compositional, structural, and functional biodiversity in terrestrial, freshwater, and marine systems. I was a member of NASA's Earth System Science Pathfinder Vegetation Canopy Lidar (VCL) science team.

1994 NRC Research Associate, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Biospheric Sciences Branch, Greenbelt, MD. Worked with the Forest Ecosystem Dynamics (FED) and laser altimeter (SLICER) groups.

1994 Ph.D. Environmental Sciences, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA. Dissertation Title: Spatial dynamics of primary forest succession: Modeling the Glacier Bay "chronosequence"

1990 M.S. Environmental Sciences, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA. Thesis Title: Landscape ecology and phenotypic diversity of the tropical scolopendrid Rhysida nuda.

1985 B.S. Biology, Duke University, Durham, NC. Student exchange with Darwin College, University of Kent, Canterbury, England.

Hannan, L. B., J. D. Roth, L. M. Ehrhart, and J. F. Weishampel. 2007. Dune vegetation fertilization by nesting sea turtles. Ecology 88: 1053-1058.

Weishampel, J. F., J. B. Drake, A. Cooper, J. B. Blair, and M. Hofton. 2007. Forest canopy recovery from the 1938 hurricane and subsequent salvage damage measured with airborne LiDAR. Remote Sensing of Environment 190: 142-153.

Weishampel, J. F., D. A. Bagley, and L. M. Ehrhart. 2006. Intra-annual loggerhead and green turtle spatial nesting patterns. Southeastern Naturalist 5: 453-462.

Kirkpatrick, L. and J. F. Weishampel. 2005. Quantifying spatial structure of volumetric neutral models. Ecological Modelling 186: 312-325.

Weishampel, J. F., D. A. Bagley, and L. M. Ehrhart. 2004. Earlier nesting by loggerhead sea turtles following sea surface warming. Global Change Biology 10: 1425-1428.

Husk, G. J., J. F. Weishampel, and W. H. Schlesinger. 2004. Mineral dynamics in Spanish moss, Tillandsia usneoides L. (Bromeliaceae) from Central Florida, USA. The Science of the Total Environment 321: 165-172.

Boutet, J.C. and J. F. Weishampel. 2003. Spatial pattern analysis of pre- and post-hurricane forest canopy structure. Landscape Ecology 18: 553-559.

Weishampel, J. F., D. A. Bagley, L. M. Ehrhart, and B. L. Rodenbeck. 2003. Spatiotemporal patterns of annual sea turtle nesting behaviors along an East Central Florida beach. Biological Conservation 110: 295-303.

Drake, J. B., R. O. Dubayah, D. B. Clark, R. G. Knox, J. B. Blair, M. A. Hofton, R. L. Chazdon, J. F. Weishampel, and S. Prince. 2002. Estimation of tropical forest structural characteristics using large-footprint lidar. Remote Sensing of Environment 79: 305-319.

Drake, J. B. and J. F. Weishampel. 2001. Simulating vertical and horizontal multifractal patterns of a longleaf pine savanna. Ecological Modelling 145: 129-142.

Weishampel, J. F., J. R. Godin, and G. M. Henebry. 2001. Pantropical dynamics of 'intact' rain forest canopy texture. Global Ecology and Biogeography 10: 389-398.

Ranson K. J. , G. Sun, R. G. Knox, E. R. Levine, J. F. Weishampel, and S. T. Fifer. 2001. Northern forest ecosystem dynamics using coupled models and remote sensing. Remote Sensing of Environment 75: 291-302.

Drake, J. B. and J. F. Weishampel. 2000. Multifractal analysis of canopy height measures in a longleaf pine savanna. Forest Ecology and Management 128: 121-127.

Weishampel, J. F., J. B. Blair, R. Dubayah, D. B. Clark, and R. G. Knox. 2000. Canopy topography of an old-growth tropical rainforest landscape. Selbyana 21: 79-87.

Weishampel, J. F., J. B. Blair, R. G. Knox, R. Dubayah, and D. B. Clark. 2000. Volumetric lidar return patterns from an old-growth tropical rainforest canopy. International Journal of Remote Sensing 21: 409-415.

Yeakley, J. A. and J. F. Weishampel. 2000. Multiple source pools and dispersal barriers for Galapagos plant species distribution. Ecology 81: 893-898.

Weishampel, J. F., R. G. Knox, and E. R. Levine. 1999. Soil saturation effects on forest dynamics: scaling across a southern boreal/northern hardwood landscape. Landscape Ecology 14: 121-135.

Weishampel, J. F., J. H. Sloan, J. C. Boutet, Jr., and J. R. Godin. 1998. Mesoscale changes in textural pattern of 'intact' Peruvian rainforests (1970s-1980s). International Journal of Remote Sensing 19: 1007-1014.

Weishampel, J. F., H. H. Shugart, and W. E. Westman. 1997. Phenetics of fragmented centipede populations. Pages 111-123. In: Tropical forest remnants: ecology, management, and conservation of fragmented communities. W. F. Laurance and R. O. Bierregaard, (eds.) University of Chicago Press, Chicago.

Weishampel, J. F., R. G. Knox, K. J. Ranson, D. L. Williams, and J. A. Smith. 1997. Integrating remotely sensed spatial heterogeneity with 3-D forest succession models. Pages 109-133. In: The use of remote sensing in modeling forest productivity at scales from the stand to the globe. H. L. Gholz, K. Nakane, and H. Shimoda (eds.) Kluwer Academic Publishers, Boston.

Ranson, K. J., G. Sun, J. F. Weishampel, and R. G. Knox. 1997. Forest biomass from combined ecosystem and radar backscatter modeling. Remote Sensing of Environment 59: 118-133.

Weishampel, J. F., K. J. Ranson, and D. Harding. 1996. Remote sensing of forest canopies. Selbyana 7: 6-14.

Weishampel, J. F. and D. L. Urban. 1996. Linking a spatially-explicit gap model with a 3-dimensional solar routine to simulate latitudinal effects. Ecological Modelling 86: 101-111.

Waring, R. H., J. B. Way, R. Hunt, Jr., L. Morrisey, K. J. Ranson, J. F. Weishampel, R. Oren, and S. E. Franklin. 1995. Imaging radar for ecosystem studies. BioScience 45: 715-723.

Weishampel, J. F. and H. H. Shugart. 1995. Calibration of a gap model for the Glacier Bay chronosequence: Exploring multiple successional pathways. Pages 101-110, In: Proceedings of the 3rd Glacier Bay Science Symposium. D. R. Engstrom (ed.), National Park Service, Anchorage, Alaska.

Shao, G., P. Schall, and J. F. Weishampel. 1994. Dynamic simulations and analyses of mixed broadleaved-Pinus koraiensis forests in the Changbaishan Biosphere Reserve of China. Forest Ecology and Management 70: 169-181.

Weishampel, J. F., G. Sun, K. J. Ranson, K. D. LeJeune, and H. H. Shugart. 1994. Forest textural properties from simulated microwave backscatter: The influence of spatial resolution. Remote Sensing of Environment 47: 120-131.

Weishampel, J. F., D. L. Urban, H. H. Shugart, and J. B. Smith, Jr. 1992. Semivariograms from a forest transect gap model compared with remotely sensed data. Journal of Vegetation Science 3: 521-526.

Smith, T. M., J. F. Weishampel, G. B. Bonan, and H. H. Shugart.1992. The response of terrestrial carbon storage to climate change: Modeling carbon dynamics at varying temporal and spatial scales. Water, Air, and Soil Pollution 64: 307-326.

Weishampel, J. F. 1990. Maintaining genetic variation in a one-way, two island model. Journal of Wildlife Management 54: 676-682.

Lajtha, K., J. Weishampel, and W. H. Schlesinger. 1987. Phosphorus and pH tolerances in the germination of the desert shrub Larrea tridentata (Zygophyllaceae). Madroño 34: 63-68.