WELCOME TO THE

EEC GROUP

LEVERHULME TRUST GRANT

Dec 2019

Happy to announce the group has been awarded a Leverhulme Trust grant to study the effects of multiple stressors on global vertebrate populations. This will employ a post-doctoral researcher for 2 years from 2020 onwards. Keep an eye out for the advert!

WHAT WE DO

The experimental ecology & conservation group focusses on synthesising information from mathematical models, small-scale experimental systems, and long-term wild population data to learn more about the world around us, and in particular help make decisions about how to best preserve biodiversity into the future.

NOVEL TECHNIQUES

A specific focus is on developing new, exciting, and useful techniques to make the experimental systems we work with more realistic reflections of the world around us.

ITS ALL ABOUT THE BIG PICTURE

But our focus is always on how we can learn more about the natural world without having to carry out invasive or damaging experiments in the field.

EARLY WARNING SIGNALS

Predicting the fate of biological systems is critical in the light of continued global change, especially in the field of conservation biology where at risk populations must be prioritised to make the most of limited resources. A long running interest of this group is developing warning signals of approach population, community, and ecosystem collapse based on temporal patterns in abundance, trait, and spatial data.

EXPERIMENTALLY TESTING CONSERVATION THEORY

Designing optimal conservation strategies is key in the face of limited funding and ever increasing anthropogenic stresses. A central theme to the group is using experimental systems to test and develop conservation theory.

MANAGED RELOCATIONS

As climate changes species are increasingly at risk of extinction as they fail to move fast enough to stay within their ecological niche. One radical option is to relocate them outside of their historic range to ensure their medium to long term survival. We are interested in how and when such moves should be undertaken, and how a move will affect the resident communities.

THE EFFECTS OF MULTIPLE STRESSORS

The effects of multiple stressors (e.g. including habitat loss, pollution, over harvesting, climatic change, and the introduction of invasive species) on global biodiversity is a continued concern. We are interested in the possible interactive effects of these stressors, and how this may affect populations and communities.

RESILIENCE AND RECOVERY IN FISHERIES

Fisheries are one of the most economic and ecologically important ecosystems on earth. However the vast majority are in a state of significant degradation. We are interested in how such systems might recovery, and the pathways they might take doing so, and how these pathways affect community structure and function.

DR CHRIS CLEMENTS

Group leader

I did my Ph.D. University of Sheffield, UK,  spent time as a post doc at the University of Zürich and University of Melbourne. My interests centre on the extinction of species and collapse of populations, topics which I investigate using a combination of mathematical models, microcosm experiments, and analysis of real world population data.

My current work focuses on developing and testing early warning signals of population collapse, with a view to predicting regime shifts prior to their occurrence. 

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Brief CV

2018 onwards - Lecturer, University of Bristol

2017 to 2018 – SNSF fellow, the University of Melbourne​

2014 to 2017 – Postdoc, the University of Zürich

2010 to 2014 – Ph.D. student, University of Sheffield 

2007-2010 - BSc Ecology, University of Sheffield

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Google scholar profile

DONGBO LI

PhD student (University of Bristol)

My previous research was based on the effect of experimental warming on insect community in Tibetan plateau.  Now I am studying the efficiency of wildlife corridors in theory and in practice. I am interested the role of corridors in determining the population growth and stability in microcosm networks and under field conditions, testing whether changing the quality and quantity of corridors can influence population dispersal ability and enhance ecosystem functions. My research would have a better understanding of the importance of wildlife corridors in fragmented habitats.

Co-supervised with Prof. Jane Memmott.

NICOLA NOVIELLO

PhD student (University of Bristol)

My previous research has utilised imperfect citizen science data within ecological niche models for Angelsharks in the Canary Islands; identifying seasonal and sex-differentiated migration patterns and advising on the collection of non-specialist data within ecological modelling.
My current interests focus on using global time-series data to assess the effects of multiple stressor interactions on global vertebrate population trends, with metadata on anthropogenic threats used to identify correlations with species’ IUCN Red List status, life history traits and impacts on wild populations between ecological realms. It is hoped that this research will identify particularly harmful stressor interactions and thus inform areas for large-scale conservation prioritisation across the chordate phylum.

NATHAN WILLIAMS

Masters student

I am interested in the use of long-term wild population records in conjunction with other databases concerning climate and life histories, to analyse the aggregate and emergent traits that influence relative vulnerability of species to anthropogenic stressors including climate change, habitat loss, pollution, over harvesting and the introduction of invasive species. Also of interest is the relative importance of each stressor and potentially how synergistic interactions are contributing to the sixth mass extinction. The aim of the research is to inform policy makers, allowing them to develop, prioritise and deliver effective conservation strategies.

ELLIE WOLFE

Masters student

My research interests focus on the importance of land management practices for species conservation on a multi-species level. During my undergraduate studies I created a spatially explicit model using NetLogo to investigate the effects of habitat fragmentation and wildlife corridors on predator-prey population dynamics. My future research will involve using microcosm experiments to investigate the SLOSS debate, in particular whether species dispersal between patches affects what the best land-management practice is, and how our inability to detect species in heterogeneous environments might alter our decision-making process.

AVAILABLE POSITIONS

We are always looking for enthusiastic members to join the group, from masters students to post docs. If positions are available then then will be listed below. Please feel free to contact us any time if you are interested in being a part of our team.