Stephen G. Willis
My principal area of research interest is conservation biology, with a particular focus on topics such as: the impacts of climate change on species, the role of protected areas in conservation planning, projecting changing ranges and population dynamics of species, and the impact of human-induced landscape changes on species. I am also interested in impacts of biodiversity on people, and have interests in ecosystem service provision by biodiversity, especially cultural service provisioning such as nature-based tourism. My research interests are broad: spatially, taxonomically and fundamentally. Whilst fundamentally research-driven, my collaborative links with NGOs ensure wide applicability and dissemination. With climate change impacts and biodiversity conservation becoming ever more important, alongside related humanitarian factors such as ecosystem service provision, poverty alleviation, living with environmental change and food security, such research is likely to become increasingly relevant. Position: Reader in the Department of Biosciences
Membership: Co-ordinator for the Adaptation and Environment Research Group, Member of the Institute of Hazard, Risk and Resilience, Behaviour, Ecology and Evolution Research (BEER) Centre, Member of the Durham Energy Institute Associate Editor for Journal of Applied Ecology Contact Details: Department of Biosciences, Contact Details: University of Durham, South Road, Durham, DH1 3LE. Contact Details: Phone: +44 (0)191 334 1379 Contact Details: Email: [email protected] Education
PhD (2000) Factors affecting the distribution of three non-indigenous riparian weeds in North-east England. Durham University. MSc (1996) Advanced Ecology, with project: Changes in the composition and distribution of the vegetation of Widdybank Fell, Upper Teesdale National Nature Reserve. Durham University. BSc (1994) Ecology, with project: The colonisation of newly excavated ponds in a reedbed nature reserve. Lancaster University. |
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Supervises
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Current Group
Dr Christine Howard Dominic Harmer (PhD) Kieran Lawrence (PhD) Sarah Beatham (PhD) Marie Dale (PhD) David Jarrett (PhD) Tom Smart (PhD) Elizabeth Gillie (PhD) Adam Fell (PhD) Rachel Dobson (PhD) Lucy Eberhart (MScR) |
Current and Recent Visiting & Voluntary Researchers:
Andrew Rogers (now at UQ) Matthew Hethcoat (South African ecology) Tom Bregman (Oxford) Ibrahim Alfarwi (Newcastle) Mike Ko (birdsong and biodiversity perception) Joe Ross (evaluating the dawn chorus) Staff Alumni: Dr Dave Hole, Conservation International Dr Robi Bagchi, ETH, Zurich Dr David Baker, University of Exter Dr Yvonne Collingham Dr Alke Voskamp , Senckenberg Biodiversity & Climate Research Centre Dr Tom Mason, Natural England Dr Stuart Brooker, Essex Wildlife Trust |
Student Alumni:
Mark Titley, PhD, 2022 Harriet Newhouse, MSc (R) Lucy Gardner, MSc (R) Melissa Dawson MSc (R) Nicolas Fuentes PhD, 2021 Stuart Brooker PhD, 2020 Claire Branston PhD Teegan Docherty PhD Michelle Gibson PhD Naiara O’Mahony PhD, 2016 Christine Howard PhD, 2016 Georgina Palmer, PhD, 2014 Jamie Alison, MSc(R), 2014 Bethan Hindle, MSc(R), 2014 Tom Mason, PhD, 2013 Miranda Davis, PhD, 2013 Louis Phipps, MRes (Pretoria), 2013 David Ochanda, MRes (Kampala), 2013 Charlotte Bellamy, MSc(R), 2012 Chantelle Kerr, MSc(R), 2012 Julia Crabbe, MSc(R), 2012 Nathalie Doswald, PhD, 2009 George Frater, MSc(R) 2009 Georgina Palmer, MSc(R), 2008 |
Publications
Voskamp, A., Hof, C., Biber, M.F., Böhning-Gaese, K., Hickler, T., Niamir, A., Willis, S.G. & Fritz, S.A. (2022) Projected climate change impacts on the phylogenetic diversity of the world's terrestrial birds: more than species numbers. Proceedings B 289, https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2021.2184.
Pearce-Higgins, J.W., Antão, L.H., Bates, R.E., Bowgen, K.M., Bradshaw, C.D., Duffield, S.J., Ffoulkes, C., Franco, A.M.A., Geschke, J., Gregory, R.D., Harley, M.J., Hodgson, J.A., Jenkins, R.L.M., Kapos, V., Maltby, K.M., Watts, O., Willis, S.G. & Morecroft, M.D. (2022) A framework for climate change adaptation indicators for the natural environment. Ecological Indicators 136, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2022.108690.
Gibson, M.R., Runge, C.A., Stephens, P.A., Fuller, R.A. & Willis, S.G. (2022) Where nothing stands still: quantifying nomadism in Australian arid-zone birds. Landscape Ecology 37, 191-208. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-021-01343-2
Lawrence, K.B., Barlow, C.R., Bensusan, K., Perez, C. & Willis S.G. (2022) Phenological trends in the pre‐and post‐breeding migration of long‐distance migratory birds. Global Change Biology 28, 375-389. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15916
Stewart, P.S., Voskamp, A., Santini, L., Biber, M.F., Devenish, A.J.M., Hof, C., Willis, S.G., and Tobias, J.T., (2022) Global impacts of climate change on avian functional diversity. Ecology Letters, 25, 673– 685. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13830
Titley, M.A., Butchart, S.H.M., Jones, V.R., Whittingham, M.J., Willis, S.G., (2021) Global inequities and political borders challenge nature conservation under climate change, PNAS , 118 (7) e2011204118; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2011204118
Mason, T.H., Stephens, P.A., Gilbert, G., Green, R.E., Wilson, J.D., Jennings, K., Allen, J.R., Huntley, B., Howard, C. and Willis, S.G., (2021). Using indices of species’ potential range to inform conservation status. Ecological Indicators, 123, p.107343.
Howard, C., Stephens, P.A., Pearce-Higgins, J.W., Gregory, R.D, Butchart, S.H.M., & Willis, S.G. (2020) Disentangling the relative roles of climate and land cover change in driving the long-term population trends of European migratory birds. Diversity and Distributions 00, 1-14
Brooker, S.A., Stephens, P.A., Whittingham, M.J. & Willis, S.G. (2020) Automated detection and classification of birdsong: an ensemble approach. Ecological Indicators 117, 106609
Docherty, T., Hethcoat, M., MacTavish, L., MacTavish, D., Dell, S., Stephens, P.A. & Willis, S.G. (2020) Burning savanna for avian species richness and functional diversity. Ecological Applications. https://doi.org/10.1002/eap.2091
Mason, L. R., Green, R. E., Howard, C., Stephens, P. A., Willis, S. G., Aunins, A., … Gregory, R. D. (2019) Population responses of bird populations to climate change on two continents vary with species’ ecological traits but not with direction of change in climate suitability. Climatic Change. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-019-02549-9
Littlewood, N. A., Mason, T. H. E., Hughes, M., Jaques, R., Whittingham, M. J., & Willis, S. G. (2019) The influence of different aspects of grouse moorland management on nontarget bird assemblages. Ecology and Evolution, 9(19), 11089–11101. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.5613
Bradfer-Lawrence, T., Gardner, N., Bunnefeld, L., Bunnefeld, N., Willis, S. G., & Dent, D. H. (2019) Guidelines for the use of acoustic indices in environmental research. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 10(10), 1796–1807. https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210X.13254
Stephens, P.A., Vieira, M.V., Willis, S.G. & Carbone, C. (2019) The limits to population density in birds and mammals. Ecology Letters doi: 10.1111/ele.13227
Hof, C., Voskamp, A., Biber, M. F., Böhning-Gaese, K., Engelhardt, E. K., Niamir, A., Willis, S.G., & Hickler, T. (2018). Bioenergy cropland expansion may offset positive effects of climate change mitigation for global vertebrate diversity. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 115(52), 13294 LP – 13299. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1807745115
Burgess, M.D., Smith, K.W., Leech, D., Pearce-Higgins, J.W., Branston, C.J., Briggs, K., Clark, J.R., Evans, K.L., du Feu, C.R., Nager, R., Sheldon, B.C., Smith, J., Whytock, R.C., Willis, S.G. and Phillimore, A.B. (2018) Tritrophic phenological match-mismatch in space and time. Nature Ecology and Evolution.
Howard, C., Stephens, P. A., Tobias, J. A., Sheard, C., Butchart, S. H., & Willis, S. G. (2018) Flight range, fuel load and the impact of climate change on the journeys of migrant birds. Proc. R. Soc. B 285(1873), 20172329.
Voskamp, A., Baker, D.J., Stephens, P.A., Valdes, P. & Willis, S.G. (2017) Global patterns in the divergence between phylogenetic diversity and species richness in terrestrial birds. Journal of Biogeography. DOI: 10.1111/jbi.12916
Bagchi, R., Hole, D.G., Butchart, S.H.M., Collingwood, Y.C., Fishpool, L., Plumptre, A., Owiunji, I., Mugabe, H. & Willis, S.G. (2016) Forecasting potential routes for movement of endemic birds among important sites for biodiversity in the Albertine Rift under projected climate change. Ecography
Baker, D.J., Hartley, I., Pearce-Higgins, J., Jones, R. & Willis, S.G. (2016) Neglected issues in using weather and climate information in ecology. Diversity and Distributions
Baker, D. J., Hartley, A. J., Butchart, S. H. M. & Willis, S. G. (2016) Choice of baseline climate data impacts projected species' responses to climate change. Global Change Biology 22, 2392-2404. DOI: 10.1111/gcb.13273
Sanderson, F.J., Pople, R.G., Ieronymidou, C., Burfield, I.J. Gregory, R.D., Willis, S.G., Howard, C., Stephens, P.A., Beresford, A.E. & Donald, P.F. (2016) Assessing the performance of EU nature legislation in protecting target bird species in an era of climate change. Conservation Letters 9, 172–180. DOI: 10.1111/conl.12196.
Stephens, Mason, Green, Gregory, Sauer, Alison, Aunins, Brotons, Butchart, Campedelli, Chodkiewicz, Chylarecki, Crowe, Elts, Escandell, Foppen, Heldbjerg, Herrando, Husby, Jiguet, Lehikoinen, Lindstrom, Noble, Paquet, Reif, Sattler, Szep, Teufelbauer, Trautmann, van Strien, van Turnhout, Vorisek & Willis. (2016) Consistent response of bird populations to climate change on two continents. Science, 2016; 352 (6281): 84-87. DOI: 10.1126/science.aac4858.
Palmer, Stephens, Ward & Willis (2015) Nationwide trophic cascades: changes in avian community structure driven by ungulates. Nature Scientific Reports, 5:15602, doi: 10.1038/srep15601.
Howard, Stephens, Pearce-Higgins, Gregory & Willis (2015) The drivers of avian abundance: patterns in the relative importance of climate and land use. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 24, 1249-1260.1
Baker, Burgess, Butchart, Carr, Hartley, Smith, Belle & Willis (2015) Assessing climate change impacts for vertebrate fauna across the West Africa protected area network using regionally appropriate climate projections. Diversity and Distributions. doi: 10.1111/ddi.12337
Willis, Foden, Baker, Belle, Burgess, Carr, Doswald, Garcia, Hartley, Hof, Newbold, Rahbek, Smith, Visconti, Young, Butchart (2015) Integrating climate change vulnerability assessments from species distribution modelling and traits based approaches. Biological Conservation, 190, 167–178. doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2015.05.001.
Bassi, Willis* et al. (2015) Predicting the spatial distribution of wolf (Canis lupus) breeding areas in a mountainous region of central Italy. PLoS One,10(6): e0124698. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0124698. *Corresponding author
Pacifici, Foden, Visconti, Watson, Butchart, Kovacs, Scheffers, Hole, Martin, Akçakaya, Corlett, Huntley, Bickford, Carr, Hoffmann, Midgley, Pearce-Kelly, Pearson, Williams, Willis, Young & Rondini (2015) Assessing species vulnerability to climate change. Nature Climate Change, 5, 215-224.
Hindle, Kerr, Richards & Willis (2015) Topographical variation reduces phenological mismatch between a butterfly and its nectar source. Journal of Insect Conservation, 19, 227-236.
Mason, Apollonio, Chirichella, Willis & Stephens (2014) Environmental change and long-term body mass declines in an alpine mammal. Frontiers in Zoology. 11:69.
Runge, Martin, Possingham, Willis & Fuller (2014) Conserving mobile species. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. 12: 395-402.
Mason, Stephens, Apollonio & Willis (2014) Predicting potential responses to future climate change in an alpine ungulate: interspecific interactions exceed climate effects. Global Change Biology. 20, 3872–3882. doi: 10.1111/gcb.12641
Howard, Stephens, Pearce-Higgins, Gregory & Willis (2014) Improving species distribution models: the value of data on abundance. Methods in Ecology and Evolution. 5, 506–513.
Collingham, Huntley, Altwegg, Barnard, Beveridge, Gregory, Mason, Oschadleus, Simmons, Willis & Green (2014), Prediction of mean adult survival rates of southern African birds from demographic and ecological covariates. Ibis, 156, 741–754.
Bagchi, Crosby, Huntley, Hole, Collingham, Butchart & Willis (2013) Evaluating the effectiveness of conservation site networks under climate change: accounting for uncertainty. Global Change Biology, 19, 1236–1248.
Phipps, Willis*, Wolter, Naidoo (2013) Foraging ranges of immature African white-backed vultures (Gyps africanus) and their use of protected areas in southern Africa. PLoS One, 8(1), e52813. *Corresponding author.
Mason, Stephens, Willis, Chirichella, Apollonio, Richards (2012) Intra-seasonal variation in reproductive effort: young males finish last. American Naturalist, 180, 180, 6, 823-830.
Davies, Stephens, Willis, Bassi, Marcon, Donaggio, Capitani, Apollonio (2012) Prey selection by an apex predator: the importance of sampling uncertainty. PLoS One, e47894.
Mason, Chirichella, Richards, Stephens, Willis & Apollonio (2011) Contrasting life histories in neighbouring populations of a large mammal. PLoS One 6,
e28002. doi:10:1371/journal.pone.0028002.
Pearce-Higgins, Bradbury, Chamberlain, Drewitt, Langston & Willis (2011) Targeting research to underpin climate change adaptation for birds. Ibis, 152, 207-211.
Hole, Huntley, Arinaitwe, Butchart, Collingham, Fishpool, Pain & Willis (2011) Towards a management framework for key biodiversity networks in the face of climate change. Conservation Biology, 25, 305-315.
Huntley, Hole & Willis (2011) Assessing the effectiveness of a protected area network in the face of climatic change. Book chapter in: Climate Change, Ecology and Systematics. ( Eds. Hodkinson, Jones, Waldren & Parnell). Systematics Association Special Volume Series, Cambridge University
Press.
Willis, Hole & Huntley (2010) Climate change and conservation. Book chapter in: Trade-offs in conservation: Deciding what to save. (Eds Leader-Williams, Adams & Smith). Conservation Science and Practice Series, Blackwell.
Willis, Hill, Thomas, Roy, Fox, Blakeley & Huntley (2009) Assisted colonisation in a changing climate: A test-study using two UK butterflies. Conservation
Letters, 2, 45-51.
Willis, Thomas, Hill, Collingham, Telfer, Fox & Huntley (2009) Dynamic distribution modelling: predicting the present from the past. Ecography, 32, 5-12.
Doswald, Willis*, Collingham, Pain, Green & Huntley (2009) Potential consequences of climate change on the migration of European Sylvia warblers. Journal of Biogeography, 36, 1194-1208. *Corresponding author.
Gregory, Willis*, Jiguet, Pazderova, von Strein, Vorisek, Couvet, Huntley & Green (2009) An indicator of the impact of climate warming on European bird populations. PLoS One, 4, e4678. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0004678.
Hole, Willis*, Pain, Collingham, Rahbek & Huntley (2009) Projected impacts of climate change on a continental-scale protected area network. Ecology Letters, 12, 420-431. *Corresponding author.
Huntley, Green, Collingham & Willis (2008) A climatic atlas of European breeding birds. Lynx Edicions.
Willis, Collingham, Hilton, Rahbek & Huntley (2008) Assessing the impacts of future climate change on protected area networks: A method to simulate individual species responses. Environmental Management, 43, 836-845.
Green, Collingham, Willis, Gregory, Smith & Huntley (2008) Performance of climate envelope models in retrodicting recent changes in bird population sizes from observed climatic data. Biology Letters, 4,599-602.
Huntley, Collingham, Willis & Green (2008) Potential impacts of climatic change on European birds. PLoS One, 4, e4678. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0001439.
Rogers, Randolph, Lindsay & Willis (2008) Vector-borne diseases. Chapter in: Health effects of climate change in the UK. (Eds Department of Health and Health Protection Agency). Crown Publishing.
Font, Nowell, Pearson, Ottley & Willis (2007) Sr isotope analysis of bird feathers by TIMS: a tool to trace bird migration paths and breeding
sites. Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry, 5, 513-522.
Lindsay, Hole, Hutchinson & Willis (2007) Future threat from vivax malaria in the United Kingdom. American Journal of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene, 77,
169-170.
Huntley, Collingham, Green, Hilton, Rahbeck & Willis (2006) Potential impacts of climate change on geographical distributions of birds. Ibis, 148 (Suppl. 1), 8-28.
Menendez, Gonzalez-Megias, Hill, Brascher, Willis, Collingham, Fox, Roy & Thomas (2006) Species richness changes lag behind climate change. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B-Biological Sciences, 273, 1465-1470.
Lindsay & Willis (2006) Predicting future areas suitable for vivax malaria in the United Kingdom. Chapter in: Foresight; Infectious diseases: Preparing for the future. Office of Science and Innovation, London.
Huntley, Green, Collingham, Hill, Willis, Bartlein, Cramer, Hagemeijer & Thomas (2004) The performance of models relating species geographical distributions to climate is independent of trophic level. Ecology Letters, 7, 417-426.
Willis & Hulme (2004) Environmental severity and variation in the reproductive traits of Impatiens glandulifera. Functional Ecology, 18, 887-898.
Overpeck, Whitlock, Huntley, Bartlein, Collingham, Grimm, Webb III, Williams, & Willis (2003) Terrestrial biosphere dynamics in the climate system: past and future. Chapter in: Palaeoclimate, global change and the future (eds. Alverson, Bradley & Pedersen), Springer-Verlag.
Huntley, Baxter, Collingham, Willis & Sykes (2003) Insights on synergies: models and methods. Chapter in: Climate change and biodiversity (eds. Lovejoy & Hannah). Advances in Applied Biodiversity Science No. 4, Yale University Press.
Hill, Thomas, Fox, Telfer, Willis, Asher & Huntley, B (2002) Responses of butterflies to twentieth century climate warming: implications for future ranges. Proceedings of the Royal Society Of London Series B-Biological Sciences, 269, 2163-2171.
Willis & Hulme (2002) Does temperature limit the invasion of Impatiens glandulifera and Heracleum mantegazzianum in the UK? Functional Ecology, 16, 530-539.
Warren, Hill, Thomas, Asher, Fox, Huntley, Roy, Telfer, Jeffcoate, Harding, Jeffcoate, Willis, Greatorex-Davies, Moss & Thomas (2001) Rapid responses of British butterflies to opposing forces of climate and habitat change. Nature, 414, 65-69.
Wadsworth, Collingham, Willis, Huntley, B & Hulme (2000) Simulating the spread and management of alien riparian weeds: are they out of control? Journal of Applied Ecology, 37 (Supp. 1), 28-38.
Hulme, Crawley, Hofgaard, Huntley, Lurtz, O’Connell, Ruston, Schaffner, Sykes, Vila, Watt & Willis (2000) Aliens and outbreaking species in ecosystems. Chapter in: Terrestrial ecosystem research in Europe: successes, challenges and policy (eds. Sutton, Moreno, van der Putten & Struwe). European Commission, Luxembourg.
Huntley, Baxter, Lewthwaite, Willis & Adamson (1998) Vegetation responses to local climatic changes induced by a water-storage reservoir. Global Ecology and Biogeography Letters , 7, 241-257.
Willis, Hulme & Huntley (1997) Habitat suitability and the distribution of alien weeds of riparian ecosystems. Chapter in: Species dispersal and land-use processes (eds. Cooper and Power). IALE (UK).
Wadsworth, Swetnam & Willis (1997) Seeds and sediment: modelling the spread of Impatiens glandulifera. Chapter in: Species dispersal and land-use
processes (eds. Cooper and Power). IALE (UK).
Voskamp, A., Hof, C., Biber, M.F., Böhning-Gaese, K., Hickler, T., Niamir, A., Willis, S.G. & Fritz, S.A. (2022) Projected climate change impacts on the phylogenetic diversity of the world's terrestrial birds: more than species numbers. Proceedings B 289, https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2021.2184.
Pearce-Higgins, J.W., Antão, L.H., Bates, R.E., Bowgen, K.M., Bradshaw, C.D., Duffield, S.J., Ffoulkes, C., Franco, A.M.A., Geschke, J., Gregory, R.D., Harley, M.J., Hodgson, J.A., Jenkins, R.L.M., Kapos, V., Maltby, K.M., Watts, O., Willis, S.G. & Morecroft, M.D. (2022) A framework for climate change adaptation indicators for the natural environment. Ecological Indicators 136, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2022.108690.
Gibson, M.R., Runge, C.A., Stephens, P.A., Fuller, R.A. & Willis, S.G. (2022) Where nothing stands still: quantifying nomadism in Australian arid-zone birds. Landscape Ecology 37, 191-208. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-021-01343-2
Lawrence, K.B., Barlow, C.R., Bensusan, K., Perez, C. & Willis S.G. (2022) Phenological trends in the pre‐and post‐breeding migration of long‐distance migratory birds. Global Change Biology 28, 375-389. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15916
Stewart, P.S., Voskamp, A., Santini, L., Biber, M.F., Devenish, A.J.M., Hof, C., Willis, S.G., and Tobias, J.T., (2022) Global impacts of climate change on avian functional diversity. Ecology Letters, 25, 673– 685. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13830
Titley, M.A., Butchart, S.H.M., Jones, V.R., Whittingham, M.J., Willis, S.G., (2021) Global inequities and political borders challenge nature conservation under climate change, PNAS , 118 (7) e2011204118; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2011204118
Mason, T.H., Stephens, P.A., Gilbert, G., Green, R.E., Wilson, J.D., Jennings, K., Allen, J.R., Huntley, B., Howard, C. and Willis, S.G., (2021). Using indices of species’ potential range to inform conservation status. Ecological Indicators, 123, p.107343.
Howard, C., Stephens, P.A., Pearce-Higgins, J.W., Gregory, R.D, Butchart, S.H.M., & Willis, S.G. (2020) Disentangling the relative roles of climate and land cover change in driving the long-term population trends of European migratory birds. Diversity and Distributions 00, 1-14
Brooker, S.A., Stephens, P.A., Whittingham, M.J. & Willis, S.G. (2020) Automated detection and classification of birdsong: an ensemble approach. Ecological Indicators 117, 106609
Docherty, T., Hethcoat, M., MacTavish, L., MacTavish, D., Dell, S., Stephens, P.A. & Willis, S.G. (2020) Burning savanna for avian species richness and functional diversity. Ecological Applications. https://doi.org/10.1002/eap.2091
Mason, L. R., Green, R. E., Howard, C., Stephens, P. A., Willis, S. G., Aunins, A., … Gregory, R. D. (2019) Population responses of bird populations to climate change on two continents vary with species’ ecological traits but not with direction of change in climate suitability. Climatic Change. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-019-02549-9
Littlewood, N. A., Mason, T. H. E., Hughes, M., Jaques, R., Whittingham, M. J., & Willis, S. G. (2019) The influence of different aspects of grouse moorland management on nontarget bird assemblages. Ecology and Evolution, 9(19), 11089–11101. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.5613
Bradfer-Lawrence, T., Gardner, N., Bunnefeld, L., Bunnefeld, N., Willis, S. G., & Dent, D. H. (2019) Guidelines for the use of acoustic indices in environmental research. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 10(10), 1796–1807. https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210X.13254
Stephens, P.A., Vieira, M.V., Willis, S.G. & Carbone, C. (2019) The limits to population density in birds and mammals. Ecology Letters doi: 10.1111/ele.13227
Hof, C., Voskamp, A., Biber, M. F., Böhning-Gaese, K., Engelhardt, E. K., Niamir, A., Willis, S.G., & Hickler, T. (2018). Bioenergy cropland expansion may offset positive effects of climate change mitigation for global vertebrate diversity. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 115(52), 13294 LP – 13299. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1807745115
Burgess, M.D., Smith, K.W., Leech, D., Pearce-Higgins, J.W., Branston, C.J., Briggs, K., Clark, J.R., Evans, K.L., du Feu, C.R., Nager, R., Sheldon, B.C., Smith, J., Whytock, R.C., Willis, S.G. and Phillimore, A.B. (2018) Tritrophic phenological match-mismatch in space and time. Nature Ecology and Evolution.
Howard, C., Stephens, P. A., Tobias, J. A., Sheard, C., Butchart, S. H., & Willis, S. G. (2018) Flight range, fuel load and the impact of climate change on the journeys of migrant birds. Proc. R. Soc. B 285(1873), 20172329.
Voskamp, A., Baker, D.J., Stephens, P.A., Valdes, P. & Willis, S.G. (2017) Global patterns in the divergence between phylogenetic diversity and species richness in terrestrial birds. Journal of Biogeography. DOI: 10.1111/jbi.12916
Bagchi, R., Hole, D.G., Butchart, S.H.M., Collingwood, Y.C., Fishpool, L., Plumptre, A., Owiunji, I., Mugabe, H. & Willis, S.G. (2016) Forecasting potential routes for movement of endemic birds among important sites for biodiversity in the Albertine Rift under projected climate change. Ecography
Baker, D.J., Hartley, I., Pearce-Higgins, J., Jones, R. & Willis, S.G. (2016) Neglected issues in using weather and climate information in ecology. Diversity and Distributions
Baker, D. J., Hartley, A. J., Butchart, S. H. M. & Willis, S. G. (2016) Choice of baseline climate data impacts projected species' responses to climate change. Global Change Biology 22, 2392-2404. DOI: 10.1111/gcb.13273
Sanderson, F.J., Pople, R.G., Ieronymidou, C., Burfield, I.J. Gregory, R.D., Willis, S.G., Howard, C., Stephens, P.A., Beresford, A.E. & Donald, P.F. (2016) Assessing the performance of EU nature legislation in protecting target bird species in an era of climate change. Conservation Letters 9, 172–180. DOI: 10.1111/conl.12196.
Stephens, Mason, Green, Gregory, Sauer, Alison, Aunins, Brotons, Butchart, Campedelli, Chodkiewicz, Chylarecki, Crowe, Elts, Escandell, Foppen, Heldbjerg, Herrando, Husby, Jiguet, Lehikoinen, Lindstrom, Noble, Paquet, Reif, Sattler, Szep, Teufelbauer, Trautmann, van Strien, van Turnhout, Vorisek & Willis. (2016) Consistent response of bird populations to climate change on two continents. Science, 2016; 352 (6281): 84-87. DOI: 10.1126/science.aac4858.
Palmer, Stephens, Ward & Willis (2015) Nationwide trophic cascades: changes in avian community structure driven by ungulates. Nature Scientific Reports, 5:15602, doi: 10.1038/srep15601.
Howard, Stephens, Pearce-Higgins, Gregory & Willis (2015) The drivers of avian abundance: patterns in the relative importance of climate and land use. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 24, 1249-1260.1
Baker, Burgess, Butchart, Carr, Hartley, Smith, Belle & Willis (2015) Assessing climate change impacts for vertebrate fauna across the West Africa protected area network using regionally appropriate climate projections. Diversity and Distributions. doi: 10.1111/ddi.12337
Willis, Foden, Baker, Belle, Burgess, Carr, Doswald, Garcia, Hartley, Hof, Newbold, Rahbek, Smith, Visconti, Young, Butchart (2015) Integrating climate change vulnerability assessments from species distribution modelling and traits based approaches. Biological Conservation, 190, 167–178. doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2015.05.001.
Bassi, Willis* et al. (2015) Predicting the spatial distribution of wolf (Canis lupus) breeding areas in a mountainous region of central Italy. PLoS One,10(6): e0124698. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0124698. *Corresponding author
Pacifici, Foden, Visconti, Watson, Butchart, Kovacs, Scheffers, Hole, Martin, Akçakaya, Corlett, Huntley, Bickford, Carr, Hoffmann, Midgley, Pearce-Kelly, Pearson, Williams, Willis, Young & Rondini (2015) Assessing species vulnerability to climate change. Nature Climate Change, 5, 215-224.
Hindle, Kerr, Richards & Willis (2015) Topographical variation reduces phenological mismatch between a butterfly and its nectar source. Journal of Insect Conservation, 19, 227-236.
Mason, Apollonio, Chirichella, Willis & Stephens (2014) Environmental change and long-term body mass declines in an alpine mammal. Frontiers in Zoology. 11:69.
Runge, Martin, Possingham, Willis & Fuller (2014) Conserving mobile species. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. 12: 395-402.
Mason, Stephens, Apollonio & Willis (2014) Predicting potential responses to future climate change in an alpine ungulate: interspecific interactions exceed climate effects. Global Change Biology. 20, 3872–3882. doi: 10.1111/gcb.12641
Howard, Stephens, Pearce-Higgins, Gregory & Willis (2014) Improving species distribution models: the value of data on abundance. Methods in Ecology and Evolution. 5, 506–513.
Collingham, Huntley, Altwegg, Barnard, Beveridge, Gregory, Mason, Oschadleus, Simmons, Willis & Green (2014), Prediction of mean adult survival rates of southern African birds from demographic and ecological covariates. Ibis, 156, 741–754.
Bagchi, Crosby, Huntley, Hole, Collingham, Butchart & Willis (2013) Evaluating the effectiveness of conservation site networks under climate change: accounting for uncertainty. Global Change Biology, 19, 1236–1248.
Phipps, Willis*, Wolter, Naidoo (2013) Foraging ranges of immature African white-backed vultures (Gyps africanus) and their use of protected areas in southern Africa. PLoS One, 8(1), e52813. *Corresponding author.
Mason, Stephens, Willis, Chirichella, Apollonio, Richards (2012) Intra-seasonal variation in reproductive effort: young males finish last. American Naturalist, 180, 180, 6, 823-830.
Davies, Stephens, Willis, Bassi, Marcon, Donaggio, Capitani, Apollonio (2012) Prey selection by an apex predator: the importance of sampling uncertainty. PLoS One, e47894.
Mason, Chirichella, Richards, Stephens, Willis & Apollonio (2011) Contrasting life histories in neighbouring populations of a large mammal. PLoS One 6,
e28002. doi:10:1371/journal.pone.0028002.
Pearce-Higgins, Bradbury, Chamberlain, Drewitt, Langston & Willis (2011) Targeting research to underpin climate change adaptation for birds. Ibis, 152, 207-211.
Hole, Huntley, Arinaitwe, Butchart, Collingham, Fishpool, Pain & Willis (2011) Towards a management framework for key biodiversity networks in the face of climate change. Conservation Biology, 25, 305-315.
Huntley, Hole & Willis (2011) Assessing the effectiveness of a protected area network in the face of climatic change. Book chapter in: Climate Change, Ecology and Systematics. ( Eds. Hodkinson, Jones, Waldren & Parnell). Systematics Association Special Volume Series, Cambridge University
Press.
Willis, Hole & Huntley (2010) Climate change and conservation. Book chapter in: Trade-offs in conservation: Deciding what to save. (Eds Leader-Williams, Adams & Smith). Conservation Science and Practice Series, Blackwell.
Willis, Hill, Thomas, Roy, Fox, Blakeley & Huntley (2009) Assisted colonisation in a changing climate: A test-study using two UK butterflies. Conservation
Letters, 2, 45-51.
Willis, Thomas, Hill, Collingham, Telfer, Fox & Huntley (2009) Dynamic distribution modelling: predicting the present from the past. Ecography, 32, 5-12.
Doswald, Willis*, Collingham, Pain, Green & Huntley (2009) Potential consequences of climate change on the migration of European Sylvia warblers. Journal of Biogeography, 36, 1194-1208. *Corresponding author.
Gregory, Willis*, Jiguet, Pazderova, von Strein, Vorisek, Couvet, Huntley & Green (2009) An indicator of the impact of climate warming on European bird populations. PLoS One, 4, e4678. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0004678.
Hole, Willis*, Pain, Collingham, Rahbek & Huntley (2009) Projected impacts of climate change on a continental-scale protected area network. Ecology Letters, 12, 420-431. *Corresponding author.
Huntley, Green, Collingham & Willis (2008) A climatic atlas of European breeding birds. Lynx Edicions.
Willis, Collingham, Hilton, Rahbek & Huntley (2008) Assessing the impacts of future climate change on protected area networks: A method to simulate individual species responses. Environmental Management, 43, 836-845.
Green, Collingham, Willis, Gregory, Smith & Huntley (2008) Performance of climate envelope models in retrodicting recent changes in bird population sizes from observed climatic data. Biology Letters, 4,599-602.
Huntley, Collingham, Willis & Green (2008) Potential impacts of climatic change on European birds. PLoS One, 4, e4678. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0001439.
Rogers, Randolph, Lindsay & Willis (2008) Vector-borne diseases. Chapter in: Health effects of climate change in the UK. (Eds Department of Health and Health Protection Agency). Crown Publishing.
Font, Nowell, Pearson, Ottley & Willis (2007) Sr isotope analysis of bird feathers by TIMS: a tool to trace bird migration paths and breeding
sites. Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry, 5, 513-522.
Lindsay, Hole, Hutchinson & Willis (2007) Future threat from vivax malaria in the United Kingdom. American Journal of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene, 77,
169-170.
Huntley, Collingham, Green, Hilton, Rahbeck & Willis (2006) Potential impacts of climate change on geographical distributions of birds. Ibis, 148 (Suppl. 1), 8-28.
Menendez, Gonzalez-Megias, Hill, Brascher, Willis, Collingham, Fox, Roy & Thomas (2006) Species richness changes lag behind climate change. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B-Biological Sciences, 273, 1465-1470.
Lindsay & Willis (2006) Predicting future areas suitable for vivax malaria in the United Kingdom. Chapter in: Foresight; Infectious diseases: Preparing for the future. Office of Science and Innovation, London.
Huntley, Green, Collingham, Hill, Willis, Bartlein, Cramer, Hagemeijer & Thomas (2004) The performance of models relating species geographical distributions to climate is independent of trophic level. Ecology Letters, 7, 417-426.
Willis & Hulme (2004) Environmental severity and variation in the reproductive traits of Impatiens glandulifera. Functional Ecology, 18, 887-898.
Overpeck, Whitlock, Huntley, Bartlein, Collingham, Grimm, Webb III, Williams, & Willis (2003) Terrestrial biosphere dynamics in the climate system: past and future. Chapter in: Palaeoclimate, global change and the future (eds. Alverson, Bradley & Pedersen), Springer-Verlag.
Huntley, Baxter, Collingham, Willis & Sykes (2003) Insights on synergies: models and methods. Chapter in: Climate change and biodiversity (eds. Lovejoy & Hannah). Advances in Applied Biodiversity Science No. 4, Yale University Press.
Hill, Thomas, Fox, Telfer, Willis, Asher & Huntley, B (2002) Responses of butterflies to twentieth century climate warming: implications for future ranges. Proceedings of the Royal Society Of London Series B-Biological Sciences, 269, 2163-2171.
Willis & Hulme (2002) Does temperature limit the invasion of Impatiens glandulifera and Heracleum mantegazzianum in the UK? Functional Ecology, 16, 530-539.
Warren, Hill, Thomas, Asher, Fox, Huntley, Roy, Telfer, Jeffcoate, Harding, Jeffcoate, Willis, Greatorex-Davies, Moss & Thomas (2001) Rapid responses of British butterflies to opposing forces of climate and habitat change. Nature, 414, 65-69.
Wadsworth, Collingham, Willis, Huntley, B & Hulme (2000) Simulating the spread and management of alien riparian weeds: are they out of control? Journal of Applied Ecology, 37 (Supp. 1), 28-38.
Hulme, Crawley, Hofgaard, Huntley, Lurtz, O’Connell, Ruston, Schaffner, Sykes, Vila, Watt & Willis (2000) Aliens and outbreaking species in ecosystems. Chapter in: Terrestrial ecosystem research in Europe: successes, challenges and policy (eds. Sutton, Moreno, van der Putten & Struwe). European Commission, Luxembourg.
Huntley, Baxter, Lewthwaite, Willis & Adamson (1998) Vegetation responses to local climatic changes induced by a water-storage reservoir. Global Ecology and Biogeography Letters , 7, 241-257.
Willis, Hulme & Huntley (1997) Habitat suitability and the distribution of alien weeds of riparian ecosystems. Chapter in: Species dispersal and land-use processes (eds. Cooper and Power). IALE (UK).
Wadsworth, Swetnam & Willis (1997) Seeds and sediment: modelling the spread of Impatiens glandulifera. Chapter in: Species dispersal and land-use
processes (eds. Cooper and Power). IALE (UK).