Dr Philip H Warren

Room E213, Alfred Denny Building
Tel: +44 (0)114 222 0031
Fax: +44 (0)114 222 0002
email: p.warren@sheffield.ac.uk

Career

BSc (1985) University of Wales (Aberystwyth)
DPhil. (1988) University of York
Postdoctoral Research Assistant, University of York (1989)
Postdoctoral Research Assistant, Imperial College (1989)
Lecturer & Senior Lecturer, University of Sheffield, (1989-2007).
Reader in Ecology, University of Sheffield (2008-present)

Professional Activities

Member of the editorial board of Journal of Animal Ecology (1999-2006) and currently an Associate Editor
Advisory Editor for Environmental Conservation
Member of the Editorial Board for the Ecological Reviews book series (British Ecol. Soc & Cambridge Univ. Press)
Member of the Council of the British Ecological Society (2003-2006), and currently a member of BES Publications Committee
Member of the ESF Network: International Advancement of Community Ecology Theory (2001-2004)
Member of the Freshwater Biological Association Data and Information Services Advisory Group
Trustee of the Sheffield Wildlife Trust

Research Interests

My research is concerned with understanding the structure and function of ecological communities, and the threats to their integrity. This includes topics such as:

How is food web structure determined, and what are the relationships between food web structure and function?
How is local diversity affected by environmental factors such as habitat structure and energy input?
What are the assembly rules which determine community development? How is local community structure affected by dispersal between communities?
How do we manage natural and human-dominated landscapes to both maintain their communities and to deliver the key ecosystem services on which we depend?

Applied aspects of these interests include work on the ecology of urban ecosystems, and the application of community ecology to managing environmental impacts in freshwater habitats. I am a member of the Catchment Science Centre at Sheffield, and my research interests within the Centre include projects such as urban river management, floodplain restoration, and interactions between aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems.

Teaching

Positions

Programme director for the Ecology degree
Senate Award Fellow (2010)
Learning and Teaching Advocate for APS
Faculty of Science representative - CICS Teaching and Learning Advisory Group

Courses

Development

I am interested in the development and use of IT to support teaching and assessment in ways that increase the scope and effectiveness of teaching. This includes development of online course material to enable independent study and distance learning, and online assessment methods to support large classes and asynchronous study. This work has been supported by grants from the University Learning and Teaching Development Fund (2002, 2008).

Current Research Group

Research Students

Ebru Ersoy: ecological habitat networks in relation to land use and urban form (Jointly supervised with Dr Anna Jorgenson, Dept Landscape)
Chris Clements: Predicting population extinctions (jointly supervised with Owen Petchey (Zurich) & CASE partner Dr Ben Colleen, the Institute of Zoology)
Dan Richards: An ecosystem services based-approach to flood plain restoration (jointly supervised with Prof Lorraine Maltby)
Catherine Leonard: Ecological implications of the development of microhydropower (jointly supervised with Prof Lorraine Maltby)
Chih-Wei Tsai: The ecological consequences of using urban rivers for cooling (jointly supervised with Prof Lorraine Maltby)
Aaron Thierry: Modelling food webs using body size and optimal foraging theory (CASE award with Microsoft Research; jointly supervised with Dr Owen Petchey and Dr Andrew Beckerman)

Post-docs

Jim Rouquette: URSULA Project - Ecological quality in urban river systems (jointly with Prof Lorraine Maltby, Prof Kevin Gaston, Dr Paul Armsworth)
Charlie Bell: URSULA project & Don catchment research portal (with Prof L Maltby & Prof KJ Gaston & Prof DN Lerner)

Technical Staff

Marian Smith: Long term effects of altered aquatic-terrestrial subsidies (NERC) (Catchment Science Centre; jointly with Prof Lorraine Maltby)

Recent Publications (2001 to date)

Fuller, R A; Tratalos, J; Warren, P H; Davies, R G; Pepkowska, A; Gaston, K J (2010) Environment and biodiversity. Ch. 4 pp. 75-103 In: Jenks, M; Jones, C (ed.) Dimensions of the sustainable city. Future City 2. Springer

Irvine, K N; Fuller, R A; Devine-Wright, P; Tratalos, J; Payne, S R; Warren, P H; Lomas, K J; Gaston, K J (2010) Ecological and psychological value of urban green space. Ch. 10 pp. 215-237 In: Jenks, M; Jones, C (ed.) Dimensions of the sustainable city. Future City 2. Springer

Smith, R M; Thompson, K; Warren, P H; Gaston, K J (2010) Urban domestic gardens (XIII): Composition of the bryophyte and lichen ﬂoras, and determinants of species richness. Biol. Conserv. 143:873-882 [doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2009.12.033]

Maltby, L; Paetzold, A; Warren, P H (2010) Sustaining industrial activity and ecological quality: the potential role of an ecosystem services approach. Cambridge University Press Ch. 16

Worsfold, N T; Warren, P H; Petchey, O L (2009) Context-dependent effects of predator removal from experimental microcosm communities. Oikos 118:1319-1326 [doi: 10.1111/j.1600-0706.2009.17500.x]

Ings, T C; Montoya, J M; Bascompte, J; Blüthgen, N; Brown, L; Dormann, C F; Edwards, F; Figueroa, D; Jacob, U; Jones, J I; Lauridsen, R B; Ledger, M E; Lewis, H M; Olesen, J M; van Veen, F J F; Warren, P H; Woodward, G (2009) Ecological networks - beyond food webs. J. Anim. Ecol. 78 (1):253-269

Loram, A; Thompson, K; Warren, P H; Gaston, K J (2008) Urban domestic gardens (XII): the richness and composition of the flora in five cities. J. Veg. Sci. 19:321-330

Fuller, R A; Warren, P H; Armsworth, P R; Barbosa, O; Gaston, K J (2008) Garden bird feeding predicts the structure of urban avian assemblages. Diversity Distrib. 14:131-137

Loram, A; Warren, P H; Gaston, K (2008) Urban domestic gardens (XIV): the characteristics of gardens in five cities. Env. Manag. 42 (3):361-376

Petchey, O L; Beckerman, A P; Riede, J O; Warren, P H (2008) Size, foraging, and food web structure. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 105:4191-4196

Davies, R G; Barbosa, O; Fuller, R A; Tratalos, J; Burke, N; Lewis, D; Warren, P H; Gaston, K J (2008) City-wide relationships between green spaces, urban land use and topography. Urban Ecosys. 11 (3):269-287 [DOI 10.1007/s11252-008-0062-y]

Woodward, G; Warren, P H (2007) Body size and predatory interactions in freshwaters: scaling from individuals to communities. In: Edmonds-Brown, V; Raffaelli, D; Hildrew, A (ed.) Body size in aquatic communities. Cambridge University Press.

Gaston, K J; Cush, P; Ferguson, S; Frost, P; Gaston, S; Knight, D; Loram, A; Smith, R M; Thompson, K; Warren, P H (2007) Urban domestic gardens: improving their contributions to biodiversity & ecosystem services. Brit. Wildlife (February) :171-177 [non-refereed journal]

Loram, A; Tratalos, J; Warren, P H; Gaston, K J (2007) Urban domestic gardens (X): the extent & structure of the resource in five major cities. Landscape Ecol. 22:601-615

Fuller, R A; Irvine, K N; Devine-Wright, P; Warren, P H; Gaston, K J (2007) Psychological benefits of greenspace increase with biodiversity. Biol. Lett. 3:390-394

Fuller, R A; Warren, P H; Gaston, K J (2007) Daytime noise predicts nocturnal singing in urban robins. Biol. Lett. 3:368-370 [doi:10.1098/rsbl.2007.0134]

Tratalos, J; Fuller, R A ; Warren, P H; Davies, R G; Gaston, K J (2007) Urban form, biodiversity potential and ecosystem services. Landscape Urban Planning 83:308-317

Warren, P H; Weatherby, A J (2006) Energy input and species diversity patterns in microcosms. Oikos 113:314-324

Beckerman, A P; Petchey, O L; Warren, P H (2006) Foraging biology predicts food web complexity. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 103:13745-13749

Brose, U; Jonsson, T; Berlow, E L; Warren, P H; Banasek-Richter, C; Bersier, L-F; Blanchard, J L; Brey, T; Carpenter, S R; Cattin-Blandenier, M-F; Cushing, L; Dawah, H A; Dell, T; Edwards, F; Harper-Smith, S; Jacob, U; Ledger, M E; Martinez, N D; Memmott, J; Mintenbeck, K; Pinnegar, J K; Rall, B C; Rayner, T S; Reuman, D C; Ruess, L; Ulrich, W; Williams, R J; Woodward, G; Cohen, J E (2006) Consumer-resource body-size relationships in natural food webs. Ecology 87:2411-2417

Smith, R M; Thompson, K; Hodgson, J G; Warren, P H; Gaston, K J (2006) Urban domestic gardens (IX): composition and richness of the vascular plant flora, and implications for native biodiversity. Biol. Conserv. 129:312-322

Smith, R M; Gaston, K J; Warren, P H; Thompson, K (2006) Urban domestic gardens (VIII) : environmental correlates of invertebrate abundance. Biodiv. Cons. 15:2515-2545

Smith, R M; Warren, P H; Thompson, K; Gaston, K J (2006) Urban domestic gardens (VI): environmental correlates of invertebrate species richness. Biodiv. Cons. 15:2415-2438

Scholes, L; Warren, P H; Beckerman, A P (2005) The combined effects of energy and disturbance on species richness in protist microcosms. Ecol. Lett. 8:730-738

Woodward, G; Ebenman, B; Emmerson, M; Montoya, J M; Olesen, J M; Valido, A; Warren, P H (2005) Body size in ecological networks. Trends Ecol. Evol. 20:402-409

Brose, U; Cushing, L; Berlow, E L; Jonsson, T; Banasek-Richter, C; Bersier, L-F; Blanchard, J L; Brey, T; Carpenter, S R; Cattin-Blandenier, M-F; Cohen, J E; Dawah, H A; Dell, T; Edwards, F; Harper-Smith, S; Jacob, U; Knapp, R A; Ledger, M E; Memmott, J; Mintenbeck, K; Pinnegar, J K; Rall, B C; Rayner, T; Ruess, L; Ulrich, W; Warren, P; Williams, R J; Woodward, G; Yodzis, P; Martinez, N D (2005) Body sizes of consumers and their resources. Ecology 86:2545-2545

Thompson, K; Colsell, S; Carpenter, J; Smith, R M; Warren, P H; Gaston, K J (2005) Urban domestic gardens (VII): a preliminary survey of soil seed banks. Seed Sci. Res. 15:133-141

Gaston, K J; Warren, P H; Thompson, K; Smith, R M (2005) Urban domestic gardens (IV): the extent of the resource and it's associated features. Biodiv. Cons. 14:3327-3349

Gaston, K J; Smith, R M; Thompson, K; Warren, P H (2005) Urban domestic gardens (II): experimental tests of methods for increasing biodiversity. Biodiv. Cons. 14:395-413

Smith, R M; Gaston, K J; Warren, P H; Thompson, K (2005) Urban domestic gardens (V): Habitat composition. Landscape Ecol. 20:235-253

Warren, P H; Law, R; Weatherby, A J (2005) Invasion biology as a community process: messages from microcosms. pp. 343-667 In: Cadotte, M W; Mcmahon, S M; Fukami, T (ed.) Conceptual ecology and invasion biology: reciprocal approaches to nature. Springer series in invasion biology 1. Springer

Woodward, G; Ebenman, B; Emmerson, M; Montoya, J M; Olesen, J E; Valido, A; Warren, P H (2005) Body-size determinants of the structure and dynamics of ecological networks. In: de Ruiter, P C; Walters, V; Moore, J C (ed.) Dynamic food webs. Elsevier

Warren, P H (2005) Wearing Elton's wellingtons: the importance of body size in food webs. In: de Ruiter, P C; Walters, V; Moore, J C (ed.) Dynamic food webs. Elsevier

Evans, K L; Warren, P H; Gaston, KJ (2005) Does energy availability influence classical patterns of spatial variation in exotic species richness? Global Ecol. Biogeog. 14:57-65

Wong, D C L; Maltby, L; Whittle, D; Warren, P H; Dorn, P B (2004) Spatial and temporal variability in the structure of invertebrate assemblages in control stream mesocosms. Water Res. 38:128-138

Evans, K L; Warren, P H; Gaston, K J (2004) Species energy relationships at the macroecological scale: a review of mechanisms. Biol. Rev. 79:1-25

Holt, A R; Warren, P H; Gaston, K J (2004) The importance of habitat heterogeneity, biotic interactions and dispersal in abundance–occupancy relationships. J. Anim. Ecol. 73:841-851

Petchey, O; Downing, A L; Mittelbach, G G; Persson, L; Steiner, C; Warren, P H; Woodward, G (2004) Species loss and the structure and functioning of multitrophic aquatic ecosystems. Oikos 104:467-478

Thompson, K; Hodgson, J G; Smith, R M; Warren, P H; Gaston, K J (2004) Urban domestic gardens (III): Composition and diversity of lawn floras. J. Veg. Sci. 15 (371-376)

Gaston, K J; Smith, R M; Thompson, K; Warren, P H (2004) Gardens and wildlife: the BUGS project. Brit. Wildlife 16:1-9 [non-refereed journal]

Warren, P H; Law, R; Weatherby, A J (2003) Mapping the assembly of protist communities in microcosms. Ecology 84:1001-1011

Wong, D C L; Whittle, D; Maltby, L; Warren, P H (2003) Multivariate analyses of invertebrate community reponses to C12-15AE-3S anionic surfactant in stream mesocosms. Aquat. Toxicol. 62:105-117

Thompson, K; Austin, K C; Smith, R M; Warren, P H; Angold, P G; Gaston, K J (2003) Urban domestic gardens (I): putting small-scale plant diversity in context. J. Veg. Sci. 14:71-78

Holt, A R; Warren, P H; Gaston, K J (2002) The importance of biotic interactions in abundance-occupancy relationships. J. Anim. Ecol. 71:846-854