Congratulations to Dr. Tom Matthews– recipient of the International Biogeography Society’s 2024 MacArthur & Wilson Award!
Tom Matthews, a Senior Research Fellow at the School of Geogrphy of the University of Birmingham, specializes in global environmental change through macroecological, macroevolutionary, and biogeographical studies. He employs both theoretical and empirical approaches to explore macroecological subjects, with a particular focus on island ecosystems and birds. His recent publications include books on species-area relationships and island biogeography, published by Cambridge University Press and Oxford University Press, respectively.
Matthews’ research is pivotal in aiding biodiversity conservation in island and fragmented environments, with several of his papers addressing conservation biogeography. His research includes the examination the effects of human-induced species extinctions and introductions on the functioning and functional diversity of island ecosystems.
Known for his significant contributions to the understanding of species abundance distributions, especially in species-area relationships, Dr. Matthews’ work is heavily theoretical yet practical. He has advanced island biogeography theory using sophisticated modeling techniques, which illuminate the uncommon occurrence of nestedness in fragmented habitats and functional diversity in various ecosystems, including islands. His research on island species-area relationships (ISAR) reveals that island species diversity is more influenced by processes within archipelagos than by isolation from mainland species pools. This insight underscores the importance of assessing different isolation scales’ impact on propagule exchange among island systems, enhancing predictive diversity models.
Additionally, Matthews has made notable strides in bridging niche and neutral theories in Biogeography and in applying Species Abundance Distribution (SAD) in practical ecology and biodiversity management.
We are honoured to have Dr. Tom Matthews as the 2024 MacArthur & Wilson awardee.
