Professor Philip H Warren
BSc, DPhil
School of Biosciences
Emeritus Professor
+44 114 222 0031
Full contact details
School of Biosciences
E213
Alfred Denny Building
Western Bank
Sheffield
S10 2TN
- Profile
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Career
- BSc University of Wales, Aberystwyth (1985)
- DPhil University of York (1985-1988)
- Postdoctoral Research Assistant, University of York (1988-1989)
- Postdoctoral Research Assistant, Imperial College London (1989)
- Lecturer & Senior Lecturer, Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield (1989-2007)
- Reader in Ecology, Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield (2008-2012)
- Professor of Ecology, School of Biosciences, University of Sheffield (2012-present)
- Research interests
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My research is concerned with understanding the structure and function of communities and ecosystems, and the interactions humans have with them. This research considers fundamental questions about biodiversity and how it is maintained, including:
- How are ecological networks, such as food webs, structured and what are the consequences for their 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 across a landscape?
... and more 'applied' questions to do with the ways in humans affect, and are affected by, the environments in which we live and the ecosystem processes upon which we depend. For example:
- Can provision of more, diverse, or specific types of, greenspace in urban areas enhance biodiversity, human wellbeing and environmental sustainability?
- How can we most effectively maintain, or increase, wetland habitats in agricultural and urban areas to support biodiversity and provide better ecosystem services?
- What are the constraints on, and potential of, small scale food production in urban (and other) areas for wellbeing, food security, and biodiversity?
- How do we define the quality or state of an ecological system, and what are the implications for community restoration?
These questions are all are broadly concerned with how, and if, we can make a more sustainable future for humans, and the remarkable ecosystems of which we are part and upon which we depend. As with most of the major environmental challenges we face, tackling such questions does not just involve ecology, but requires interdisciplinary collaboration with such areas as engineering, social science, economics, planning and psychology.
Websites for some current and past projects:
- Biodiversity in urban gardens (BUGS) projects websites
- CityForm UK web site
- URSULA project website
- F3UES - Fragments, Functions and Flows: Urban Ecosystem Services
- Upper Rother: hidden heritage, secret streams
And stretching interdisciplinarity yet further ...
- Publications
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Show: Featured publications All publications
Featured publications
Journal articles
- Environmental impact propagated by cross-system subsidy: Chronic stream pollution controls riparian spider populations. ECOLOGY, 92(9), 1711-1716.
- Fit, efficiency, and biology: some thoughts on judging food web models.. J Theor Biol, 279(1), 169-171. View this article in WRRO
- Context-dependent effects of predator removal from experimental microcosm communities. OIKOS, 118(9), 1319-1326.
- Urban domestic gardens (XII): The richness and composition of the flora in five UK cities. J VEG SCI, 19(3), 321-U67.
- Size, foraging, and food web structure.. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 105(11), 4191-4196. View this article in WRRO
- Garden bird feeding predicts the structure of urban avian assemblages. DIVERS DISTRIB, 14(1), 131-137.
All publications
Books
Journal articles
- Urban food cultivation in the United Kingdom: Quantifying loss of allotment land and identifying potential for restoration. Landscape and Urban Planning, 199, 103803-103803.
- Correction to: Impacts of hydrological restoration on lowland river floodplain plant communities. Wetlands Ecology and Management, 28(3), 419-419.
- Estimating food production in an urban landscape. Scientific Reports, 10(1). View this article in WRRO
- The hidden potential of urban horticulture. Nature Food, 1, 155-159. View this article in WRRO
- Impacts of hydrological restoration on lowland river floodplain plant communities. Wetlands Ecology and Management. View this article in WRRO
- Feeding a city – Leicester as a case study of the importance of allotments for horticultural production in the UK. Science of The Total Environment, 705. View this article in WRRO
- Designing an environmental flow framework for impounded river systems through modelling of invertebrate habitat quality. Ecological Indicators, 106. View this article in WRRO
- Urban meadows as an alternative to short mown grassland : effects of composition and height on biodiversity. Ecological Applications, 29(6). View this article in WRRO
- Using GIS-linked Bayesian Belief Networks as a tool for modelling urban biodiversity. Landscape and Urban Planning, 189, 382-395. View this article in WRRO
- Green and ecological networks in Sheffield, UK. Landscape Research, 44(8), 922-936.
- Identifying multispecies connectivity corridors and the spatial pattern of the landscape. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 40, 308-322.
- Plant species or flower colour diversity? Identifying the drivers of public and invertebrate response to designed annual meadows. Landscape and Urban Planning, 180, 103-113. View this article in WRRO
- Impacts of habitat heterogeneity on the provision of multiple ecosystem services in a temperate floodplain. Basic and Applied Ecology, 29, 32-43. View this article in WRRO
- Riparian thermal conditions across a mixed rural and urban landscape. Applied Geography, 87, 106-114. View this article in WRRO
- “Not in their front yard” The opportunities and challenges of introducing perennial urban meadows: A local authority stakeholder perspective. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 25, 139-149. View this article in WRRO
- Optimising UK urban road verge contributions to biodiversity and ecosystem services with cost-effective management. Journal of Environmental Management, 191, 162-171. View this article in WRRO
- Awareness of greater numbers of ecosystem services affects preferences for floodplain management. Ecosystem Services, 24, 138-146. View this article in WRRO
- Quantifying the Impact of Water Abstraction for Low Head ‘Run of the River’ Hydropower on Localized River Channel Hydraulics and Benthic Macroinvertebrates. River Research and Applications, 33(2), 202-213. View this article in WRRO
- Urban biodiversity and landscape ecology: patterns, processes and planning. Current Landscape Ecology Reports, 1(4), 178-192. View this article in WRRO
- The impact of land use/land cover scale on modelling urban ecosystem services. Landscape Ecology, 31(7), 1509-1522. View this article in WRRO
- Phenological responses of ash (Fraxinus excelsior) and sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus) to riparian thermal conditions. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 16, 95-102.
- Understanding spatial patterns in the production of multiple urban ecosystem services. Ecosystem Services, 16, 33-46. View this article in WRRO
- Spatial variation in the impact of dragonflies and debris on recreational ecosystem services in a floodplain wetland. Ecosystem Services, 15, 113-121. View this article in WRRO
- Multiple environmental changes interact to modify species dynamics and invasion rates. Oikos, 124(4), 458-468.
- Historical influences on the current provision of multiple ecosystem services. Global Environmental Change, 31, 307-317. View this article in WRRO
- Measuring the spatial structure of urban land uses. The case of Sheffield, UK. Journal of Environmental Protection and Ecology, 16(1), 393-401.
- The impacts of ‘run-of-river’ hydropower on the physical and ecological condition of rivers. Water and Environment Journal, 29(2), 268-276. View this article in WRRO
- European water voles in a reconnected lowland river floodplain: habitat preferences and distribution patterns following the restoration of flooding. Wetlands Ecology and Management, 22(5), 539-549.
- Quantifying preferences for the natural world using monetary and nonmonetary assessments of value. Conservation Biology, 28(2), 404-413. View this article in WRRO
- Interactions between assembly order and temperature can alter both short- and long-term community composition. Ecology and Evolution, 3(16), 5201-5208. View this article in WRRO
- Species turnover and geographic distance in an urban river network. Diversity and Distributions, 19(11), 1429-1439. View this article in WRRO
- Experimentally testing the accuracy of an extinction estimator: Solow's optimal linear estimation model. Journal of Animal Ecology, 82(2), 345-354.
- Contrasting patterns in species richness of birds, butterflies and plants along riparian corridors in an urban landscape. Diversity and Distributions, 18(8), 742-753.
- Biodiversity and the Feel-Good Factor: Understanding Associations between Self-Reported Human Well-being and Species Richness. BIOSCIENCE, 62(1), 47-55.
- Urban Domestic Gardens: The Effects of Human Interventions on Garden Composition. ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT, 48(4), 808-824.
- Environmental impact propagated by cross-system subsidy: Chronic stream pollution controls riparian spider populations. ECOLOGY, 92(9), 1711-1716.
- The consequences of size dependent foraging for food web topology. OIKOS, 120(4), 493-502.
- Fit, efficiency, and biology: some thoughts on judging food web models.. J Theor Biol, 279(1), 169-171. View this article in WRRO
- Adaptive foraging and the rewiring of size-structured food webs following extinctions. Basic and Applied Ecology, 12(7), 562-570.
- A framework for assessing ecological quality based on ecosystem services. ECOLOGICAL COMPLEXITY, 7(3), 273-281.
- Urban domestic gardens (XIII): Composition of the bryophyte and lichen floras, and determinants of species richness. BIOL CONSERV, 143(4), 873-882.
- Erratum. Oikos, 118(11), 1760-1760.
- Context-dependent effects of predator removal from experimental microcosm communities. OIKOS, 118(9), 1319-1326.
- Ecological networks - beyond food webs. J ANIM ECOL, 78(1), 253-269.
- Urban domestic gardens (XIV): the characteristics of gardens in five cities.. Environ Manage, 42(3), 361-376.
- Urban domestic gardens (XII): The richness and composition of the flora in five UK cities. J VEG SCI, 19(3), 321-U67.
- Size, foraging, and food web structure.. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 105(11), 4191-4196. View this article in WRRO
- City-wide relationships between green spaces, urban land use and topography. Urban Ecosystems, 11(3), 269-287.
- Garden bird feeding predicts the structure of urban avian assemblages. DIVERS DISTRIB, 14(1), 131-137.
- Urban form, biodiversity potential and ecosystem services. LANDSCAPE URBAN PLAN, 83(4), 308-317.
- Psychological benefits of greenspace increase with biodiversity.. Biol Lett, 3(4), 390-394.
- Daytime noise predicts nocturnal singing in urban robins.. Biol Lett, 3(4), 368-370.
- Urban domestic gardens (X): the extent & structure of the resource in five major cities. LANDSCAPE ECOL, 22(4), 601-615.
- Urban domestic gardens: improving their contributions to biodiversity and ecosystem services. British Wildlife, February, 171-177.
- Improving the contribution of urban gardens for wildlife: Some guiding propositions. British Wildlife, 18(3), 171-177.
- Foraging biology predicts food web complexity.. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 103(37), 13745-13749.
- Urban domestic gardens (VI): environmental correlates of invertebrate species richness. BIODIVERS CONSERV, 15(8), 2415-2438.
- Urban domestic gardens (VIII): environmental correlates of invertebrate abundance. BIODIVERS CONSERV, 15(8), 2515-2545.
- Urban domestic gardens (IX): Composition and richness of the vascular plant flora, and implications for native biodiversity. BIOL CONSERV, 129(3), 312-322.
- Energy input and species diversity patterns in microcosms. OIKOS, 113(2), 314-324.
- Invasion biology as a community process: Messages from microbial microcosms, 343-367.
- Consumer-resource body-size relationships in natural food webs. ECOLOGY, 87(10), 2411-2417.
- Body Size Determinants of the Structure and Dynamics of Ecological Networks: Scaling from the Individual to the Ecosystem, 179-197.
- Urban domestic gardens (IV): The extent of the resource and its associated features. BIODIVERS CONSERV, 14(14), 3327-3349.
- Body size in ecological networks. TRENDS ECOL EVOL, 20(7), 402-409.
- The combined effects of energy and disturbance on species richness in protist microcosms. ECOL LETT, 8(7), 730-738.
- Urban domestic gardens (VII): a preliminary survey of soil seed banks. SEED SCI RES, 15(2), 133-141.
- Urban domestic gardens (V): relationships between landcover composition, housing and landscape. LANDSCAPE ECOL, 20(2), 235-253.
- Urban domestic gardens (II): experimental tests of methods for increasing biodiversity. BIODIVERS CONSERV, 14(2), 395-413.
- Species-energy relationships at the macroecological scale: a review of the mechanisms.. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc, 80(1), 1-25.
- Does energy availability influence classical patterns of spatial variation in exotic species richness?. GLOBAL ECOL BIOGEOGR, 14(1), 57-65.
- The importance of habitat heterogeneity, biotic interactions and dispersal in abundance-occupancy relationships. J ANIM ECOL, 73(5), 841-851.
- Urban domestic gardens (III): Composition and diversity of lawn floras. J VEG SCI, 15(3), 373-378.
- Species loss and the structure and functioning of multitrophic aquatic systems. OIKOS, 104(3), 467-478.
- Gardens and wildlife - The BUGS project. British Wildlife, 16(1), 1-9.
- Spatial and temporal variability in the structure of invertebrate assemblages in control stream mesocosms.. Water Res, 38(1), 128-138.
- View this article in WRRO Mapping the assembly of protist communities in microcosms. ECOLOGY, 84(4), 1001-1011.
- Urban domestic gardens (I): Putting small-scale plant diversity in context. J VEG SCI, 14(1), 71-78.
- Multivariate analyses of invertebrate community responses to a C12-15 AE-3S anionic surfactant in stream mesocosms.. Aquat Toxicol, 62(2), 105-117.
- The importance of biotic interactions in abundance-occupancy relationships. J ANIM ECOL, 71(5), 846-854.
- Population turnover and habitat dynamics in Notonecta (Hemiptera : Notonectidae) metapopulations. OECOLOGIA, 123(2), 216-222.
- On the invasibility of persistent protist communities. OIKOS, 88(2), 319-326.
- Competition between the nymphs of two regionally co-occurring species of Notonecta (Hemiptera : Notonectidae). FRESHWATER BIOL, 42(1), 11-20.
- The macrophyte and invertebrate communities of dewponds, with particular reference to the method of pond construction. Peak District Journal of Archaeology and Natural History, 1, 27-33.
- Body size and feeding specificity: macrolepidoptera in Britain. BIOL J LINN SOC, 63(1), 121-139.
- Coexistence and collapse: an experimental investigation of the persistent communities of a protist species pool. J ANIM ECOL, 67(4), 554-566.
- Interspecific abundance-occupancy relationships: A test of mechanisms using microcosms. J ANIM ECOL, 66(5), 730-742.
- Interspecific abundance-occupancy relationships and the effects of disturbance: a test using microcosms. OECOLOGIA, 112(1), 112-117.
- The effects of energy input, immigration and habitat size on food web structure: A microcosm experiment. OECOLOGIA, 108(4), 764-770.
- Dispersal and destruction in a multiple habitat system: An experimental approach using protist communities. OIKOS, 77(2), 317-325.
- The effects of habitat size and productivity on food web structure in small aquatic microcosms. OIKOS, 75(3), 419-430.
- Community and food-web responses to the manipulation of energy input and disturbance in small ponds. OIKOS, 75(3), 407-418.
- The effects of between-habitat dispersal rate on protist communities and metacommunities in microcosms at two spatial scales. OECOLOGIA, 105(1), 132-140.
- ESTIMATING MORPHOLOGICALLY DETERMINED CONNECTANCE AND STRUCTURE FOR FOOD WEBS OF FRESH-WATER INVERTEBRATES. FRESHWATER BIOL, 33(2), 213-221.
- MAKING CONNECTIONS IN FOOD WEBS. TRENDS ECOL EVOL, 9(4), 136-141.
- IMPROVING FOOD WEBS. ECOLOGY, 74(1), 252-258.
- INSECT HERBIVORY ON WATER MINT - YOU CANT GET THERE FROM HERE. ECOGRAPHY, 16(1), 11-15.
- Predator-prey ratios: a special case of a general pattern?. Philosophical Transactions - Royal Society of London, B, 338(1284), 113-130.
- PREDATOR - NON-PREDATOR RATIOS IN BEETLE ASSEMBLAGES. OECOLOGIA, 90(3), 417-421.
- VARIATION IN FOOD-WEB STRUCTURE - THE DETERMINANTS OF CONNECTANCE. AMERICAN NATURALIST, 136(5), 689-700.
- SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL VARIATION IN THE STRUCTURE OF A FRESH-WATER FOOD WEB. OIKOS, 55(3), 299-311.
- PATTERNS IN FOOD WEBS - REPLY. TRENDS IN ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION, 4(2), 50-50.
- STATIC AND DYNAMIC EXPLANATIONS FOR PATTERNS IN FOOD WEBS. TRENDS IN ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION, 3(9), 242-245.
- Larval overwintering in Lestes sponsa (Hans.) (Zygoptera: Lestidae). Notulae Odonatologia, 3, 15-16.
- INVERTEBRATE PREDATOR-PREY BODY SIZE RELATIONSHIPS - AN EXPLANATION FOR UPPER-TRIANGULAR FOOD WEBS AND PATTERNS IN FOOD WEB STRUCTURE. OECOLOGIA, 74(2), 231-235.
- What Personal and Environmental Factors Determine Frequency of Urban Greenspace Use?. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 11(8), 7977-7992.
- Urban domestic gardens (IV): the extent of the resource and its associated features. Biodiversity and Conservation.
Chapters
- Individual-Based Food Webs, Integrative Ecology: From Molecules to Ecosystems (pp. 211-266). Elsevier
- Environment and Biodiversity, Future City (pp. 75-103). Springer Netherlands
- Ecological and Psychological Value of Urban Green Space, Future City (pp. 215-237). Springer Netherlands
- Body size and predatory interactions in freshwaters: scaling from individuals to communities In Edmonds-Brown R, Raffaelli D & Hildrew A (Ed.), Body size in aquatic communities Cambridge University Press
- Wearing Elton's Wellingtons: Why Body Size Still Matters in Food Webs, Dynamic Food Webs (pp. 128-136).
- BODY SIZE DETERMINANTS OF THE STRUCTURE AND DYNAMICS OF ECOLOGICAL NETWORKS, Dynamic Food Webs (pp. 179-197). Elsevier
- CONTRIBUTORS, Dynamic Food Webs (pp. xi-xviii). Elsevier
- Sustaining industrial activity and ecological quality: the potential role of an ecosystem services approach, Ecology of Industrial Pollution (pp. 327-344). Cambridge University Press
- Urban domestic gardens (VI): environmental correlates of invertebrate species richness, Topics in Biodiversity and Conservation (pp. 75-98). Springer Netherlands
- Urban domestic gardens (VIII): environmental correlates of invertebrate abundance, Topics in Biodiversity and Conservation (pp. 175-205). Springer Netherlands
- Research group
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PhD Research Students
- Olivia Richardson: Living highways: biodiversity and ecosystem services in urban roadside greenspace (jointly with Dr Karl Evans, and Amey)
- Ian Hough: Meeting ecological flow objectives for the WFD in heavily modified water bodies (jointly with Dr James Shucksmith (Civil and Structural Engineering) and United Utilities)
- Vanessa Berrie: The ethics of conservation and the concept of natural capital (based at the University of York, jointly with Prof Piran White (Environment Dept, York) and Dr Steve Holland (Philosophy Dept, York))
- Miriam Dobson: People, plants and places: understanding the ingredients of urban food production (jointly with Dr Jill Edmondson)
- Teaching interests
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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 has included the development of online course material to enable independent study and distance learning, and online assessment methods, for courses on data analysis and on ecological identification skills. This development work has been supported by grants from the University Learning and Teaching Development Fund (2002, 2008).
- Teaching activities
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Positions
- Programme director for the Ecology & Conservation Biology degree
- Senate Award Fellow (2010)
- APS Teaching Committee
- APS Student-staff committee coordinator
- APS VLE (Blackboard) representative
Courses
- APS131 Ecological Identification Skills
- APS245 Freshwater Ecology Field Course
- APS348 The Ecology of Landscapes
Other Teaching
I supervise Level 1 and Level 2 tutorial groups, undergraduate research projects at Level 3 (BSc) and Level 4 (MBiolSci), and postgraduate projects (MRes, MSc).
- Professional activities and memberships
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- Member of the editorial board of Journal of Animal Ecology (1999-2006) and Associate Editor (2006-2012)
- Advisory Editor for Environmental Conservation
- Series Editor for the Ecological Reviews book series (British Ecol. Soc & Cambridge Univ. Press)
- Editorial Board Landscape Research
- Member of the Council of the British Ecological Society (2003-2006)
- Member of BES Publications Committee (2003-present)
- 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 (2011-2017)
- Member: Periodic Review of Teaching panel: Biological Sciences, University of Southampton (2013)
- External examiner - University of Lincoln (BSc Biology) (2012-2016)
- External examiner - Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University (MSc Conservation and Biodiversity / MSc Food Security) (2017-2021)
- Other activities
- Lead reviewer for the APS Research Ethics Committee
- Coordinator for the Ecology and Conservation Research Cluster and member of the Research Committee in APS
- Member of the Carbon Neutral University Network
I also have involvement with various ecologically related activities in the local area. These include being on the board of Trustees for the Sheffield and Rotherham Wildlife Trust (2011-2017 - vice-chair for part of that time), and on the steering groups for projects run by the Trust, including the HLF funded Nature Counts project (2016-2018), which produced a State of Nature report for Sheffield, and the Data for Nature project (2018-2020), developing systematic plans for nature reserve and wildlife monitoring in the SRWT area. In addition I represent the University on the Local Wildlife Sites Partnership (Sheffield City Council) which reviews and oversees the designation and monitoring of the 250+ Local Wildlife Sites in the area, and on the Sheffield Crayfish Action Group.