Professor Dylan Childs

School of Biosciences

Professor of Population Ecology, School Director of Education

Director of Education

d.childs@sheffield.ac.uk
+44 114 222 4313

C206, Alfred Denny Building

Full contact details

Professor Dylan Childs
School of Biosciences
C206
Alfred Denny Building
Western Bank
Sheffield
S10 2TN

Profile

Professor, Chair in Population Biology (2022-present)
Lecturer, Sheffield University (2016-2022)
NERC Research Fellow, Sheffield University (2008-2016)
Leverhulme Early Career Fellow, Sheffield University (2006-2008)
Welcome Funded PDRA, Sheffield University (2005-2006)
Equities Trader, Circe Trading (2003-2005)
PhD Population Biology, Imperial College (1999-2003)

Research interests: I am a population biologist with interests at both the pure and applied ends of the spectrum. I follow an interdisciplinary approach, developing data-driven models to understand population dynamics and natural selection in laboratory and free-living animal and plant populations. I am particularly keen to understand how demographic, environmental and ecological processes interact to influence these processes. I also develop theory and methods for modelling and analysis of structured populations.

Publications

Show: Featured publications All publications

Featured publications

Books

Beckerman AP, Petchey OL & Childs DZ (2017) Getting Started with R: An Introduction for Biologists. Oxford University Press.
Ellner SP, Childs DZ & Rees M (2016) Data-driven Modelling of Structured Populations: A Practical Guide to the Integral Projection Model. Springer.

Journal articles

Sze JS, Childs DZ, Carrasco LR, Fernández‐Llamazares Á, Garnett ST & Edwards DP (2023) Indigenous Peoples' lands are critical for safeguarding vertebrate diversity across the tropics. Global Change Biology. View this article in WRRO
Cordes LS, Blumstein DT, Armitage KB, CaraDonna PJ, Childs DZ, Gerber BD, Martin JGA, Oli MK & Ozgul A (2020) Contrasting effects of climate change on seasonal survival of a hibernating mammal. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117(30), 18119-18126. View this article in WRRO
Griffiths JI, Childs D, Bassar RD, Coulson T, Reznick DN & Rees M (2020) Individual differences determine the strength of ecological interactions. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), 117(29), 17068-17073. View this article in WRRO
Jackson J, Mar KU, Htut W, Childs DZ & Lummaa V (2020) Changes in age‐structure over four decades were a key determinant of population growth rate in a long‐lived mammal. Journal of Animal Ecology. View this article in WRRO
Comont D, Lowe C, Hull R, Crook L, Hicks HL, Onkokesung N, Beffa R, Childs DZ, Edwards R, Freckleton RP & Neve P (2020) Evolution of generalist resistance to herbicide mixtures reveals a trade-off in resistance management. Nature Communications, 11(1). View this article in WRRO
Paniw M, Childs DZ, Armitage KB, Blumstein DT, Martin JGA, Oli MK & Ozgul A (2020) Assessing seasonal demographic covariation to understand environmental‐change impacts on a hibernating mammal. Ecology Letters, 23(4), 588-597. View this article in WRRO
Varah A, Ahodo K, Coutts SR, Hicks HL, Comont D, Crook L, Hull R, Neve P, Childs DZ, Freckleton RP & Norris K (2020) The costs of human-induced evolution in an agricultural system. Nature Sustainability, 3(1), 63-71. View this article in WRRO
Hindle BJ, Pilkington JG, Pemberton JM & Childs DZ (2019) Cumulative weather effects can impact across the whole life cycle. Global Change Biology, 25(10), 3282-3293. View this article in WRRO
Jackson J, Childs DZ, Mar KU, Htut W & Lummaa V (2019) Long-term trends in wild-capture and population dynamics point to an uncertain future for captive elephants.. Proceedings of The Royal Society B Biological Sciences, 286(1899). View this article in WRRO
Comont D, Hicks H, Crook L, Hull R, Cocciantelli E, Hadfield J, Childs D, Freckleton R & Neve P (2019) Evolutionary epidemiology predicts the emergence of glyphosate resistance in a major agricultural weed. New Phytologist. View this article in WRRO
Hindle BJ, Rees M, Sheppard AW, Quintana-Ascencio PF, Menges ES & Childs DZ (2018) Exploring population responses to environmental change when there is never enough data: a factor analytic approach. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 9(11), 2283-2293. View this article in WRRO
Maldonado‐Chaparro AA, Blumstein DT, Armitage KB & Childs DZ (2018) Transient LTRE analysis reveals the demographic and trait‐mediated processes that buffer population growth. Ecology Letters, 21(11), 1693-1703. View this article in WRRO
Salguero‐Gómez R, Violle C, Gimenez O & Childs D (2018) Delivering the promises of trait‐based approaches to the needs of demographic approaches, and vice versa. Functional Ecology, 32(6), 1424-1435. View this article in WRRO
Hicks HL, Comont D, Coutts SR, Crook L, Hull R, Norris K, Neve P, Childs DZ & Freckleton RP (2018) The factors driving evolved herbicide resistance at a national scale. Nature Ecology and Evolution, 2, 529-536. View this article in WRRO
Griffiths JI, Petchey OL, Pennekamp F & Childs DZ (2018) Linking intraspecific trait variation to community abundance dynamics improves ecological predictability by revealing a growth-defence trade-off. Functional Ecology, 32(2), 496-508. View this article in WRRO
Freckleton RP, Hicks HL, Comont D, Crook L, Hull R, Neve P & Childs DZ (2017) Measuring the effectiveness of management interventions at regional scales by integrating ecological monitoring and modelling. Pest Management Science. View this article in WRRO
Booton RD, Iwasa Y, Marshall JAR & Childs DZ (2017) Stress-Mediated Allee Effects Can Cause the Sudden Collapse of Honey Bee Colonies.. J Theor Biol. View this article in WRRO
Childs DZ, Sheldon BC & Rees M (2016) The evolution of labile traits in sex- and age-structured populations. Journal of Animal Ecology, 85(2), 329-342. View this article in WRRO
Bassar RD, Childs DZ, Rees M, Tuljapurkar S, Reznick DN & Coulson T (2016) The effects of asymmetric competition on the life history of Trinidadian guppies. Ecology Letters, 19(3), 268-278. View this article in WRRO
Metcalf CJE, Graham AL, Martinez-Bakker M & Childs DZ (2016) Opportunities and challenges of Integral Projection Models for modelling host-parasite dynamics. Journal of Animal Ecology, 85(2), 343-355. View this article in WRRO
Metcalf CJE, Ellner SP, Childs DZ, Salguero-Gómez R, Merow C, McMahon SM, Jongejans E & Rees M (2015) Statistical modelling of annual variation for inference on stochastic population dynamics using Integral Projection Models. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 6(9), 1007-1017.
Griffiths JI, Warren PH & Childs DZ (2015) Multiple environmental changes interact to modify species dynamics and invasion rates. Oikos, 124(4), 458-468.
Rees M, Childs DZ & Ellner SP (2014) Building integral projection models: a user's guide.. J Anim Ecol, 83(3), 528-545. View this article in WRRO
Rees M, Childs DZ & Freckleton RP (2012) Assessing the role of competition and stress: A critique of importance indices and the development of a new approach. Journal of Ecology, 100(3), 577-585.
Coulson T, Tuljapurkar S & Childs DZ (2010) Using evolutionary demography to link life history theory, quantitative genetics and population ecology.. Journal of Animal Ecology. View this article in WRRO
Ozgul A, Childs DZ, Oli MK, Armitage KB, Blumstein DT, Olson LE, Tuljapurkar S & Coulson T (2010) Coupled dynamics of body mass and population growth in response to environmental change. NATURE, 466(7305), 482-U5. View this article in WRRO

All publications

Books

Petchey OL, Beckerman AP, Cooper N & Childs DZ (2021) Insights from Data with R. Oxford University Press.
Beckerman A, Childs D & Petchey O (2017) Getting Started with R. Oxford University Press.
Beckerman AP, Petchey OL & Childs DZ (2017) Getting Started with R: An Introduction for Biologists. Oxford University Press.
Ellner SP, Childs DZ & Rees M (2016) Data-driven Modelling of Structured Populations: A Practical Guide to the Integral Projection Model. Springer.

Journal articles

Compagnoni A, Childs D, Knight TM & Salguero‐Gómez R (2024) Antecedent Effect Models as an Exploratory Tool to Link Climate Drivers to Herbaceous Perennial Population Dynamics Data. Ecology and Evolution, 14(10), e70484.
Harrington NE, Kottara A, Cagney K, Shepherd MJ, Grimsey EM, Fu T, Hull RC, Chong CE, Baker KS, Childs DZ , Fothergill JL et al (2024) Global genomic diversity of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in bronchiectasis. Journal of Infection, 106275-106275.
Dean AD, Childs DZ, Corripio‐Miyar Y, Evans M, Hayward A, Kenyon F, McNally L, McNeilly TN, Pakeman RJ, Sweeny AR , Nussey DH et al (2024) Host resources and parasite traits interact to determine the optimal combination of host parasite‐mitigation strategies. Ecology and Evolution, 14(6).
Bliard L, Paniw M, Childs DZ & Ozgul A (2024) Population Dynamic Consequences of Context-Dependent Trade-Offs across Life Histories. The American Naturalist, 203(6), 681-694.
Varah A, Ahodo K, Childs DZ, Comont D, Crook L, Freckleton RP, Goodsell R, Hicks HL, Hull R, Neve P & Norris K (2024) Acting pre-emptively reduces the long-term costs of managing herbicide resistance. Scientific Reports, 14(1). View this article in WRRO
Sze JS, Childs DZ, Carrasco LR, Fernández‐Llamazares Á, Garnett ST & Edwards DP (2023) Indigenous Peoples' lands are critical for safeguarding vertebrate diversity across the tropics. Global Change Biology. View this article in WRRO
Lewis TC, Vargas IG, Vredenbregt C, Jimenez M, Hatchwell B, Beckerman AP & Childs DZ (2023) Nest-site selection and reproductive success of a critically endangered parrot, the Great Green Macaw (Ara ambiguus), in an anthropogenic landscape. Ibis.
Gascoigne SJL, Rolph S, Sankey D, Nidadavolu N, Pičman ASS, Hernández CM, Philpott MER, Salam A, Bernard C, Fenollosa E , Lee YJ et al (2023) A standard protocol to report discrete stage‐structured demographic information. Methods in Ecology and Evolution.
Sze JS, Childs DZ, Carrasco LR & Edwards DP (2022) Indigenous lands in protected areas have high forest integrity across the tropics. Current Biology.
Fraccaro P, Butt J, Edwards B, Freckleton RP, Childs DZ, Reusch K & Comont D (2022) A deep learning application to map weed spatial extent from unmanned aerial vehicles imagery. Remote Sensing, 14(17). View this article in WRRO
Hansson EM, Childs DZ & Beckerman AP (2022) Mesostats—a multiplexed, low-cost, do-it-yourself continuous culturing system for experimental evolution of mesocosms. PLoS ONE, 17(7). View this article in WRRO
Levin SC, Evers S, Potter T, Peña Guerrero M, Childs DZ, Compagnoni A, Knight TM & Salguero‐Gómez R (2022) Rpadrino : an R package to access and use PADRINO, an open access database of Integral Projection Models. Methods in Ecology and Evolution.
Comont D, MacGregor DR, Crook L, Hull R, Nguyen L, Freckleton RP, Childs DZ & Neve P (2022) Dissecting weed adaptation: fitness and trait correlations in herbicide resistant Alopecurus myosuroides. Pest Management Science.
Villellas J, Ehrlén J, Crone EE, Csergő AM, Garcia MB, Laine A, Roach DA, Salguero‐Gómez R, Wardle GM, Childs DZ , Elderd BD et al (2021) Phenotypic plasticity masks range-wide genetic differentiation for vegetative but not reproductive traits in a short-lived plant. Ecology Letters. View this article in WRRO
Nebel C, Sumasgutner P, Rodseth E, Ingle RA, Childs DZ, Curtis‐Scott O & Amar A (2021) Multigenerational pedigree analysis of wild individually marked black sparrowhawks suggests that dark plumage coloration is a dominant autosomal trait. Journal of Zoology. View this article in WRRO
Paniw M, James TD, Ruth Archer C, Römer G, Levin S, Compagnoni A, Che‐Castaldo J, Bennett JM, Mooney A, Childs DZ , Ozgul A et al (2021) The myriad of complex demographic responses of terrestrial mammals to climate change and gaps of knowledge : a global analysis. Journal of Animal Ecology, 90(6), 1398-1407.
Goodsell RM, Childs DZ, Spencer M, Coutts S, Vergnon R, Swinfield T, Queenborough SA & Freckleton RP (2021) Developing hierarchical density‐structured models to study the national‐scale dynamics of an arable weed. Ecological Monographs. View this article in WRRO
Compagnoni A, Levin S, Childs DZ, Harpole S, Paniw M, Römer G, Burns JH, Che-Castaldo J, Rüger N, Kunstler G , Bennett JM et al (2021) Herbaceous perennial plants with short generation time have stronger responses to climate anomalies than those with longer generation time. Nature Communications, 12(1).
Boots M, Childs D, Crossmore J, Tidbury H & Rudolf V (2021) Experimental evidence that local interactions select against selfish behaviour. Ecology Letters. View this article in WRRO
Coutts SR, Quintana‐Ascencio PF, Menges ES, Salguero‐Gómez R & Childs DZ (2021) Fine‐scale spatial variation in fitness is comparable to disturbance‐induced fluctuations in a fire‐adapted species. Ecology.
Hicks H, Lambert J, Pywell R, Hulmes L, Hulmes S, Walker K, Childs DZ & Freckleton RP (2021) Characterizing the environmental drivers of the abundance and distribution of Alopecurus myosuroides on a national scale. Pest Management Science.
Samplonius JM, Atkinson A, Hassall C, Keogan K, Thackeray SJ, Assmann JJ, Burgess MD, Johansson J, Macphie KH, Pearce-Higgins JW , Simmonds EG et al (2021) Strengthening the evidence base for temperature-mediated phenological asynchrony and its impacts. Nature Ecology & Evolution, 5(2), 155-164.
Comont D, Lowe C, Hull R, Crook L, Hicks HL, Onkokesung N, Beffa R, Childs DZ, Edwards R, Freckleton RP & Neve P (2020) Publisher Correction: Evolution of generalist resistance to herbicide mixtures reveals a trade-off in resistance management. Nature Communications, 11(1).
Layton‐Matthews K, Grøtan V, Hansen BB, Loonen MJJE, Fuglei E & Childs DZ (2020) Environmental change reduces body condition, but not population growth, in a high‐arctic herbivore. Ecology Letters.
Kunstler G, Guyennon A, Ratcliffe S, Rüger N, Ruiz‐Benito P, Childs DZ, Dahlgren J, Lehtonen A, Thuiller W, Wirth C , Zavala MA et al (2020) ‘Demographic performance of European tree species at their hot and cold climatic edges’. Journal of Ecology.
James TD, Salguero‐Gómez R, Jones OR, Childs DZ & Beckerman AP (2020) Bridging gaps in demographic analysis with phylogenetic imputation. Conservation Biology.
Cordes LS, Blumstein DT, Armitage KB, CaraDonna PJ, Childs DZ, Gerber BD, Martin JGA, Oli MK & Ozgul A (2020) Contrasting effects of climate change on seasonal survival of a hibernating mammal. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117(30), 18119-18126. View this article in WRRO
Griffiths JI, Childs D, Bassar RD, Coulson T, Reznick DN & Rees M (2020) Individual differences determine the strength of ecological interactions. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), 117(29), 17068-17073. View this article in WRRO
Jackson J, Mar KU, Htut W, Childs DZ & Lummaa V (2020) Changes in age‐structure over four decades were a key determinant of population growth rate in a long‐lived mammal. Journal of Animal Ecology. View this article in WRRO
Comont D, Lowe C, Hull R, Crook L, Hicks HL, Onkokesung N, Beffa R, Childs DZ, Edwards R, Freckleton RP & Neve P (2020) Evolution of generalist resistance to herbicide mixtures reveals a trade-off in resistance management. Nature Communications, 11(1). View this article in WRRO
Lynsdale CL, Mon NO, Franco Dos Santos DJ, Aung HH, Nyein UK, Htut W, Childs D & Lummaa V (2020) Demographic and reproductive associations with nematode infection in a long-lived mammal.. Scientific Reports, 10(1). View this article in WRRO
Paniw M, Childs DZ, Armitage KB, Blumstein DT, Martin JGA, Oli MK & Ozgul A (2020) Assessing seasonal demographic covariation to understand environmental‐change impacts on a hibernating mammal. Ecology Letters, 23(4), 588-597. View this article in WRRO
Edmondson JL, Childs DZ, Dobson MC, Gaston KJ, Warren PH & Leake JR (2020) 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
Smith AL, Hodkinson TR, Villellas J, Catford JA, Csergő AM, Blomberg SP, Crone EE, Ehrlén J, Garcia MB, Laine A-L , Roach DA et al (2020) Global gene flow releases invasive plants from environmental constraints on genetic diversity. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117(8), 4218-4227. View this article in WRRO
Varah A, Ahodo K, Coutts SR, Hicks HL, Comont D, Crook L, Hull R, Neve P, Childs DZ, Freckleton RP & Norris K (2020) The costs of human-induced evolution in an agricultural system. Nature Sustainability, 3(1), 63-71. View this article in WRRO
Che-Castaldo J, Jones OR, Kendall BE, Burns JH, Childs DZ, Ezard THG, Hernandez-Yanez H, Hodgson DJ, Jongejans E, Knight T , Merow C et al (2020) Comments to “Persistent problems in the construction of matrix population models”. Ecological Modelling, 416.
Hindle BJ, Pilkington JG, Pemberton JM & Childs DZ (2019) Cumulative weather effects can impact across the whole life cycle. Global Change Biology, 25(10), 3282-3293. View this article in WRRO
Lambert JPT, Childs DZ & Freckleton RP (2019) Testing the ability of Unmanned Aerial Systems and machine learning to map weeds at subfield scales: a test with the weed Alopecurus myosuroides (Huds).. Pest Management Science. View this article in WRRO
Jackson J, Childs DZ, Mar KU, Htut W & Lummaa V (2019) Long-term trends in wild-capture and population dynamics point to an uncertain future for captive elephants.. Proceedings of The Royal Society B Biological Sciences, 286(1899). View this article in WRRO
Comont D, Hicks H, Crook L, Hull R, Cocciantelli E, Hadfield J, Childs D, Freckleton R & Neve P (2019) Evolutionary epidemiology predicts the emergence of glyphosate resistance in a major agricultural weed. New Phytologist. View this article in WRRO
Booton RD, Iwasa Y & Childs DZ (2018) How do toxicants affect epidemiological dynamics?. Oikos. View this article in WRRO
Hindle BJ, Rees M, Sheppard AW, Quintana-Ascencio PF, Menges ES & Childs DZ (2018) Exploring population responses to environmental change when there is never enough data: a factor analytic approach. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 9(11), 2283-2293. View this article in WRRO
Maldonado‐Chaparro AA, Blumstein DT, Armitage KB & Childs DZ (2018) Transient LTRE analysis reveals the demographic and trait‐mediated processes that buffer population growth. Ecology Letters, 21(11), 1693-1703. View this article in WRRO
Bearup DJ, Childs DZ & Freckleton RP (2018) Funder Restrictions on Application Numbers Lead to Chaos. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 33(8), 565-568. View this article in WRRO
Salguero‐Gómez R, Violle C, Gimenez O & Childs D (2018) Delivering the promises of trait‐based approaches to the needs of demographic approaches, and vice versa. Functional Ecology, 32(6), 1424-1435. View this article in WRRO
Booton RD, Yamaguchi R, Marshall JAR, Childs DZ & Iwasa Y (2018) Interactions between immunotoxicants and parasite stress: Implications for host health. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 445, 120-127. View this article in WRRO
Heather FJ, Childs DZ, Darnaude AM & Blanchard JL (2018) Using an integral projection model to assess the effect of temperature on the growth of gilthead seabream Sparus aurata. PLoS ONE, 13(5). View this article in WRRO
Hicks HL, Comont D, Coutts SR, Crook L, Hull R, Norris K, Neve P, Childs DZ & Freckleton RP (2018) The factors driving evolved herbicide resistance at a national scale. Nature Ecology and Evolution, 2, 529-536. View this article in WRRO
Griffiths JI, Petchey OL, Pennekamp F & Childs DZ (2018) Linking intraspecific trait variation to community abundance dynamics improves ecological predictability by revealing a growth-defence trade-off. Functional Ecology, 32(2), 496-508. View this article in WRRO
Lambert JPT, Hicks HL, Childs DZ & Freckleton RP (2018) Evaluating the potential of Unmanned Aerial Systems for mapping weeds at field scales: a case study with Alopecurus myosuroides. Weed Research, 58(1), 35-45. View this article in WRRO
Neve P, Barney JN, Buckley Y, Cousens RD, Graham S, Jordan NR, Lawton-Rauh A, Liebman M, Mesgaran MB, Schut M , Shaw J et al (2018) Reviewing research priorities in weed ecology, evolution and management: a horizon scan. Weed Research, 58(4), 250-258. View this article in WRRO
Freckleton RP, Hicks HL, Comont D, Crook L, Hull R, Neve P & Childs DZ (2017) Measuring the effectiveness of management interventions at regional scales by integrating ecological monitoring and modelling. Pest Management Science. View this article in WRRO
Booton RD, Iwasa Y, Marshall JAR & Childs DZ (2017) Stress-Mediated Allee Effects Can Cause the Sudden Collapse of Honey Bee Colonies.. J Theor Biol. View this article in WRRO
Jordan N, Schut M, Graham S, Barney JN, Childs DZ, Christensen S, Cousens RD, Davis AS, Eizenberg H, Ervin DE , Fernandez-Quintanilla C et al (2016) Transdisciplinary weed research: new leverage on challenging weed problems?. Weed Research, 56(5), 345-358. View this article in WRRO
Liebman M, Baraibar B, Buckley Y, Childs D, Christensen S, Cousens R, Eizenberg H, Heijting S, Loddo D, Merotto A , Renton M et al (2016) Ecologically sustainable weed management: How do we get from proof-of-concept to adoption?. Ecological Applications, 26(5), 1352-1369.
Childs DZ, Sheldon BC & Rees M (2016) The evolution of labile traits in sex- and age-structured populations. Journal of Animal Ecology, 85(2), 329-342. View this article in WRRO
Beckerman AP, Childs DZ & Bergland AO (2016) Eco-evolutionary Biology: Feeding and Feedback Loops. Current Biology, 26(4), R161-R164.
Bassar RD, Childs DZ, Rees M, Tuljapurkar S, Reznick DN & Coulson T (2016) The effects of asymmetric competition on the life history of Trinidadian guppies. Ecology Letters, 19(3), 268-278. View this article in WRRO
Metcalf CJE, Graham AL, Martinez-Bakker M & Childs DZ (2016) Opportunities and challenges of Integral Projection Models for modelling host-parasite dynamics. Journal of Animal Ecology, 85(2), 343-355. View this article in WRRO
Metcalf CJE, Ellner SP, Childs DZ, Salguero-Gómez R, Merow C, McMahon SM, Jongejans E & Rees M (2015) Statistical modelling of annual variation for inference on stochastic population dynamics using Integral Projection Models. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 6(9), 1007-1017.
Petchey OL, Pontarp M, Massie TM, Kéfi S, Ozgul A, Weilenmann M, Palamara GM, Altermatt F, Matthews B, Levine JM , Childs DZ et al (2015) The ecological forecast horizon, and examples of its uses and determinants. Ecology Letters, 18(7), 597-611. View this article in WRRO
Griffiths JI, Warren PH & Childs DZ (2015) Multiple environmental changes interact to modify species dynamics and invasion rates. Oikos, 124(4), 458-468.
Merow C, Dahlgren JP, Metcalf CJE, Childs DZ, Evans MEK, Jongejans E, Record S, Rees M, Salguero-Gómez R & Mcmahon SM (2014) Advancing population ecology with integral projection models: A practical guide. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 5(2), 99-110.
Palamara GM, Childs DZ, Clements CF, Petchey OL, Plebani M & Smith MJ (2014) Inferring the temperature dependence of population parameters: the effects of experimental design and inference algorithm. Ecology and Evolution, 4(24), 4736-4750. View this article in WRRO
Rees M, Childs DZ & Ellner SP (2014) Building integral projection models: a user's guide.. J Anim Ecol, 83(3), 528-545. View this article in WRRO
Fisher JP, Phoenix GK, Childs DZ, Press MC, Smith SW, Pilkington MG & Cameron DD (2013) Parasitic plant litter input: a novel indirect mechanism influencing plant community structure.. New Phytol, 198(1), 222-231.
Wood MJ, Davies AS, Hellgren O, Cornwallis CK, Perrins CM, Sheldon BC & Childs DZ (2013) The epidemiology underlying age-related avian malaria infection in a long-lived host: The mute swan Cygnus olor. Journal of Avian Biology.
Rees M, Childs DZ & Freckleton RP (2012) Assessing the role of competition and stress: A critique of importance indices and the development of a new approach. Journal of Ecology, 100(3), 577-585.
Coulson T, Tuljapurkar S & Childs DZ (2010) Using evolutionary demography to link life history theory, quantitative genetics and population ecology.. Journal of Animal Ecology. View this article in WRRO
Ozgul A, Childs DZ, Oli MK, Armitage KB, Blumstein DT, Olson LE, Tuljapurkar S & Coulson T (2010) Coupled dynamics of body mass and population growth in response to environmental change. NATURE, 466(7305), 482-U5. View this article in WRRO
Childs DZ, Metcalf CJE & Rees M (2010) Evolutionary bet-hedging in the real world: empirical evidence and challenges revealed by plants.. Proc Biol Sci, 277(1697), 3055-3064.
Rees M, Jessica C, Metcalf E & Childs DZ (2010) Bet-hedging as an evolutionary game: the trade-off between egg size and number.. Proc Biol Sci, 277(1685), 1149-1151.
Childs DZ & Boots M (2010) The interaction of seasonal forcing and immunity and the resonance dynamics of malaria.. J R Soc Interface, 7(43), 309-319. View this article in WRRO
Boots M, Childs D, Reuman DC & Mealor M (2009) Local interactions lead to pathogen-driven change to host population dynamics.. Curr Biol, 19(19), 1660-1664.
Rees M, Metcalf CJE & Childs DZ (2009) WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE: RECONCILING MODELS, DATA, AND ANALYSIS. ISR J ECOL EVOL, 55(3), 227-231.
Metcalf CJE, Rose KE, Childs DZ, Sheppard AW, Grubb PJ & Rees M (2008) Evolution of flowering decisions in a stochastic, density-dependent environment. P NATL ACAD SCI USA, 105(30), 10466-10470.
Coulson T, Ezard THG, Pelletier F, Tavecchia G, Stenseth NC, Childs DZ, Pilkington JG, Pemberton JM, Kruuk LEB, Clutton-Brock TH & Crawley MJ (2008) Estimating the functional form for the density dependence from life history data. ECOLOGY, 89(6), 1661-1674.
Rees M, Childs DZ, Rose KE & Grubb PJ (2004) Evolution of size-dependent flowering in a variable environment: partitioning the effects of fluctuating selection. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences, 271(1538), 471-475.
Childs DZ, Bonsall MB & Rees M (2004) Periodic local disturbance in host–parasitoid metapopulations: host suppression and parasitoid persistence. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 227(1), 13-23.
Childs DZ, Rees M, Rose KE, Grubb PJ & Ellner SP (2004) Evolution of size–dependent flowering in a variable environment: construction and analysis of a stochastic integral projection model. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences, 271(1537), 425-434.
Childs DZ, Rees M, Rose KE, Grubb PJ & Ellner SP (2003) Evolution of complex flowering strategies: an age– and size–structured integral projection model. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences, 270(1526), 1829-1838.
Radcliffe P, Hirata D, Childs D, Vardy L & Toda T (1998) Identification of Novel Temperature-sensitive Lethal Alleles in Essential β-Tubulin and Nonessential α2-Tubulin Genes as Fission Yeast Polarity Mutants. Molecular Biology of the Cell, 9(7), 1757-1771.
Pakeman RJ, Stevenson I, Pilkington J, Bal X, Pemberton J, Fenton A, Childs D, Crawley M & Nussey D () Plant community‐specific greening patterns predict population size increases in a temperate herbivore. Oikos.
Bliard L, Martin JS, Paniw M, Blumstein DT, Martin JGA, Pemberton JM, Nussey DH, Childs DZ & Ozgul A () Detecting context dependence in the expression of life history trade‐offs. Journal of Animal Ecology.
Lewis TC, Gutierrez Vargas I, Beckerman AP & Childs DZ () An inadequate sampling of the soundscape leads to over-optimistic estimates of recogniser performance: a case study of two sympatric macaw species. Bioacoustics, 1-21.
Johnson TF, Beckerman AP, Childs DZ, Webb TJ, Evans KL, Griffiths CA, Capdevila P, Clements CF, Besson M, Gregory RD , Thomas GH et al () Revealing uncertainty in the status of biodiversity change. Nature.
Goodsell RM, Comont D, Hicks H, Lambert J, Hull R, Crook L, Fraccaro P, Reusch K, Freckleton RP & Childs DZ () Quantifying the impacts of management and herbicide resistance on regional plant population dynamics in the face of missing data. Journal of Applied Ecology.
Brooks GC, Chandler HC, Jiao Y, Childs DZ & Haas CA () Predicting the population viability of an endangered amphibian under environmental and demographic uncertainty. Population Ecology.
Sweeny AR, Lemon H, Ibrahim A, Watt KA, Wilson K, Childs DZ, Nussey DH, Free A & McNally L () A mixed-model approach for estimating drivers of microbiota community composition and differential taxonomic abundance. mSystems.
Durant EK, Hoysted G, Howard N, Sait S, Childs D, Johnson D & Field K () Herbivore-driven disruption of arbuscular mycorrhizal carbon-for-nutrient exchange is ameliorated by neighboring plants. Current Biology.
Hindle BJ, Quintana‐Ascencio PF, Menges ES & Childs DZ () The implications of seasonal climatic effects for managing disturbance dependent populations under a changing climate. Journal of Ecology.
Cerini F, Childs DZ & Clements CF () A predictive timeline of wildlife population collapse. Nature Ecology & Evolution.
Hayward AD, Behnke JM, Childs DZ, Corripio-Miyar Y, Fenton A, Fraser MD, Kenyon F, McNeilly TN, Pakeman RJ, Pedersen AB , Pemberton JM et al () Long-term temporal trends in gastrointestinal parasite infection in wild Soay sheep. Parasitology, 1-36.
Ellner SP, Adler PB, Childs DZ, Hooker G, Miller TEX & Rees M () A critical comparison of integral projection and matrix projection models for demographic analysis: Comment. Ecology.
Busana M, Childs DZ, Burke TA, Komdeur J, Richardson DS & Dugdale HL () Population level consequences of facultatively cooperative behaviour in a stochastic environment. Journal of Animal Ecology.
Levin SC, Childs DZ, Compagnoni A, Evers S, Knight TM & Salguero‐Gómez R () ipmr: Flexibly implement Integral Projection Models in R. Methods in Ecology and Evolution.
Paniw M, James T, Archer CR, Römer G, Levin S, Compagnoni A, Che-Castaldo J, Bennett JM, Mooney A, Childs DZ , Ozgul A et al () Global analysis reveals complex demographic responses of mammals to climate change. View this article in WRRO
Sze JS, Carrasco LR, Childs D & Edwards DP () Reduced deforestation and degradation in Indigenous Lands pan-tropically. Nature Sustainability.

Chapters

González EJ, Childs DZ, Quintana-Ascencio PF & Salguero-Gómez R (2021) Integral projection models, Demographic Methods across the Tree of Life (pp. 181-196). Oxford University Press
Hayward AD, Garnier R, Childs DZ, Grenfell BT, Watt KA, Pilkington JG, Pemberton JM & Graham AL (2019) From population to individual host scale and back again: testing theories of infection and defence in the Soay sheep of St Kilda, Wildlife Disease Ecology (pp. 91-128). Cambridge University Press
Beckerman AP, Childs DZ & Petchey OL (2017) Visualizing Your Data, Getting Started with R (pp. 79-92). Oxford University Press
Beckerman AP, Childs DZ & Petchey OL (2017) Introducing Statistics in R, Getting Started with R (pp. 93-130). Oxford University Press
Beckerman AP, Childs DZ & Petchey OL (2017) Pimping Your Plots: Scales and Themes in ggplot2, Getting Started with R (pp. 203-218). Oxford University Press
Beckerman AP, Childs DZ & Petchey OL (2017) Closing Remarks: Final Comments and Encouragement, Getting Started with R (pp. 219-222). Oxford University Press
Beckerman AP, Childs DZ & Petchey OL (2017) Advancing Your Statistics in R, Getting Started with R (pp. 131-166). Oxford University Press
Beckerman AP, Childs DZ & Petchey OL (2017) Getting Started with Generalized Linear Models, Getting Started with R (pp. 167-202). Oxford University Press
Beckerman AP, Childs DZ & Petchey OL (2017) Getting Your Data into R, Getting Started with R (pp. 35-56). Oxford University Press
Beckerman AP, Childs DZ & Petchey OL (2017) Data Management, Manipulation, and Exploration with dplyr, Getting Started with R (pp. 57-78). Oxford University Press
Beckerman AP, Childs DZ & Petchey OL (2017) Getting Started with R An Introduction for Biologists Second Edition Preface, GETTING STARTED WITH R: AN INTRODUCTION FOR BIOLOGISTS, 2ND EDITION (pp. IX-XVIII).
Beckerman AP, Childs DZ & Petchey OL (2017) Getting and Getting Acquainted with R, GETTING STARTED WITH R: AN INTRODUCTION FOR BIOLOGISTS, 2ND EDITION (pp. 1-34).

Preprints

Hansson EM, Childs DZ & Beckerman AP (2024) Glyphosate resistance evolution to lethal and sublethal doses in chemostat populations of model organismChlamydomonas reinhardtii, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
Hansson EM, Childs DZ & Beckerman AP (2024) Evidence for a trade-off between glyphosate resistance and anti-grazer defence in green algaChlamydomonas reinhardtii, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
Cerini F, Jackson J, Childs DZ & Clements CF (2023) Multivariate signals of population collapse in a high-throughput ecological experiment., Authorea, Inc..
Gascoigne SJL, Rolph S, Sankey D, Nidadavolu N, Pičman ASS, Hernández CM, Philpott MER, Salam A, Bernard C, Fenollosa E , Lee YJ et al (2023) A standard protocol to report discrete stage-structured demographic information, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
Lewis TC, Gutiérrez Vargas I, Vredenbregt C, Jimenez M, Hatchwell B, Beckerman AP & Childs DZ (2023) Nest site selection and productivity of a critically endangered parrot, the great green macaw (Ara ambiguus), in an anthropogenic landscape, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
Varah A, Ahodo K, Childs DZ, Comont D, Crook L, Freckleton RP, Goodsell R, Hicks HL, Hull R, Neve P & Norris K (2023) Managing herbicide resistance doesn't pay - but acting pre-emptively does..
Lewis TC, Vargas IG, Beckerman AP & Childs DZ (2022) Inadequate sampling of the soundscape leads to overoptimistic estimates of recogniser performance: a case study of two sympatric macaw species, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
Lewis TC, Vargas IG, Williams S, Beckerman AP & Childs DZ (2022) Using passive acoustic monitoring to estimate the abundance of a critically endangered parrot, the great green macaw (Ara ambiguus), Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
Johnson TF, Beckerman AP, Childs DZ, Griffiths CA, Capdevila P, Clements CF, Besson M, Gregory RD, Delmas E, Thomas G , Evans K et al (2022) Overconfidence undermines global wildlife abundance trends, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
Cerini F, Childs DZ & Clements CF () Timeline to collapse, Authorea, Inc..
Hayward AD, Behnke JM, Childs DZ, Corripio-Miyar Y, Fenton A, Fraser MD, Kenyon F, McNeilly TN, Pakeman RJ, Pedersen AB , Pemberton JM et al () Long-term temporal trends in gastrointestinal parasite infection in wild Soay sheep, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
Compagnoni A, Childs D, Knight TM & Salguero-Gómez R () Antecedent effect models as an exploratory rather than predictive tool to understand the response of plant populations to climate drivers, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
Levin SC, Evers S, Potter T, Guerrero MP, Childs DZ, Compagnoni A, Knight TM & Salguero-Gómez R () Rpadrino: an R package to access and use PADRINO, an open access database of Integral Projection Models, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
Hansson EM, Childs DZ & Beckerman AP () Mesostats – A multiplexed, low-cost, do-it-yourself continuous culturing system for experimental evolution of mesocosms, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
Levin SC, Childs DZ, Compagnoni A, Evers S, Knight TM & Salguero-Gómez R () ipmr: Flexibly implement Integral Projection Models in R, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
Villellas J, Ehrlén J, Crone E, Csergő A, Garcia M, Laine A-L, Roach D, Salguero-Gomez R, Wardle G, Childs D , Elderd B et al () Genetic differentiation can be predicted from observational data for reproductive but not vegetative traits in a widespread short-lived plant, Authorea, Inc..
Sweeny AR, Lemon HE, Ibrahim A, Watt KA, Wilson K, Childs DZ, Nussey DH, Free A & McNally L () A mixed model approach for estimating drivers of microbiota community composition and differential taxonomic abundance, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
Compagnoni A, Levin S, Childs DZ, Harpole S, Paniw M, Römer G, Burns JH, Che-Castaldo J, Rüger N, Kunstler G , Bennett JM et al () Short-lived plants have stronger demographic responses to climate, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
Samplonius JM, Atkinson A, Hassall C, Keogan K, Thackeray SJ, Assmann JJ, Burgess MD, Johansson J, Macphie KH, Pearce-Higgins J , Simmonds E et al () Strengthening the evidence base for temperature-mediated phenological asynchrony and its impacts, Center for Open Science.
Kunstler G, Guyennon A, Ratcliffe S, Rüger N, Ruiz-Benito P, Childs DZ, Dahlgren J, Lehtonen A, Thuiller W, Wirth C , Zavala MA et al () Demographic performance of European tree species at their hot and cold climatic edges, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
Paniw M, Childs D, Armitage KB, Blumstein DT, Martin J, Oli MK & Ozgul A () Assessing seasonal demographic covariation to understand environmental-change impacts on a hibernating mammal, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
Hindle BJ, Rees M, Sheppard AW, Quintana-Ascencio PF, Menges ES & Childs DZ () Exploring population responses to environmental change when there's never enough data; a factor analytic approach, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
Petchey OL, Pontarp M, Massie TM, Kéfi S, Ozgul A, Weilenmann M, Palamara GM, Altermatt F, Matthews BJ, Levine JM , Childs DZ et al () The Ecological Forecast Horizon, and examples of its uses and determinants, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
Booton RD, Yamaguchi R, Marshall JAR, Childs DZ & Iwasa Y () Interactions between immunotoxicants and parasite stress: implications for host health. View this article in WRRO

Research group

PhD students

Simran Aujla
Ross Booton
Robert Goodsell (with Professor R Freckleton)
Erika Hansson (with Dr AP Beckerman)
Bethan Hindle (with Dr AP Beckerman)
John Jackson (with Dr V Lummaa)
James Lambert (with Professor R Freckleton)
Simon Rolph (with Professor R Freckleton and Dr R Salguero-Gomez)

Postdoctoral Researchers

Alison Parton
Dr Shaun Coutts

Teaching activities

My approach to teaching and supervision of students is to convey my enthusiasm for population biology and evolutionary ecology, and to use research-led, biologically interesting examples to give students a thorough grounding in key concepts. I strongly believe that learning the basic tools for independent research is essential for undergraduate students, and I always encourage my students to try new methods of data analysis and quantitative reasoning. I am a fellow of the Higher Education Academy, having completed a Postgraduate Certificate in Learning and Teaching.

I have led the devlopment of the new data science strand of our curriculum. At level 1, I co-ordinate the introduction to exploratory data analysis component of APS135 (Skills for Biologists 1). In this course we introduce students to the R programming language, a cutting edge data visualisation and statistical analysis environment. We build on this knowledge in APS240 (Data Analysis), using R to explore the principles of environmental design and analysis of biological data. I also contribute to APS342 (Evolutionary Ecology).

My part of the course focuses on the evolution of host-parasite interactions and the mechanisms of life history evolution in stochastic environments. At the postgraduate level, I co-teach our Advanced Biological Analysis module (APS405), a week long intensive training module for MBiolSci, MRes and PhD students. This module introduces advanced statistical tools and a workflow for presenting the results of research. I also supervise level 3 (APS330) and masters (APS406 and our MRes) Projects. These projects reflect my broad interests in how ecological processes shape natural selection and population dynamics. Students interested in these research areas are welcome to contact me to discuss project ideas.