Home > About the BTO > Staff CVs > Phil Atkinson

 

Name
Phil Atkinson photo
Dr Phil Atkinson
Position
Head of International Research
Role
Developing a program of international work at BTO focussing on the impacts of environmental change on bird populations and the ecology of Palearctic migrants.
Qualifications
BSc (Hons) Ecology, University of East Anglia.
PhD The wintering ecology of Twite Carduelis flavirostris and the consequences of sea level rise, University of East Anglia.
Honorary Lecturer, School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia
Research Interests/Responsibilities
I lead the BTO’s international research programme, which is diverse in nature but has a strong emphasis on collaborative projects with biological, social and economic aspects.
I also have a wide range of research interests including: developing a program of research on the ecology of Palearctic-African migrants on their wintering grounds, understanding the impact of poverty alleviation policies on biodiversity and farmer livelihoods in central Uganda, determining how landuse change in Sao Tome e Principe will impact on biodiversity, developing new methods of modelling migration routes of waterbirds and the associated risk of Avian Influenza incursion into the UK, responding to climate change in the coastal zone by the understanding the issues concerning the creation and restoration of coastal wetland habitats (managed realignment), understanding the demographic implications of environmental change on bird populations, the extension of demographic models to estimate total numbers of migrant birds passing through a site (turnover), the impact of fishing on waterbird populations, using stable isotopes to study shorebird migration systems and the application of process-based (i.e. individuals-based) models to conservation issues.
Current PhD Students
  • Dianah Nalwanga Wabwire (Makerere University, Uganda). The impact of agricultural policy change on the bird fauna in agricultural landscapes of Uganda.
  • Theodore Munyuli (Makerere University, Uganda). Invertebrate biodiversity & the economics of pollination in the agricultural landscapes of Uganda.
  • Ricardo Lima (University of Lancaster, UK). Effects of agroforestry practices on the biodiversity of São Tomé, West Africa.
  • Stephen Dugdale (University of East Anglia, UK). Modelling the Influence of Changes in the Agricultural Landscape on Farmland Birds.
Selected Publications
  • Niles, L.J., Bart, J., Sitters, H.P., Dey, A.D., Clark, K.E., Atkinson, P.W., Baker, A.J., Bennett, K.A., Kalasz, K.S., Clark, N.A., Clark, J., Gillings, S., Gates, A.S., González, P.M., Hernandez, D.E., Minton, C.D.T., Morrison, R.I.G., Poeter, R.R., Ross, R.K.& Veitch, C.R. (2009) Effects of Horseshoe Crab Harvest in Delaware Bay on Red Knots: Are Harvest Restrictions Working? BioScience, Vol. 59, No. 2, 153–164.
  • Cooke, I.R., Queenborough, S.A., Mattison, E.H.A., Bailey, A.P., Sandars, D.L., Graves, A.R., Morris, J., Atkinson, P.W., Trawick, P., Freckleton, R.P., Watkinson, A.R. & Sutherland, W.J. (2009) Integrating socio-economics and ecology: a taxonomy of quantitative methods and a review of their use in agro-ecology. Journal of Applied Ecology, Vol. 46 Issue 2, 269 - 277.
  • Ockendon, N. & Atkinson, P.W. (in review). Changes in migratory timing are correlated with population trends in Afro-Palearctic migrant birds. Journal of Avian Biology.
  • Gunnarsson, T.G., Appleton, G..F., Gíslason, H., Garðarsson, A., Atkinson, P.W.& Gill, J.A. (2008) Búsvæðaval og stofnstærð þúfutittlings á láglendi. Bliki, 28, 19-24.
  • Atkinson, P.W., Baker, A.J., Bennett, K.A., Clark, N.A., Clark, J.A., Cole, K.B., Dekinga, A., Dey, A., Gillings, S., González, P.M., Kalasz, K., Minton, C.D.T., Newton, J., Niles, N.J., Piersma, T., Robinson, R.A. & Sitters, H.P. (2007) Rates of mass gain and energy deposition in red knot on their final spring staging site is both time- and condition dependent. Journal of Applied Ecology 44, 885-895.
  • Atkinson, P.W., Robinson, R.A., Clark, J.A., Miyar, T., Downie, I.S., du Feu, C.R., Fiedler, W., Fransson, T., Grantham, M.J., Gschweng, M., Spina, F. & Crick, H.Q.P. (2007) Migratory movements of waterfowl: a web-based mapping tool. EURING report to the EU Commission. (http://blx1.bto.org/ai-eu/).
  • Gillings, S., Atkinson, P.W., Bardsley, S.L., Clark, N.A., Love, S., Robinson, R.A., Stillman, R.A. & Weber, R.G. (2007) Shorebird predation of horseshoe crab eggs: species contrasts and availability constraints. Journal of Animal Ecology 76, 503-514.
  • Atkinson, P.W. [ & 17 authors]. (2006) Using stable isotope ratios to unravel shorebird migration and population mixing: a case study with the Red Knot Calidris canutus. In: Boere, G.C., Galbraith, C.A. & Stroud, D.A. (eds) Waterbirds around the World. The Stationary Office, Edinburgh, UK.
  • Crick, H.Q.P.C., Atkinson, P.W., Newson, S.E., Robinson, R.A., Snow, L., Balmer, D.E., Chamberlain, D.E., Clark, J.A.., Clark, N.A., Cranswick, , P.A., Cromie, R.L., Hughes, B. Grantham, M.J., Lee, R.. & Musgrove, A.J. (2006) Avian Influenza Incursion Analysis (through wild birds). BTO Research Report 448. Thetford: British Trust for Ornithology.
  • Atkinson, P.W. [& 19 authors]. (2006) Urgent preliminary assessment ornithological data relevant to the spread Avian Influenza in Europe. Wageningen: Wetlands International. EU STUDY CONTRACT N°07010401/2005/425926/MAR/B4.
  • Gunnarsson, T.G., Gill, J.A., Atkinson, P.W., Ge´linaud, G., Potts, P.M., Croger, R.E., Gudmundsson, G.A., Appleton, G.F., Sutherland, W.J. (2006) Population-scale drivers of individual arrival times in migratory birds. Journal of Animal Ecology, 75,1119-1127.
  • Atkinson, P.W., Fuller, R.A., Gillings, S. & Vickery, J.A. (2006) Counting birds on farmland habitats in winter. Bird Study 53, 303-309.
  • Fuller, R.J., Atkinson, P.W., Garnett, M.C., Conway, G.J., Bibby, C.J., Johnstone, I.G. (2006) Breeding bird communities in the upland margins (ffridd) of Wales in the mid-1980s. Bird Study, 53, 177-186.
  • Atkinson, P.W., Austin, G.E., Rehfisch, M.M., Baker, H., Cranswick, P., Kershaw, M., Robinson, J., Langston, R.H.W., Stroud, D.A., Van Turnhout, C. & Maclean, I.M.D. (2006) Identifying declines in waterbirds: The effects of missing data, population variability and count period on the interpretation of long-term survey data. Biological Conservation,130, 549-559.
  • Gunnarsson, T.G., Gill, J.A., Goodacre, S.L., Gélinaud, G., Atkinson, P.W., Hewitt, G.M., Potts, P.M. & Sutherland, W.J. (2006) Sexing of Black-tailed Godwits Limosa limosa islandica: a comparison of behavioural, molecular, biometric and field-based techniques. Bird Study, 53, 193-198.
Contact Details
Email:
Telephone:
Fax:
Postal address:
01842 750050
01842 750030
British Trust for Ornithology, The Nunnery, Thetford, IP24 2PU, UK.

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