Matthew HillBournemouth University | BU
Matthew Hill
PhD
About
42
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Publications
Publications (42)
Urbanization is a global process contributing to the loss and fragmentation of natural habitats. Many studies have focused on the biological response of terrestrial taxa and habitats to urbanization. However, little is known regarding the consequences of urbanization on freshwater habitats, especially small lentic systems. In this study, we examine...
Advances in metacommunity theory have made a significant contribution to understanding the drivers of variation in biological communities. However, there has been limited empirical research exploring the expression of metacommunity theory for two fundamental components of beta diversity: nestedness and species turnover. In this paper, we examine th...
Ponds are among the most biodiverse freshwater ecosystems, yet face significant threats from removal, habitat degradation and a lack of legislative protection globally. Information regarding the habitat quality and biodiversity of ponds across a range of land uses is vital for the long term conservation and management of ecological resources. In th...
Urbanisation is one of the greatest threats to freshwater biodiversity, with the area of land covered by towns and cities predicted to increase significantly in the future. Ponds are common features in the urban landscape and have been created for a variety of reasons ranging from ornamental/amenity purposes through to the detention of urban runoff...
PurposeUrbanisation is a leading cause of biotic homogenisation in urban ecosystems. However, there has been little research examining the effect of urbanisation and biotic homogenisation on aquatic communities, and few studies have compared findings across different urban landscapes. We assessed the processes that structure aquatic macroinvertebra...
Organic-matter decomposition is a key ecosystem process in freshwater ecosystems as it influences food web dynamics, represents a considerable flux in the global carbon cycle and can provide a useful measure of the ‘health’ of freshwater habitats. While organic-matter decomposition has been well studied among lotic ecosystems, research from small s...
Heteropteran communities form a key component of aquatic ecosystems but have not been widely studied compared to other freshwater faunal groups. This research examined the environmental parameters influencing the diversity, seasonal distribution and structure of aquatic Heteroptera assemblages in the Mediterranean region of Tunisia, northern Africa...
Urban expansion is a major threat to diversity, especially in rapidly developing tropical countries where urban areas are growing at great pace and protection is limited. We conducted a systematic review of published research on the ecology of lentic habitats in tropical urban areas. The review focused on understanding: (1) how much is currently kn...
The temporal stability of ecological properties increases with spatial scale and levels of biological organization, but how does it propagate across trophic levels? We compiled 35 metacommunity time-series datasets spanning basal resources (e.g., phytoplankton) to top predators (e.g., piscivorous fish) from 384 freshwater sites across three contine...
Over 60% of the global population are expected to live in urban areas by 2050. Urban blue spaces are critical for biodiversity, provide a range of ecosystem services, and can promote human health and wellbeing. Despite this, access to blue space is often unequally distributed across socioeconomic gradients, and the availability of quality blue spac...
Globally, excessive fine sediment (particles <2 mm) deposition is acknowledged to have deleterious effects on aquatic biodiversity. However, the impacts are often equivocal possibly reflecting landscape context, although this is rarely considered. To address this, we examined the temporal response of macroinvertebrate taxonomic and functional diver...
Urbanization has significantly increased globally during the last century and has far-reaching consequences for biodiversity and their associated habitats, particularly wetland ecosystems. Previous studies have focused primarily on wetlands in non-urban areas, and urban wetland biodiversity patterns are currently not well understood, particularly a...
Ponds and lakes may be common in urban landscapes and frequently have high biodiversity and conservation value. The importance of landscape-scale conservation of lentic habitat networks has recently been recognised, yet little research has been conducted at this scale. Approaches to inventorying lentic habitats at the landscape-scale are needed to...
Urbanisation is increasing globally, degrading terrestrial and freshwater habitats and reducing faunal and floral richness. Whilst the potential for garden ponds to serve as important biodiversity resources in urban areas has been documented in a limited number of studies, quantifying the contribution of garden ponds to urban freshwater diversity h...
• Global environmental change is threatening freshwater biodiversity with ecological impacts predicted to be particularly severe in high-altitude regions. Despite this, an ecological understanding of high-altitude pond networks remains patchy, with only limited knowledge of the environmental and spatial predictors of taxonomic and functional divers...
Ponds are among the most biodiverse and ecologically important freshwater habitats globally and may provide a significant opportunity to mitigate anthropogenic pressures and reverse the decline of aquatic biodiversity. Ponds also provide important contributions to society through the provision of ecosystem services. Despite the ecological and socie...
Aim
An understanding of how biotic communities are spatially organized is necessary to identify and prioritize habitats within landscape‐scale biodiversity conservation. Local contribution to beta diversity (LCBD) identifies individual habitats that make a significant contribution to beta diversity and may have important practical implications, par...
River flow regimes have been transformed by groundwater and surface water management operations globally, prompting widespread ecological responses. Yet, empirical evidence quantifying the simultaneous effects of groundwater and surface water management operations on freshwater ecosystems remains limited. This study combines a multi-decadal freshwa...
Fishes stocked for recreation and angling can damage freshwater habitats and negatively impact biodiversity. The pond‐associated crucian carp (Carassius carassius) is rare across Europe and stocked for conservation management in England, but impacts on pond biota are understudied. Freshwater invertebrates contribute substantially to aquatic biodive...
Invasive species represent one of the primary threats to global biodiversity. Despite acknowledged implications for taxonomic properties of ecological communities following invasion, functional measures remain poorly understood. We examined the long‐term implications of invasion by a crayfish species (Pacifastacus leniusculus) on functional alpha a...
Here we build on the manifesto 'World Scientists' Warning to Humanity, issued by the Alliance of World Scientists. As a group of conservation biologists deeply concerned about the decline of insect populations, we here review what we know about the drivers of insect extinctions, their consequences, and how extinctions can negatively impact humanity...
The fate of humans and insects intertwine, especially through the medium of plants. Global environmental change, including land transformation and contamination, is causing concerning insect diversity loss, articulated in the companion review Scientists' warning to humanity on insect extinctions. Yet, despite a sound philosophical foundation, recog...
Characterizing temporary river ecosystem responses to flow regimes is vital for conserving their biodiversity and the services they provide to society. However, freshwater biomonitoring tools rarely reflect community responses to hydrological variations or flow cessation events, and those available have not been widely tested within temporary river...
The duration, intensity and frequency of hydrological droughts are predicted to increase significantly over the 21st century globally, threatening the long-term stability of lotic communities. In this paper we examine the recovery and recolonization of macroinvertebrate taxa in ephemeral and near perennial reaches of the River Lathkill (UK) after a...
Understanding the spatial patterns and environmental drivers of freshwater diversity and community structure isa key challenge in biogeography and conservation biology. However, previous studies have focussed primarilyon taxonomic diversity and have largely ignored the phylogenetic and functional facets resulting in an in-complete understanding of...
Defining reference conditions is a crucial element in quantifying the extent of anthropogenic modification and for identifying restoration targets in riverine ecosystems. Despite palaeoecological approaches being widely applied in lakes to establish reference conditions, their use in lotic ecosystems remains limited. In this study, we examine conte...
1. Quantifying ecological responses to river flow regimes is a key scientific approach underpinning many environmental flow (e‐flow) strategies. Incorporating habitat‐scale influences (e.g. substrate composition and organic matter cover) within e‐flow frameworks has the potential to provide a broader understanding of the causal mechanisms shaping i...
1. Sedimentation and clogging (colmation) of interstitial pore spaces with fine sediment particles is widely considered to be one of the most significant threats to lotic ecosystem functioning. This paper presents the results of a running water mesocosm study examining the effect of benthic and hyporheic fine sediment loading and particle size on t...
Intermittent rivers are temporally dynamic, shifting between lotic, lentic (ponding) and dry habitat phases, yet almost all research effort has focussed on the lotic phase, with limited research attention on the lentic and dry phases. Information regarding the biological diversity of the lentic phase is vital to quantify the total aquatic biodivers...
There is growing recognition of the essential services provided to humanity by functionally intact ecosystems. Freshwater ecosystems are found throughout agricultural and urban landscapes and provide a wide range of ecosystem services, but globally they are also amongst the most vulnerable. In particular, ponds (lentic waters typically less than 2h...
Despite the existence of well-established international environmental and nature conservation policies (e.g., the Ramsar Convention and Convention on Biological Diversity) ponds are largely missing from national and international legislation and policy frameworks. Ponds are among the most biodiverse and ecologically important freshwater habitats, a...
The widespread degradation of lotic ecosystems has prompted extensive river restoration efforts globally, but many studies have reported modest ecological responses to rehabilitation practices. The functional properties of biotic communities are rarely examined within post-project appraisals, which would provide more ecological information underpin...
Ponds are common and abundant landscape features in temperate environments, particularly on floodplains where lateral connectivity with riverine systems persists. Despite their widespread occurrence and importance to regional diversity, research on the ecology and hydrology of temperate ephemeral and perennial floodplain ponds lags behind that of o...
The distribution of lotic fauna is widely acknowledged to be patchy reflecting the interaction between biotic and abiotic factors. In an in situ field study, the distribution of benthic and hyporheic invertebrates in the heads (downwelling) and tails (upwelling) of riffles were examined during stable baseflow conditions. Riffle heads were found to conta...
Agricultural drainage ditches are ubiquitous features in lowland agricultural landscapes, built primarily to facilitate land drainage, irrigate agricultural crops and alleviate flood risk. Most drainage ditches are considered artificial waterbodies and are not typically included in routine monitoring programmes, and as a result the faunal and flora...
This book brings together examples of research at the cutting edge of urban landscape ecology across multiple contexts that investigate the state, maintenance and restoration of healthy and functional natural environments across urban and peri-urban landscapes. An explicit focus is on urban landscapes in contrast to other books which have considere...
Fine sediment deposition and infiltration into the bed of lotic ecosystems, such as sedimentation, siltation and colmation, has been widely recognised as one of the most important causes of degradation within lotic ecosystems. The impact of increased fine sediment loading as a result of agricultural practices, urban development and channel manageme...
Ponds are sites of high biodiversity and conservation value, yet there is little or no statutory monitoring of them across most of Europe. There are clear and standardised protocols for sampling aquatic macroinvertebrate communities in ponds, but the most suitable time(s) to undertake the survey(s) remains poorly specified. This paper examined the...
This editorial was submitted for publication in the journal, Fundamental and Applied Limnology [© E. Schweizerbartsche Verlagsbuchhandlung]. The definitive version is available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1127/fal/2014/0716
The biodiversity and conservation value of semi-natural and field ponds in rural locations are widely acknowledged to be high compared to other freshwater habitats. However, the wider value of urban ponds, and especially garden ponds, has been largely neglected in comparison. This study
examines the biodiversity and conservation value of aquatic ma...
Projects
Project (1)
Smart and sustainable cities require functional and resilient ecosystems to support the health and well-being of their human population. However, this can only be achieved by understanding how people interact with and perceive these ecosystems. Blue-spaces, such as wetlands, ponds, lakes and rivers, play a key role in the urban ecosystem and for human health in cities. Understanding the factors that favour healthy ecosystems will facilitate the design of governance systems that improve the provision of highly beneficial services for people.
Therefore, we proposed to directly address the call topic 'resilience and environmental sustainability' through multi-stakeholder engagement and social-ecological systems investigation in different economic contexts (emerging vs. established economy). By eliciting place-based values and applying a standardised analytical framework in both Mexico City and Bristol, we will co-construct a suite of indicators for each city that facilitate purposeful monitoring of social-ecological resilience by local communities, and propose the best technologies available to the Smart City in order to do this.
For more information visit www.respires.org or contact me (ian.thornhill@manchester.ac.uk)
