CREAF Talk with Tom Matthews - "Assessing the wider implications of species extinctions: island birds and beyond"

TITLE: "Assessing the wider implications of species extinctions: island birds and beyond"

DATE: Thursday, 3rd April 2025.

TIME & FORMAT: form 12 to 1pm CET - In-person and online.

Seminars will combine in-person and online formats (CREAF, Sala Graus II, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain) but in all cases, talks will be always streamed (not recorded), so they can be followed online.

HOW TO CONNECT: direct link to Tom Matthews's conference.

SUMMARY OF THE WORKSHOP:

Humans, through a range of drivers, are known to have increased species extinction rates by orders of magnitude compared to the background extinction rate. Island birds have been particularly impacted, with hundreds of known extinctions. Given the increasing availability of data relating to extinct species and their functional traits, including a novel database on extinct birds that I present here, it is now possible to evaluate many of the wider impacts of anthropogenic extinctions. Focusing primarily on island birds as a case study, I review three such impacts, namely the effect of species loss on: (i) functional and phylogenetic diversity, (ii) island ecosystem functioning, and (iii) our understanding of biogeographic patterns, and the natural world more broadly. 

ABOUT THE SPEAKER:

Tom researches global environmental change issues using macroecological, macroevolutionary and biogeographical approaches. He applies a mixture of theoretical and empirical methods to investigate various macroecological topics. He has a keen interest in island systems and birds, and has published two recent books on macroecology and island biogeography, as well as trait databases for extant and extinct birds.

His research also aims to provide information of use in biodiversity conservation in island systems and fragmented landscapes, and a number of his papers are focused on conservation biogeography issues. His most recent project is focused on the impact of human-driven bird extinctions and introductions on island ecosystem functioning and functional diversity.