Personal profile
Overview
As an entomologist specialising in community ecology, I am interested in the patterns and processes structuring natural and modified ecosystems. My work combines theoretical ecology with experiments to understand how the evolutionary relationships of tropical arthropods influence their ecological interactions. My field sites are in Danum Valley, an area of pristine tropical rainforest in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo, and in the neighbouring oil palm plantations. My ultimate goal is to develop theoretical frameworks that can be used to conserve tropical biodiversity by informing sustainable management practices.
I am a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, the Royal Society of Biology, the Cambridge Philosophical Society, and the Higher Education Academy.
Grant Awards and Projects
- NERC Envision Studentship [Miss Tilly Edwards] 2023-2027: Establishing the relative importance of a rainforest microcosm in oil palm plantations.
Grant Awards and Projects
- Welsh Crucible 2022-2023: Small worlds solve big problems by revealing the gas exchange of an entire ecosystem.
Education/Academic qualification
Postgraduate, PhD, The Ecology and Diversity of the Animal Communities of a Rainforest Canopy Epiphyte, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge
Award Date: 10 May 2003
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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
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A new model for secondary plant succession based on the herbaceous communities of soil mounds on the Tibetan Plateau
Ai, D., Ostling, A., Ellwood, M. D. F. & Li, W., Jul 2026, In: Ecological Modelling. 517, 111599.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile2 Downloads (Pure) -
Bedrock modulates the elevational patterns of soil microbial communities
He, X., Wang, R., S. Goll, D., Augusto, L., Nunan, N., Ellwood, M. D. F., Gao, Q., Huang, J., Qian, S., Zhang, Y., Shu, Z., Li, B. & Chu, C., Jan 2025, In: Geoderma. 453, 117136.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile37 Downloads (Pure) -
Wood trait-decay relationships vary with topography and rainfall seasonality in a subtropical forest in China
Wu, D., Chen, Y., Ellwood, M. D. F., Shao, Z., Wang, Y., H. C. Cornelissen, J. & Chu, C., 4 Mar 2025, In: Journal of Ecology. 113, 3, p. 763-777Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile1 Downloads (Pure) -
Extinction and Ecosystem Function Debt Across Dispersal Rate and Behaviour in a Heterogeneous Metacommunity Model
Ai, D., Ostling, A. & Ellwood, M. D. F., 28 Oct 2024, In: Diversity and Distributions. 30, 12Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile62 Downloads (Pure) -
Intraspecific functional traits and stable isotope signatures of ground-dwelling ants across an elevational gradient
He, X., Liu, S., Nakamura, A., Ellwood, M. D. F., Zhou, S., Xing, S., Li, Y. & Wen, D., 14 Mar 2024, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Soil Ecology Letters. 6, 4Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile9 Downloads (Pure)