Profile

Career

Research

Overview

Many of the most fundamental ecological issues spatial problems, from the way individual animals move across a landscape, through the patterns and processes that shape individual species distributions, to global patterns in biodiversity. I'm interested in understanding all aspects of spatial variation in ecological processes at a range of spatial scales, using and developing appropriate statistical techniques. Currently, many species distributions are shifting as a consequence of global climate change and I'm also interested in the demographic processes that drive such shifts. Much of my work focusses on birds and I collaborate with conservation organisations to ensure that a variety of additional interests tackle problems of practical significance.

Two references

• Beale CM, Lennon JJ, Gimona A. (2008) Opening the climate envelope reveals no macroscale associations with climate in European birds., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA, 105, 14908-14912.
• Beale CM, Lennon JJ, Yearsley JM, Brewer MJ, Elston DA, (2010) Regression analysis of spatial data., Ecology Letters, 13, 246-26

Discoveries

Many of the most commonly used methods for assessing the ways climate change will alter species distributions (and thereby conservation risk) are based on methods that are, at best, questionable. Our research has helped identify the problems and provide alternatives.



Current projects

• SAVBIRD – Understanding the processes shapring savanna bird communitiesFunding body: EU

Research group(s)

Publications

Selected publications

Seward, A.M., Beale, C.M., Gilbert, L., Jones, T.H., & Thomas, R.J. In press. The impact of increased food availability on survival of a long-distance migratory bird. Ecology.

Beale, C.M., Lennon, J.J. 2012. Incorporating uncertainty in predictive species distribution modelling. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B. 367: 247-258.

McMahon, S.M., Harrison, S.P., Armbruster, W.S., Bartlein, P.J., Beale, C.M. et al. 2011. Improving assessment and modelling of climate-change impacts on global terrestrial biodiversity. Trends in Ecology and Evolution. 26: 249-259.

Thomas, C.D., Hill, J.K., Anderson, B.J., Bailey, S., Beale, C.M. et al. 2011. A framework for assessing threats and benefits to species responding to climate change. Methods in Ecology and Evolution. 2: 125-142.

Lennon, J.J., Beale, C.M., Reid, C.L., Kent, M. & Pakeman, R.J. 2011. Are richness patterns of common and rare species equally well explained by environmental variables? Ecography. 34: 529-539. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-0587.2010.06669.x

Faisal, M.A., Dondelinger, F, Huismeier, D., Beale, C.M.  2010. Inferring species interaction networks from species abundance data: A comparative evaluation of various statistical and machine learning methods. Ecological Informatics 5: 451-464.

Milns, I., Beale, C.M., Smith, V.A. 2010. Revealing ecological networks using Bayesian network inference algorithms. Ecology 91: 1892-1899.

Moore, B., Lawler, I., Wallis, I., Beale, C.M., Foley, W. 2010. Palatability mapping: a koala's eye view of spatial variation in habitat quality. Ecology 91: 3165-3176.

Beale, C.M., et al. 2010. Regression analysis of spatial data. Ecology Letters 13: 246-264.

Milns I, Beale CM, Smith VA (2010) Revealing ecological networks using Bayesian network inference algorithms. Ecology (in press)

Moore B, Lawler I, Wallis I, Beale CM, Foley W (2010) Palatability mapping: a koala's eye view of spatial variation in habitat quality. Ecology (in press).

Beale CM, Lennon JJ, Yearsley JM, Brewer MJ, Elston DA (2010) Regression analysis of spatial data. Ecology Letters 13: 246-264.

Britton AJ, Beale CM, Towers W, Hewison RL (2009) Biodiversity gains and losses: evidence for homongenisation of Scottish alpine vegetation. Biological Conservation 142: 1728-1739.

Beale CM, Lennon JJ, Gimona, A (2009) Climate signals remain weak in European bird data. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 106: E41-E43.

Pearce-Higgins JW, Yalden DW, Dougall TW, Beale CM (2009) Does climate change explain the decline of a trans-Saharan Afro-Palaearctic migrant? Oecologia 159: 649-659.