Professor Jon Sadler

Professor Jon Sadler

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences
Professor of Biogeography

Contact details

Telephone
+44 (0)121 41 45776
Fax
+44 (0)121 41 45528
Email
j.p.sadler@bham.ac.uk
View my research portal
Address
School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

Jon Sadler is a biogeographer and ecologist whose research focuses on species population and assemblage dynamics in animals (sometimes plants). His work is highly interdisciplinary, bisecting biogeography, ecology, urban design, riparian management and island Biogeography. It uses approaches that combine detailed field studies, field and laboratory experimentation, sometimes with social science to examine the links between environmental variability and species (including humans) responses. His research has significant blue skies and applied implications for understanding and responding to the impacts of climate and environmental change variability on urban and island ecosystems, hydrological systems, riparian/riverine ecology, the management/conservation of freshwaters. He is a fan of numbers and coding (especially using open source software such as R).

Jon is part of the Birmingham Plastics Network, an interdisciplinary team of more than 40 academics working together to shape the fate and sustainable future of plastics.  This unique team brings together chemists, environmental scientists, philosophers, linguists, economists, and experts in many other fields, to holistically address the global plastics problem.

Teaching

Jon Sadler teaches on the following topics:

  • Earth and ecological systems
  • Landscape and urban ecology
  • Environmental assessment and modelling in R 
  • (Tutorials and fieldwork)

Postgraduate supervision

Jon Sadler’s research focuses on the ecology of two very different environments (riparian and urban) that are subjected to periodic disturbances by either natural and/or anthropogenic processes. The main thrust of the work is to disentangle the often conflicting influences of the landscape ecology of riverscapes and urban landscapes on the ecology of animals that live there. Within these broad areas there are two key linking and cross-cutting themes: gaining an improved understanding of how disturbance affects ecological communities and ecosystem function across a range of spatial (landscape-individual habitat patches) and temporal (millennial-diurnal) scales; how landscape configuration (pattern and form) affects community assembly and individual species movement (hence populations), community persistence and links to variability in ecological and ecosystem function. Professor Sadler's current ornithological project is investigating the ecological significance of linkage and connectivity for avian biodiversity in urban areas. He welcomes enquiries from prospective doctoral researchers in his areas of interest.

Other activities

Jon is Editor in Chief of the Journal of Biogeography, a fellow of Royal Geographical Society, a Fellow of the Royal Entomological Society and a member of the European Geosciences Union (EGU) General Assembly Sub-Division on Estuaries, Wetlands & Eco-Hydrology Steering Committee. He was an assessor for REF2014 (UoA 17).

Publications

Recent publications

Article

Crowley, LM, Ivison, K, Enston, A, Garrett, D, Sadler, JP, Pritchard, J, MacKenzie, AR & Hayward, SAL 2023, 'A comparison of sampling methods and temporal patterns of arthropod abundance and diversity in a mature, temperate, Oak woodland', Acta Oecologica, vol. 118, 103873. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actao.2022.103873

Mayoral, C, Ioni, S, Luna, E, Crowley, LM, Hayward, SAL, Sadler, JP & Mackenzie, AR 2023, 'Elevated CO2 does not improve seedling performance in a naturally regenerated oak woodland exposed to biotic stressors', Frontiers in Forests and Global Change, vol. 6, 1278409. https://doi.org/10.3389/ffgc.2023.1278409

Asuk, SA, Matthews, TJ, Sadler, JP, Pugh, TAM, Ebu, VT, Ifebueme, NM & Kettridge, N 2023, 'Impact of human foraging on tree diversity, composition, and abundance in a tropical rainforest', Biotropica, vol. 55, no. 1, pp. 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1111/btp.13180

Wayman, JP, Atkinson, G, Jahangir, M, White, D, Matthews, T, Antoniou, M, Reynolds, J & Sadler, J 2023, 'L-band radar quantifies major disturbance of birds by fireworks in an urban area.', Scientific Reports, vol. 13, 12085. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-39223-1

Sultan, H, Grayson, N, Jones, S, Pike, D, Greenham, S, Needle, D, Sadler, J & Frew, E 2023, 'Mapping Environmental Justice – a first for the United Kingdom', Journal of Town and Country Planning .

Hahs, AK, Fournier, B, Aronson, MFJ, Nilon, CH, Herrera-Montes, A, Salisbury, AB, Threlfall, CG, Rega-Brodsky, CC, Lepczyk, CA, La Sorte, FA, MacGregor-Fors, I, Scott MacIvor, J, Jung, K, Piana, MR, Williams, NSG, Knapp, S, Vergnes, A, Acevedo, AA, Gainsbury, AM, Rainho, A, Hamer, AJ, Shwartz, A, Voigt, CC, Lewanzik, D, Lowenstein, DM, O’Brien, D, Tommasi, D, Pineda, E, Carpenter, ES, Belskaya, E, Lövei, GL, Makinson, JC, Coleman, JL, Sadler, JP, Shroyer, J, Shapiro, JT, Baldock, KCR, Ksiazek-Mikenas, K, Matteson, KC, Barrett, K, Siles, L, Aguirre, LF, Armesto, LO, Zalewski, M, Herrera-Montes, MI, Obrist, MK, Tonietto, RK, Gagné, SA, Hinners, SJ, Latty, T, Surasinghe, TD, Sattler, T, Magura, T, Ulrich, W, Elek, Z, Castañeda-Oviedo, J, Torrado, R, Kotze, DJ & Moretti, M 2023, 'Urbanisation generates multiple trait syndromes for terrestrial animal taxa worldwide', Nature Communications, vol. 14, no. 1, 4751. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-39746-1

Anderegg, WRL, Wu, C, Acil, N, Carvalhais, N, Pugh, TAM, Sadler, JP & Seidl, R 2022, 'A climate risk analysis of Earth’s forests in the 21st century', Science, vol. 377, no. 6610, pp. 1099–1103. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abp9723

Wayman, JP, Sadler, JP, Pugh, TAM, Martin, TE, Tobias, JA & Matthews, TJ 2022, 'Assessing taxonomic and functional change in British breeding bird assemblages over time', Global Ecology and Biogeography, vol. 31, no. 5, pp. 925-939. https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.13468

Roberts, AJ, Crowley, LM, Sadler, JP, Nguyen, TTT, Hayward, SAL & Metcalfe, DB 2022, 'Effects of elevated atmospheric CO2 concentration on insect herbivory and nutrientfluxes in a mature temperate forest', Forests, vol. 13, no. 7, 998. https://doi.org/10.3390/f13070998

Goddard, MA, Davies, ZG, Guenat, S, Ferguson, MJ, Fisher, JC, Akanni, A, Ahjokoski, T, Anderson, PML, Angeoletto, F, Antoniou, C, Bates, AJ, Barkwith, A, Berland, A, Bouch, CJ, Rega-Brodsky, CC, Byrne, LB, Canavan, R, Chapman, T, Connop, S, Crossland, S, Dade, MC, Dawson, DA, Dobbs, C, Downs, CT, Ellis, EC, Escobedo, FJ, Gobster, P, Gulsrud, NM, Guneralp, B, Hahs, AK, Hale, JD, Hassall, C, Hedblom, M, Hochuli, DF, Inkinen, T, Ioja, IC, Kendal, D, Knowland, T, Kowarik, I, Langdale, SJ, Lerman, SB, MacGregor-Fors, I, Manning, P, Massini, P, McLean, S, Mkwambisi, DD, Ossola, A, Luque, GP, Pérez-Urrestarazu, L, Perini, K, Perry, G, Pett, TJ, Plummer, KE, Radji, RA, Roll, U, Potts, SG, Rumble, H, Sadler, JP, de Saille, S, Sautter, S, Scott, CE, Shwartz, A, Smith, T, Snep, RPH, Soulsbury, CD, Stanley, MC, Van de Voorde, T, Venn, SJ, Warren, PH, Washbourne, CL, Whitling, M, Williams, NSG, Yang, J, Yeshitela, K, Yocom, KP, Dallimer, M & Dave, C 2021, 'A global horizon scan of the future impacts of robotics and autonomous systems on urban ecosystems', Nature Ecology and Evolution, vol. 5, no. 2, pp. 219-230. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-020-01358-z

Comment/debate

Roberts, AJ, Crowley, LM, Sadler, JP, Nguyen, TTT, Gardner, AM, Hayward, SAL & Metcalfe, DB 2022, 'Correction: Roberts et al. Effects of elevated atmospheric CO2 concentration on insect herbivory and nutrient fluxes in a mature temperate forest. Forests 2022, 13, 998', Forests, vol. 13, no. 8, 1216. https://doi.org/10.3390/f13081216

Conference contribution

White, D, Jahangir, M, Wayman, JP, Reynolds, J, Sadler, J & Antoniou, M 2023, Bird and micro-drone spectral width and classification. in 2023 24th International Radar Symposium (IRS). Proceedings International Radar Symposium, IEEE, International Radar Symposium IRS 2023, Berlin, Germany, 24/05/23. https://doi.org/10.23919/IRS57608.2023.10172408

Jahangir, M, Atkinson, G, White, D, Griffiths, D, Ren, X, Wayman, JP, Baker, C, Sadler, J, Reynolds, J & Antoniou, M 2023, Networked staring radar testbed for urban surveillance: Status and preliminary results. in International Conference on Radar Systems (RADAR 2022). International Conference on Radar Systems, Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), pp. 471-476, International Conference on Radar Systems (RADAR 2022), Edinburgh, United Kingdom, 24/10/22. https://doi.org/10.1049/icp.2022.2363

Atkinson, G, Jahangir, M, White, D, Wayman, JP, Baker, C, Sadler, J, Reynolds, J & Antoniou, M 2023, The role of target signatures in bird-drone classification. in 2023 IEEE Radar Conference (RadarConf23)., 10149665, Proceedings of the IEEE Radar Conference, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), 2023 IEEE Radar Conference, RadarConf23, San Antonia, United States, 1/05/23. https://doi.org/10.1109/RadarConf2351548.2023.10149665

Editorial

Dawson, MN, Fraser, C, Matthews, T, Procheş, Ş & Sadler, J 2023, 'Journal of Biogeography Innovation Awards, 2023', Journal of Biogeography, vol. 50, no. 7, pp. 1329-1330. https://doi.org/10.1111/jbi.14630

View all publications in research portal