
Contact details
School of Geography
University of Leeds
Leeds LS2 9JT UK
Email:
o.phillips
Telephone:
+44 (0) 113 34
36832
Student hours:
Tuesday
Research overview
My long-term research goal is to understand the dynamics of carbon and biodiversity across the world’s tropical forests, how these change with our changing climate, and how they may feedback on the whole planet.
The scale of the endeavour is large, requiring global team-work and a multidisciplinary approach. I personally lead a team of more than 100 researchers in Leeds, across South America, and elsewhere, to understand the behaviour of Amazonian forests in the changing earth system.
Selected publications
- Esquivel-Muelbert A; Baker TR; Dexter KG; Lewis SL; ter Steege H et al. (2017) Seasonal drought limits tree species across the Neotropics, Ecography, 40, pp.618-629. doi: 10.1111/ecog.01904
- Sullivan MJP; Talbot J; Lewis SL; Phillips OL; Qie L et al. (2017) Diversity and carbon storage across the tropical forest biome, Scientific Reports, 7, . doi: 10.1038/srep39102
- Phillips OL; Brienen RJW; Gloor E; Baker TR; Lloyd J et al. (2017) Carbon uptake by mature Amazon forests has mitigated Amazon nations' carbon emissions, Carbon Balance and Management, 12, . doi: 10.1186/s13021-016-0069-2
- Levis C; Costa FRC; Bongers F; Pena-Claros M; Phillips OL et al. (2017) Persistent effects of pre-Columbian plant domestication on Amazonian forest composition, SCIENCE, 355, pp.925-+. doi: 10.1126/science.aal0157
- Qie L; Lewis SL; Sullivan MJP; Lopez-Gonzalez G; Pickavance GC et al. (2017) Long-term carbon sink in Borneo's forests halted by drought and vulnerable to edge effects, Nature Communications, 8, . doi: 10.1038/s41467-017-01997-0
Additional recent publications
- Aragão LEOC; Anderson LO; Fonseca MG; Rosan TM; Phillips OL et al. (2018) 21st Century drought-related fires counteract the decline of Amazon deforestation carbon emissions, Nature Communications, 9, . doi: 10.1038/s41467-017-02771-y
- Draper FC; Honorio Coronado EN; Roucoux KH; Lawson IT; Phillips OL et al. (2018) Peatland forests are the least diverse tree communities documented in Amazonia, but contribute to high regional beta-diversity, Ecography, . doi: 10.1111/ecog.03126
- Sullivan MJP; Lewis SL; Hubau W; Qie L; Baker TR et al. (2018) Field methods for sampling tree height for tropical forest biomass estimation, Methods in Ecology and Evolution, . doi: 10.1111/2041-210X.12962
Current projects
Research affiliations
- Ecology and Global Change
- RAINFOR
- TROBIT