Patrick Alexander Walkden, PhD

Postdoctoral Researcher

Biodiversity Futures Lab, Natural History Museum

p.walkden@nhm.ac.uk

he/him

I am a ecologist and conservationist that specialises in modelling the impacts of anthropogenic pressures on biodiversity and its contributions to people now and in the future. Understanding biodiversity’s responses will facilitate the adoption of adaptive policy responses towards achieving global and regional biodiversity targets, including reversing biodiversity loss and safeguarding the benefits we receive from nature.

Currently I am a postdoctoral researcher in the Biodiversity Futures Lab at the Natural History Museum on a large-scale project assessing biodiversity modelling tools to support the goals and targets of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF).

selected publications

AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds

Joseph A. Tobias, Catherine Sheard, Alex L. Pigot, Adam J. M. Devenish, Jingyi Yang, Ferran Sayol, Montague H. C. Neate-Clegg, Nico Alioravainen, Thomas L. Weeks, Robert A. Barber, Patrick A. Walkden, and 104 more authors

Ecology Letters, 2022

_eprint: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/ele.13898

Abs DOI

Functional traits offer a rich quantitative framework for developing and testing theories in evolutionary biology, ecology and ecosystem science. However, the potential of functional traits to drive theoretical advances and refine models of global change can only be fully realised when species-level information is complete. Here we present the AVONET dataset containing comprehensive functional trait data for all birds, including six ecological variables, 11 continuous morphological traits, and information on range size and location. Raw morphological measurements are presented from 90,020 individuals of 11,009 extant bird species sampled from 181 countries. These data are also summarised as species averages in three taxonomic formats, allowing integration with a global phylogeny, geographical range maps, IUCN Red List data and the eBird citizen science database. The AVONET dataset provides the most detailed picture of continuous trait variation for any major radiation of organisms, offering a global template for testing hypotheses and exploring the evolutionary origins, structure and functioning of biodiversity.