Staff Profile

Dr Philip Stephens

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Phil Stephens graduated in Zoology from Bristol, took an MSc. in Conservation Biology at the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology and gained his PhD in population ecology from the University of East Anglia (2002).  His principal interests are in how evolved traits shape the fates of individuals and how those fates sum to determine the dynamics of populations.  These interests inform research on evolution, behaviour and conservation more broadly.

Research Groups

• Adaptation & Environment

Supervises

• Mr Thomas Mason
• Miss Georgina Palmer
• Ms Miranda Davis
• Miss Christine Howard
• Miss Naiara O'Mahony
• Miss Charlotte Cairns
• Mr James Stewart
• Miss Julie-Anne Tangena
• Mr Jamie Alison
• Mr Samuel Hardman
• Miss Bethan Hindle
• Mr Oliver Kinsey
• Mr Hagen O'Neill
• Miss Emily Perrin
• Ms Alke Voskamp

Publications

Books: sections

• D.G. Miquelle, J.M. Goodrich, E.N. Smirnov, P.A. Stephens, O.Y. Zaumyslova, G. Chapron, L. Kerley, A.A. Murzin, M.G. Hornocker & H.B. Quigley (2010). The Amur tiger: a case study of living on the edge. In The Biology and Conservation of Wild Felids. D.W. Macdonald & A. Loveridge Oxford University Press.
• Stephens, P.A., Zaumyslova, O.Yu., Myslenkov, A.E., Hayward, G.D. & Miquelle, D.G. (2005). Densities of ungulates in Sikhote-Alin Zapovednik, Russian Far East. In The Tigers of Sikhote-Alin Zapovednik: Ecology and Conservation. Miquelle, D.G., Smirnov, E.N. & Goodrich, J.M. Vladivostok: PSP. 97-112.
• Stephens, P.A., Zaumyslova, O.Yu., Myslenkov, A.E., Miquelle, D.G. & Hayward, G.D. (2005). Temporal dynamics of ungulates in Sikhote-Alin Zapovednik, Russian Far East, 1962 - 2001. In The Tigers of Sikhote-Alin Zapovednik: Ecology and Conservation. Miquelle, D.G., Smirnov, E.N. & Goodrich, J.M. Vladivostok: PSP. 113-125.
• Miquelle, D.G., Stephens, P.A., Smirnov, E.N., Goodrich, J.M., Zaumyslova, O.Yu. & Myslenkov, A.I. (2005). Tigers and Wolves in the Russian Far East: Competitive Exclusion, Functional Redundancy and Conservation Implications. In Large Carnivores and the Conservation of Biodiversity. Ray, J.C., Berger, J., Redford, K.H. & Steneck, R. New York: Island Press. 179-207.
• Stephens, P.A. & Sutherland, W.J. (2000). Vertebrate mating systems, Allee effects and conservation. In Vertebrate Mating Systems. Apollonio, M., Festa-Bianchet, M. & Mainardi, D. London: World Scientific Publishing. 186-213.

Journal papers: academic

• Flather, Curtis H., Hayward, Gregory D., Beissinger, Steven R. & Stephens, Philip A. (2011). A general target for MVPs: unsupported and unnecessary. TRENDS IN ECOLOGY \& EVOLUTION 26(12): 620-622.
• Mason, Tom H. E., Chirichella, Roberta, Richards, Shane A., Stephens, Philip A., Willis, Stephen G. & Apollonio, Marco (2011). Contrasting Life Histories in Neighbouring Populations of a Large Mammal. PLOS ONE 6(11): e28002.
• T.A. White, H.A. Fotherby, P.A. Stephens & A.R. Hoelzel (2011). Genetic panmixia and demographic dependence across the North Atlantic in the deep-sea fish, blue hake (Antimora rostrata). Heredity 106(4): 690-699.
• T.J. Lee, M.P. Speed & P.A. Stephens (2011). Honest Signaling and the Uses of Prey Coloration. American Naturalist 178(1): E1-E9.
• C.H. Flather, G.D. Hayward, S.R. Beissinger & P.A. Stephens (2011). Minimum viable populations: is there a 'magic number' for conservation practitioners?. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 26(6): 307-316.
• S.A. Richards, M.J. Whittingham & P.A. Stephens (2011). Model selection and model averaging in behavioural ecology: the utility of the IT-AIC framework. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 65(1): 77-89.
• S.R. Beissinger, C.H. Flather, G.D. Hayward & P.A. Stephens (2011). No safety in numbers. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 9(9): 486-486.
• C. Carbone, N. Pettorelli & P.A. Stephens (2011). The bigger they come, the harder they fall: body size and prey abundance influence predator-prey ratios. Biology Letters 7(2): 312-315.
• M.P. Speed, G.D. Ruxton, J.D. Blount & P.A. Stephens (2010). Diversification of honest signals in a predator-prey system. Ecology Letters 13(6): 744-753.
• K.A. Bywater, M. Apollonio, N. Cappai & P.A. Stephens (2010). Litter size and latitude in a large mammal: the wild boar Sus scrofa. Mammal Review 40(3): 212-220.
• Devenish-Nelson, E.S., Harris, S., Soulsbury, C.D., Richards, S.A. & Stephens, P.A. (2010). Uncertainty in Population Growth Rates: Determining Confidence Intervals from Point Estimates of Parameters. Plos One 5(10): e13628.
• P.A. Stephens, I.L. Boyd, J.M. McNamara & A.I. Houston (2009). Capital breeding and income breeding: their meaning, measurement, and worth. Ecology 90(8): 2057-2067.
• J.M. McNamara, P.A. Stephens, S.R.X. Dall & A.I. Houston (2009). Evolution of trust and trustworthiness: social awareness favours personality differences. Proceedings of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences 276(1657): 605-613.
• R.P. Freckleton & P.A. Stephens (2009). Predictive models of weed population dynamics. Weed Research 49(3): 225-232.
• Blount, J.D., Speed, M.P., Ruxton, G.D. & Stephens, P.A. (2009). Warning displays may function as honest signals of toxicity. Proceedings of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences 276(1658): 871-877.
• R.P. Freckleton, W.J. Sutherland, A.R. Watkinson & P.A. Stephens (2008). Modelling the effects of management on population dynamics: some lessons from annual weeds. Journal of Applied Ecology 45(4): 1050-1058.
• O. Fero, P.A. Stephens, Z. Barta, J.M. McNamara & A.I. Houston (2008). Optimal annual routines: New tools for conservation biology?. Ecological Applications 18(6): 1563-1577.
• P.A. Stephens, C. Carbone, I.L. Boyd, J.M. McNamara, K.C. Harding & A.I. Houston (2008). The scaling of diving time budgets: Insights from an optimality approach. The American Naturalist 171(3): 305-314.
• P.A. Stephens, S.W. Buskirk, G.D. Hayward & C.M. Del Rio (2007). A call for statistical pluralism answered. Journal of Applied Ecology 44(2): 461-463.
• A.I. Houston, P.A. Stephens, I.L. Boyd, K.C. Harding & J.M. McNamara (2007). Capital or income breeding? A theoretical model of female reproductive strategies. Behavioral Ecology 18(1): 241-250.
• P.A. Stephens, S.W. Buskirk & C.M. del Rio (2007). Inference in ecology and evolution. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 22(4): 192-197.
• C.M. del Rio, S.W. Buskirk & P.A. Stephens (2007). Null-hypothesis significance tests in education and inference - Response. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 22(9): 446-446.
• P.A. Stephens, O.Y. Zaumyslova, D.G. Miquelle, A.I. Myslenkov & G.D. Hayward (2006). Estimating population density from indirect sign: track counts and the Formozov-Malyshev-Pereleshin formula. Animal Conservation 9(3): 339-348.
• M.J. Whittingham, P.A. Stephens, R.B. Bradbury & R.P. Freckleton (2006). Why do we still use stepwise modelling in ecology and behaviour?. Journal of Animal Ecology 75(5): 1182-1189.
• P.A. Stephens, A.F. Russell, A.J. Young, W.J. Sutherland & T.H. Clutton-Brock (2005). Dispersal, eviction, and conflict in meerkats (Suricata suricatta): An evolutionarily stable strategy model. American Naturalist 165(1): 120-135.
• P.A. Stephens, S.W. Buskirk, G.D. Hayward & C.M. Del Rio (2005). Information theory and hypothesis testing: a call for pluralism. Journal of Applied Ecology 42(1): 4-12.
• R.P. Freckleton, P.A. Stephens, W.J. Sutherland & A.R. Watkinson (2004). Amelioration of biodiversity impacts of genetically modified crops: predicting transient versus long-term effects. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B-Biological Sciences 271(1536): 325-331.
• Freckleton, R. P., Stephens, P. A., Sutherland, W. J. & Watkinson, A. R. (2004). Modelling the effects of genetically modified crops on farmland food webs. Aspects of Applied Biology 74: 183-190.
• P.A. Stephens, J.N. Pretty & W.J. Sutherland (2003). Agriculture, transport policy and landscape heterogeneity. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 18(11): 555-556.
• P.A. Stephens, R.P. Freckleton, A.R. Watkinson & W.J. Sutherland (2003). Predicting the response of farmland bird populations to changing food supplies. Journal of Applied Ecology 40(6): 970-983.
• P.A. Stephens, F. Frey-Roos, W. Arnold & W.J. Sutherland (2002). Model complexity and population predictions. The alpine marmot as a case study. Journal of Animal Ecology 71(2): 343-361.
• P.A. Stephens, F. Frey-Roos, W. Arnold & W.J. Sutherland (2002). Sustainable exploitation of social species: a test and comparison of models. Journal of Applied Ecology 39(4): 629-642.
• P.A. Stephens, C.A. d'Sa, C. Sillero-Zubiri & N. Leader-Williams (2001). Impact of livestock and settlement on the large mammalian wildlife of Bale Mountains National Park, southern Ethiopia. Biological Conservation 100(3): 307-322.
• P.A. Stephens & W.J. Sutherland (1999). Consequences of the Allee effect for behaviour, ecology and conservation. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 14(10): 401-405.
• P.A. Stephens, W.J. Sutherland & R.P. Freckleton (1999). What is the Allee effect?. Oikos 87(1): 185-190.