Dr Ben Phalan
btp22@cam.ac.uk
Tel: +44 (0)1223
331698
Current research
My main area of current research is on the impacts of agriculture on tropical faunas. With global demand for food set to double by 2050, and emerging biofuel markets, there is an increasing need to understand how food production affects biodiversity, and how we can continue to increase agricultural output with least impact on wild nature.
I am working on a project to evaluate the overlaps between current and future crop production and areas of importance for bird conservation in the tropics. This work is a collaboration between the Department of Zoology, BirdLife International, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and the World Conservation Monitoring Centre, with additional funding from the Isaac Newton Trust.
I am also interested more widely in ways of identifying and resolving trade-offs between conservation and development; in the ecology and conservation of tropical forests, especially in West Africa; and in defining appropriate baselines and objectives for conservation interventions.
Previous research
For my PhD (2005 - 2009), I did fieldwork in Ghana in oil palm plantations and small-scale farms to ascertain the yields, profits and biodiversity value of different land-uses, using forest reserves as a baseline. This work should help to inform conservation strategies in tropical forest countries. That work was funded by a Domestic Research Studentship, St. John's College, the RSPB, the British Ornithologists' Union and the Robert Gardiner Memorial Scholarships. My PhD supervisors were Rhys Green and Andrew Balmford .
Previously, I worked for the British Antarctic Survey as a field assistant on Bird Island. Prior to that, I completed my undergraduate degree in the Zoology Department at Trinity College Dublin , and worked with terns for BirdWatch Ireland .
Publications
- Phalan, B., M. Onial, A. Balmford, R.E. Green (2011) Reconciling food production and biodiversity conservation: land sharing and land sparing compared. Science 333: 1289-1291. [Also a response to letters in Science 334: 594-595.]
- Phalan, B., A. Balmford, R.E. Green & J. Scharlemann. 2011. Minimising the harm to biodiversity of producing more food globally. Food Policy 36: S62-S71.
- Phalan, B. (2010). Mosquitoes: retain an ex situ population for ecological insurance. Nature 466: 1041.
- Norris, K., Asase, A., Collen, B., Gockowksi, J., Mason, J., Phalan, B. and Wade, A. (2010). Biodiversity in a forest-agriculture mosaic – The changing face of West African rainforests. Biological Conservation 143: 2341-2350.
- Phalan, B. , Fitzherbert, E.B., Rafflegeau, S., Struebig, M.J., and Verwilghen, A. (2009). Conservation in oil-palm landscapes. Conservation Biology 23, 244-245.
- Danielsen, F., Beukema, H., Burgess, N.D., Parish, F., Brühl, C., Donald, P.F., Murdiyarso, D., Phalan, B., Reijnders, L., Struebig, M.J. and Fitzherbert, E.B. (2009). Biofuel plantations on forested lands: double jeopardy for biodiversity and climate. Conservation Biology 23, 348-358.
- Fitzherbert, E.B., Struebig, M.J., Morel, A., Danielsen, F., Brühl, C.A., Donald, P.F. and Phalan, B. (2008). How will oil palm expansion affect biodiversity? Trends in Ecology and Evolution 23, 538-545.
- Phalan, B. and Nairn, R. (2008). Disturbance to waterbirds in South Dublin Bay. Irish Birds 8, 223-230.
- Phalan, B. , Phillips, R.A., Silk, J.R.D., Afanasyev, V., Fukuda, A., Fox, J., Catry, P., Higuchi, H. and Croxall, J.P. (2007). Foraging behaviour of four albatross species by night and day. Marine Ecology Progress Series 340, 271-286.
- Phalan, B. , Rodrigues, A.S.L., Balmford, A., Green, R.E. and Ewers, R.M. (2007). Comment on “Resource-Conserving Agriculture Increases Yields in Developing Countries”. Environmental Science and Technology 41, 1054-1055.
- Otley, H., Reid, T., Phillips, R., Wood, A., Phalan, B. and Forster, I. (2007). Origin, age, sex and breeding status of wandering albatrosses (Diomedea exulans), northern (Macronectes halli) and southern giant petrels (Macronectes giganteus) attending demersal longliners in Falkland Islands and Scotia Ridge waters, 2001–2005. Polar Biology 30, 359-368.
- Catry, P., Phillips, R.A., Phalan, B. and Croxall, J.P. (2006). Senescence effects in an extremely long-lived bird, the grey-headed albatross Thalassarche chrysostoma. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences 273, 1625-1630.
- Poncet, S., Robertson, G., Phillips, R.A., Lawton, K., Phalan, B. , Trathan, P.N. and Croxall, J.P. (2006). Status and distribution of wandering, black-browed and grey-headed albatrosses breeding at South Georgia. Polar Biology 29, 772-781.
- Phalan, B. , Phillips, R.A. and Double, M.C. (2004). A White-capped Albatross, Thalassarche [cauta] steadi, at South Georgia: first confirmed record in the south-western Atlantic. Emu 104, 359-361.
- Catry, P., Phillips, R.A., Phalan, B., Silk, J.R.D. and Croxall, J.P. (2004). Foraging strategies of grey-headed albatrosses Thalassarche chrysostoma: integration of movements, activity and feeding events. Marine Ecology Progress Series 280, 261-273.
- Phillips, R.A., Phalan, B. and Forster, I.P. (2004). Diet and long-term changes in population size and productivity of brown skuas Catharacta antarctica lonnbergi at Bird Island, South Georgia. Polar Biology 27(9), 555-561.
- Phillips, R. A., Silk, J.R.D., Phalan, B., Catry, P. and Croxall, J.P. (2004). Seasonal sexual segregation in two Thalassarche albatross species: competitive exclusion, reproductive role specialization or foraging niche divergence? Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences 271, 1283-1291.
- Barnes, D.K.A., Warren, N.L., Webb, K., Phalan, B. and Reid, K. (2004). Polar pedunculate barnacles piggy-back on pycnogona, penguins, pinniped seals and plastics. Marine Ecology Progress Series 284, 305-310.
- Phillips, R.A., Green, J.A., Phalan, B. , Croxall, J.P. and Butler, P.J. (2003). Chick metabolic rate and growth in three species of albatross: a comparative study. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology. A. Physiology 135, 185-193.
- Robinson-Dean, J.C., Willmott, K.R., Catterall, M.J., Kelly, D.J., Whittington, A., Phalan, B., Marples, N.M. and Boeadi, D.R.S. (2002). A new subspecies of Red-backed Thrush Zoothera erythronota kabaena subsp. nov. (Muscicapidae: Turdidae), from Kabaena island, Indonesia. Forktail 18, 1-10.
