Dr Inês Martins

Royal Society University Research Fellow

ines.martins@york.ac.uk

Biography

I’m a macroecologist particularly interested in understanding how biodiversity is changing across the globe. I’m originally from Portugal, where I did my BSc and MSc at the University of Lisbon. I then moved to Leipzig, Germany, where i completed my PhD on developing and applying methods to uncover and explain spatial and temporal patterns of species richness change. As a postdoc, I moved to York, UK, where I focused on the patterns of biodiversity on Anthropocene environments. This was followed by a Marie Curie Fellowship at St Andrews University, exploring the potential functional consequences of elevated turnover in species composition.  In 2023 I returned to York as a Fellow in Anthropocene Biodiversity and Societal Change. I’m now a Royal Society University Research Fellow where I will continue to investigate the complexities of biodiversity change by integrating diverse perspectives, data sources, and quantitative analyses. My work aims not only to identify contemporary biodiversity shifts across time and space but also to seek the underlying explanations behind these patterns and assess their potential impacts on both nature and people.

Research

My research interests are in the field of macroecology and biodiversity change. My work typically uses statistical and computational approaches to analyse large datasets (including qualitative data) and often transcends multiple spatial scales or levels of organisation.  My current research focus is on understanding how different levels of biological diversity (eg species, ecosystems) are changing in human-altered environments, the potential functional consequences of such events and their environmental and socio-economic drivers. In addition, I am also interested in exploring how biodiversity may change in the future with different trajectories of human development and policy choices.

Publication Highlights

Pereira, H.M., Martins, I.S. Rosa, I.M., et al. (2024) Global trends and scenarios for terrestrial biodiversity and ecosystem services from 1900 to 2050. Science 384, pp.458-465.  

Martins, I. S., Schrodt, F., Blowes, S. A., Bates, A. E., Bjorkman, A. D., Brambilla, V., Carvajal-Quintero, J., Chow, C. F. Y., Daskalova, G. N., Edwards, K., Eisenhauer, N., Field, R., Fontrodona-Eslava, A., Henn, J. J., Klink, R. V., Madin, J. S., Magurran, A. E., McWilliam, M., Moyes, F., Pugh, B., Sagouis. A., Trindade-Santos, I., McGill, B., Chase, J. M., Dornelas, M. (2023) Widespread shifts in body size within populations and assemblages. Science 381, 6662, pp. 1067-1071.

Martins, I. S., Dornelas, M., Vellend, M., & Thomas, C. D. (2022) A millennium of increasing diversity of ecosystems until the mid-20th century. Global Change Biology. doi: 10.1111/gcb.16335.

Blowes, S. A., Daskalova, G. N., Dornelas, M., Engel, T., Gotelli, N. J., Magurran, A. E., Martins, I. S., McGill, B., […] Chase, J. M. (2022). Local biodiversity change reflects interactions among changing abundance, evenness, and richness. Ecology, e3820. doi: 10.1002/ecy.3820.

Martins IS, Navarro LM, Pereira HM, Rosa IMD. 2020, Alternative pathways to a sustainable future lead to contrasting biodiversity responses. Global Ecology and Conservation, 22, e01028

Cameron EK, Martins IS, Lavelle P, Mathieu J, Tedersoo L, Gottschall F, […]Eisenhauer N. 2019, Global mismatches in aboveground and belowground biodiversity. Conservation Biology, 33 (5), 1187-1192

Marques A, Martins IS, Kastner T, Plutzar C, Theurl MC, Eisenmenger N, [...]Pereira HM. 2019, Increasing impacts of land use on biodiversity and carbon sequestration driven by population and economic growth. Nature Ecology and Evolution, 3, 628-637

Social media handles

• @inesismartins.bsky.social