Dr David Roy

Head of the Biological Records Centre

Current work

My work focuses on the use of large-scale and long-term datasets on the distribution and abundance of species to understand and predict the effects of environmental change on biodiversity. The current focus of my research is predicting the biological impact of climate change and the dynamics of invasive species.

I am responsible for the database and web development aspects of the Biological Records Centre (BRC), including the development of the Delivering Alien Invasive Species Inventories for Europe (DAISIE) web database, and the CEH input to the development of the National Biodiversity Network (NBN) gateway. I also manage the UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme (UKBMS) and the CEH input into the Biodiversity Impacts of Climate Change Observation Network (BICCO-Net).

I have also worked on the Farm Scale Evaluations of GM Herbicide-tolerant Crops, specializing on edge effects, including the apparency of bees and butterflies. Through my expertise in the manipulation and analysis of national databases (UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme - UKBMS, Biological Records Centre - BRC) I have also collaborated in research on climate change, biodiversity, land use, habitat restoration and urban ecology.

Current research interests

Brief CV

Selected publications

See also the NERC Open Research Archive.

Oliver, T., Roy, D.B., Hill, J.K., Brereton, T. & Thomas, C.D. (2010).  Heterogeneous landscapes promote population stability.  Ecology Letters.

Oliver, T., Hill, J.K., Thomas, C.D., Brereton, T. & Roy, D.B. (2009). Changes in habitat specificity of species at their climatic range boundaries.  Ecology Letters, 12 (10): 1091-1102. doi:10.1111/j.1461-0248.2009.01367.x

Franco, A.M.A.; Anderson, B.J.; Roy, D.B.; Gillings, S.; Fox, R.; Moilanen, A.; Thomas, C.D.. (2009). Surrogacy and persistence in reserve selection: landscape prioritization for multiple taxa in Britain. Journal of Applied Ecology, 46 (1). 82-91. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2664.2008.01598.x

Roy, D.B.; Rothery, P.; Brereton, T.. 2007 Reduced-effort schemes for monitoring butterfly populations. Journal of Applied Ecology, 44 (5). 993-1000. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2664.2007.01340.x

Hickling, Rachael; Roy, David B.; Hill, Jane K.; Fox, Richard; Thomas, Chris D.. 2006 The distributions of a wide range of taxonomic groups are expanding polewards. Global Change Biology, 12 (3). 450-455. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2486.2006.01116.x

Wilson, R.J., Thomas, C.D., Fox, R., Roy, D.B., & Kunin, W.E. (2004). Spatial patterns in species distributions reveal biodiversity change. Nature, 432, 393-396.

Thomas, J.A., Telfer, M.G., Roy, D.B., Preston, C.D., Greenwood, J.J.D., Asher, J., Fox, R., Clarke, R.T., & Lawton, J.H. (2004) Comparative losses of British butterflies, birds, and plants and the global extinction crisis. Science, 303, 1879-1881.

Roy, D.B. & Thomas, J. A. (2003). Seasonal variation in the niche, habitat availability and population fluctuations of a bivoltine thermophilous insect near its range margin. Oecologia 134, 439-444.

Warren, M.S., Hill, J.K., Thomas, J.A., Asher, J., Fox, R., Huntley, B., Roy, D.B., Telfer, M.G., Jeffcoate, S., Harding, P., Jeffcoate, G., Willis, S.G., Greatorex-Davies, J.N., Moss, D., & Thomas, C.D. (2001). Rapid responses of British butterflies to opposing forces of climate and habitat change. Nature, 414, 65-69.

Roy, D.B., Rothery, P., Moss, D., Pollard, E., & Thomas, J.E. (2001). Butterfly numbers and weather: predicting historical trends in abundance and the future effects of climate change. Journal of Animal Ecology, 70(2), 201-217.

Roy, D.B. & Sparks, T.H. (2000). Phenology of British butterflies and climate change. Global Change Biology, 6, 407-416.