Research Interests
Throughout my career I have been driven by the desire to use science to solve real-world environmental problems. I am particularly interested in exploring ways in which applied conservation science can help reconcile conflicts over environmental resources, and generate the conceptual and empirical support necessary to encourage effective stakeholder dialogue.
My current work is focused on evaluating conservation-development trade-offs in different land-use systems in Brazilian Amazonia. Working with a large team of collaborators we are sampling spatial patterns of biodiversity (terrestrial and aquatic), above and below-ground carbon, soil fertility and opportunity costs (potential economic revenue) across multiple watersheds that are characterized by different dominant land-uses, namely; cattle ranching; arable croplands; plantation forestry and selective logging of native forest. Field work is focused in four regions of eastern Amazonia, all situated within the state of Pará which is currently undergoing high levels of deforestation and land-use change. The long-term goals of the project are to employ these data to evaluate opportunities for more sustainable development strategies in managed tropical forest landscapes, including both regulation and market based conservation strategies
More broadly I am very interested in the ways in which conservation science is conducted, including how research priorities are identified and how scientific knowledge is shared and transferred among disciplines and between science and the process of managing ecosystems and developing environmental policy.
I am currently a NERC Postdoctoral Research Fellow (2009-2011) based at the Zoology Department of the University of Cambridge. In my current work I collaborate extensively with colleagues from many Brazilian research institutions, governmental and non-governmental agencies, as well as scientists from elsewhere across the world. The project is being coordinated and developed in partnership with The Nature Conservancy (Amazonia program). Research is supported by funding from NERC, the Brazilian Research Council (CNPq), The Nature Conservancy, USAID.
Click here for a recent version of my CV
Publications (Please do not hesitate to write to me to request copies) Click here for an Endnote library of my publications
Book chapters Koh L.P. & Gardner T.A. (in press). Conservation in human modified landscapes In: Conservation Biology (eds. Sodhi NS & Ehrlich PE). Oxford University Press.
Cote, I. M., T. A. Gardner, J. A. Gill, D. J. Hutchinson, and A. R.
Watkinson. 2006. New approaches to estimating recent ecological change
on coral reefs. Pages 293-313 in I. M. Cote, and J. R. Reynolds,
editors. Coral Reef Conservation. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Journal articles Hawes, J., C. da Silva Motta, W. L. Overal, J. Barlow, T. A. Gardner, and C. Peres. in press. The value of primary, secondary and plantation forests for Amazonian moths. Journal of Tropical Ecology.
Fischer, J., G. D. Peterson, T. A. Gardner, L. J. Gordon, I. Fazey, T. Elmqvist, A. Felton, C. Folke, and S. Dovers. in press. Integrating resilience thinking and optimisation for conservation. Trends in Ecology and Evolution
Gardner, T. A., J. Barlow, R. L. Chazdon, R. Ewers, C. A. Harvey, C. A. Peres, and N. S. Sodhi. 2009. Prospects for tropical forest biodiversity in a human-modified world. Ecology Letters.
Nichols, E., T. A. Gardner, C. A. Peres, and S. Spector. 2009. Co-declining mammals and dung beetles: an impending ecological cascade. Oikos 118:481-487.
Ribeiro Jr, M. A., T. A. Gardner, and T. C. S. Avila-Pires. 2008. Evaluating the effectiveness of herpetofaunal sampling techniques across a habitat change gradient in a neotropical forest landscape. Journal of Herpetology 42:733-749.
Lo-Man-Hung, N. F., T. A. Gardner, M. A. Ribeiro Jr, J. Barlow, and A. B. Bonaldo. 2009. The value of primary, secondary and plantation forests for Neotropical epigeic arachnids. Journal of Arachnology 36:394-401.
Hawes, J., J. Barlow, T. A. Gardner, and C. Peres. 2008. The value of forest strips for understory birds in an Amazonian plantation landscape Biological Conservation 141:2262-2278.
Caro, T., T. A. Gardner, C. Stoner, E. B. Fitzherbert, and T. R. B. Davenport. 2008. Assessing the effectiveness of protected areas: paradoxes call for pluralism in evaluating conservation performance Diversity and Distributions 15:178-182.
Gardner, T. A., M. M. I. Hernández, J. Barlow, and C. Peres. 2008. The value of primary, secondary and plantation forests for a neotropical dung beetle fauna. Journal of Applied Ecology. 45: 883-893.
Gardner, T. A., and J. Jones. 2008. An unprecedented opportunity for biodiversity conservation: Hopes and fears surrounding international payments for ecosystem services. Oryx. In press.
Leite, R. N., M. N. F. da Silva, and T. A. Gardner. 2008. New records of Neusticomys oyapocki (Ichthyomyini, Sigmodontinae) from a human-dominated forest landscape in northeastern Brazilian Amazonia. Mastozoologia Neotropical. In press
Gardner, T. A., J. Barlow, I. S. Araujo, T. C. S. Avila-Pires, A. B. Bonaldo, J. E. Costa, M. C. Esposito, L. V. Ferreira, J. Hawes, M. I. M. Hernandez, M. Hoogmoed, R. N. Leite, N. F. Lo-Man-Hung, J. R. Malcolm, M. B. Martins, L. A. M. Mestre, R. Miranda-Santos, A. L. Nunes-Gutjahr, W. L. Overal, L. T. W. Parry, S. L. Peters, M. A. Ribeiro-Junior, M. N. F. da Silva, C. da Silva Motta, and C. Peres. 2008. The cost-effectiveness of biodiversity surveys in tropical forests. Ecology Letters 11:139-150.
Barlow, J., I. S. Araujo, W. L. Overal, T. A. Gardner, F. da Silva Mendes, I. Lake, and C. A. Peres. 2008. Factors affecting abundance and richness of fruit-feeding butterflies in tropical Eucalyptus plantations. Biodiversity and Conservation 17: 1089-1104.
Barlow, J., T. A. Gardner, I. S. Araujo, T. C. S. Avila-Pires, A. B. Bonaldo, J. E. Costa, M. C. Esposito, L. V. Ferreira, J. Hawes, M. I. M. Hernandez, M. Hoogmoed, R. N. Leite, N. F. Lo-Man-Hung, J. R. Malcolm, M. B. Martins, L. A. M. Mestre, R. Miranda-Santos, A. L. Nunes-Gutjahr, W. L. Overal, L. T. W. Parry, S. L. Peters, M. A. Ribeiro-Junior, M. N. F. da Silva, C. da Silva Motta, and C. Peres. 2007. Quantifying the biodiversity value of tropical primary, secondary and plantation forests. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 104:18555-18560.
Gardner, T. A., J. Barlow, L. T. W. Parry, and C. A. Peres. 2007. Predicting the Uncertain Future of Tropical Forest Species in a Data Vacuum. Biotropica 39:25-30.
Gardner, T. A., J. Barlow, and C. A. Peres. 2007. Paradox, presumption and pitfalls in conservation biology: consequences of habitat change for amphibians and reptiles. Biological Conservation 138:166-179.
Gardner, T. A., T. Caro, E. B. Fitzherbert, T. Banda, and P. Lalbhai. 2007. Conservation value of multiple-use areas in East Africa. Conservation Biology 21:1516-1525.
Gardner, T. A., M. A. Ribeiro Jr, J. Barlow, T. A. S. Ávila-Pires, M. Hoogmoed, and C. A. Peres. 2007. The value of primary, secondary and plantation forests for a neotropical herpetofauna Conservation Biology 21:775-787.
Gardner, T. A., E. B. Fitzherbert, R. C. Drewes, K. M. Howell, and T. Caro. 2007. Spatial and temporal patterns of abundance and diversity of an East African amphibian fauna. Biotropica 39:105-113.
Barlow, J., T. A. Gardner, L. V. Ferreira, and C. A. Peres. 2007. Litter fall and decomposition in primary, secondary and plantation forests in the Brazilian Amazon. Forest Ecology and Management 247:91-97.
Barlow, J., L. A. M. Mestre, T. A. Gardner, and C. A. Peres. 2007. The value of primary, secondary and plantation forests for Amazonian birds. Biological Conservation 126:212-231.
Barlow, J., W. L. Overal, I. S. Araujo, T. A. Gardner, and C. A. Peres. 2007. The value of primary, secondary and plantation forests for fruit-feeding butterflies in the Brazilian Amazon. Journal of Applied Ecology 44:1001-1012.
Bonaldo, A. B., M. A. L. Marques, R. Pinto de Rocha, and T. A. Gardner. 2007. Species richness and community structure of arboreal spider assemblages in fragments of three forest types at Banhado Grande wet plain, Gravatai River, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Iheringia 97:143-151.
Fitzherbert, E. B., T. A. Gardner, T. Caro, and P. Jenkins. 2007. Habitat preferences of small mammals in the Katavi ecosystem of western Tanzania. African Journal of Ecology 45:249-257.
Gardner, T. A. 2006. Tree-grass coexistence in the Brazilian cerrado: demographic consequences of environmental instability. Journal of Biogeography 33:448-463.
Ribeiro-Junior, M. A., T. A. Gardner, and T. C. S. Avila-Pires. 2006. The effectiveness of glue traps to sample lizards in a tropical rainforest. South American Journal of Herpetology 1:131-137.
Fitzherbert, E. B., T. A. Gardner, T. R. B. Davenport, and T. Caro. 2006. Butterfly species richness and abundance in the Katavi ecosystem of western Tanzania. African Journal of Ecology 44:353-362.
Gardner, T. A., J. A. Gill, A. Grant, A. R. Watkinson, and I. M. Côté. 2005. Hurricanes and Caribbean coral reefs: immediate impacts, recovery trajectories and contribution to long-term decline. Ecology 86:174-184.
Cote, I. M., J. A. Gill, T. A. Gardner, and A. R. Watkinson. 2005. Measuring coral reef decline through meta-analyses. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences 360:385-395.
Caro, T. M., A. Engilis, E. B. Fitzherbert, and T. A. Gardner. 2004. Preliminary assessment of the flagship species concept at a small scale. Animal Conservation 7:1-8.
Gardner, T. A. 2003. Limits to growth? - a perspective on the perpetual debate. Environmental Sciences 1:121-138.
Gardner, T. A., I. M. Côté, J. A. Gill, A. Grant, and A. R. Watkinson. 2003. Coral reef decline in the Caribbean: Response to Buddemeir and Ware. Science 302:392-393.
Gardner, T. A., I. M. Côté, J. A. Gill, A. Grant, and A. R. Watkinson. 2003. Long-term region wide declines in Caribbean coral reefs. Science 301:958-960.
Gardner, T. A. 2001. Amphibian population declines: a global issue in conservation biology. Animal Biodiversity and Conservation. Animal Biodiversity and Conservation 24.2:25-44.
Gardner, T. A., and E. B. Fitzherbert. 2001. Project Anuran: A multi-species monitoring project at the tropical lowland site of Las Cuevas, Chiquibul Forest Reserve, Belize. Herpetological Bulletin 78:7-15.
Book reviews
Gardner, T.A. 2008. The Ecology and Behaviour of Amphibians. Kentwood D. Wells. Book Review. Biological Conservation. In press
Gardner, T. A. 2004. Capturing carbon and conserving biodiversity: the
market approach. I. Swingland (Ed.). Book Review. Biological Conservation 120:599-600.
Gardner, T. A. 2001. A field guide to the amphibians and reptiles of the Mayan World. J. Lee. Book Review. Biological Conservation 99:394.
Non-peer reviewed articles
Gardner, T.A. 2003. Catastrophe of Caribbean corals. Planet Earth, Natural Environment Research Council [PDF]
Unpublished reports
Gardner, T. A. 2006. Field guide to the dung beetles (Coleoptera:
Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae) of Jari, Para, Brasil. English and
Portuguese.[PDF]
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